This spring, I’ve been making so much baklava (also known as baklawa). And I mean, really, a lot. I’m pretty obsessive about tinkering with and testing my recipes before posting them here, so I’ve lost track of the number of trays I’ve made in the last couple months while fine-tuning my recipes for cardamom baklawa and olive oil botanical baklawa. So I had to come up with some sort of baklava ice cream to use up all those leftovers.
Luckily, the baking method I use is super easy, so the “problem” with making heaps of baklava isn’t really the amount of time it takes, but the sheer quantity left over. In other words, when it’s as simple as slicing, pouring, and baking, it’s pretty easy to end up with way too much. After you’ve shared plates with friends, left some at the neighbors’ doors, stuffed plastic containers into your guests’ luggage, and eaten some for breakfast every day for a week, you need to figure out what to do with all those delicious leftovers.
That’s where baklava frozen yogurt comes in.
The key to making baklava frozen yogurt is to remember to freeze some leftover baklava next time you make a batch, so that you can easily make it into frozen yogurt later on. You know it’s time to freeze the leftover baklava once it starts to feel like a chore to have to finish the rest of the tray—at that point, stop what you’re doing (because eating should never feel like work!), freeze those leftovers, and enjoy them in frozen yogurt form after a few weeks, once baklava is a novelty again. But, honestly, this frozen yogurt is so good, I’ve baked baklava just so that I could have some left over to make this recipe.
If you’re using my recipe for cardamom baklawa, this frozen yogurt recipe will work well as is. But if you’re using another kind of baklawa or baklava, feel free to substitute the cardamom with something that works better with the particular baklava you’re working with. For instance, you might replace some or all of the cardamom with cinnamon, cloves, or allspice, and you might add a teaspoon or so of rosewater or orange blossom water to the yogurt. It’s entirely up to you.
baklava frozen yogurt
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 25 1/2 to 28 hours (including the time it takes to chill the ice cream core)
- Yield: 10 servings
Ingredients
- One quart plain whole milk yogurt
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 11 ounces leftover cardamom baklava *
- Special equipment: ice cream machine **
Instructions
- At least 24 hours before you plan to make the frozen yogurt, freeze your machine’s core.
- At least 1 hour before making frozen yogurt, coarsely chop the baklava and divide into 8 ounces (about 2 cups chopped) and 3 ounces (2/3 cups chopped). Freeze the chopped baklava.
- At least 1 hour before making frozen yogurt, put a 6 cup freezer-safe container in the freezer.
- Combine the chilled yogurt with the sugar, salt, and cardamom. This step can be done a day ahead of time and kept refrigerated or it can be done right before transferring to the machine.
- Once everything is properly chilled, freeze the yogurt mixture according to your machine’s guide.
- Once the frozen yogurt has thickened significantly and finished processing, stir in the 8 ounces (2 cups) of chopped, frozen baklava.
- Transfer the frozen yogurt to the frozen storage container and immediately cover and place in the freezer.
- Store the frozen yogurt in the freezer for 30 minutes for soft serve, or continue to freeze for about 3 to 5 hours for hard ice cream.
- To serve, top with the 3 ounces (2/3 cups) of chopped, frozen baklawa (some on the whole batch and/or some on individual servings).
Notes
* If you are using another kind of baklava, feel free to substitute another spice for the cardamom to better match your baklava’s flavor (e.g., allspice, cinnamon, rosewater, orange blossom water). Also feel free to use store-bought baklava.
** If you do not have an ice cream machine, you can use David Lebovitz’s method.
hello .. i am trying your recipes and they’re really nice 🙂 is it possible to make this with ice cream instead of frozen yogurt?
Yes absolutely! Just find your favorite vanilla or plain cream ice cream recipe, and have at it! (I love David Lebovitz’ ice cream recipes)