Pillsbury Bake-Off Countdown: Cranberry-Orange Baklava Pinwheels

CakeSpy Note: I am beyond ecstatic to announce that I have been invited as a media guest to the 45th Annual Pillsbury Bake-Off in Orlando, Florida! The event will take place in late March; til then, I am going to feature several of the sweets finalists here in anticipation of the big day!

Baklava is already pretty great, but when you make it easy and even more interesting, it's a true winner. It's one of the finalists in the Pillsbury Bake-Off; as the recipe creator, Carrie Hudkins, of Wichita Falls, TX, says, "Change up classic Greek baklava with an easy, flaky Pillsbury® pie crust version drizzled with honey."

Well, ok! Here's how you do it.

Cranberry-Orange Baklava Pinwheels

20 servings

• 1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box
• 2 tablespoons LAND O LAKES® Butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups sweetened dried cranberries (6 oz)
• 1 cup Fisher® Chef's Naturals® Chopped Pecans
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons McCormick® Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
• 1 LAND O LAKES® Egg
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 cup honey

Procedure

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Line cookie sheet with cooking parchment paper or lightly spray with Crisco® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray. Unroll pie crusts; press each into 10 1/2-inch square. Brush squares with melted butter.
2. In food processor, place cranberries, pecans, sugar, cinnamon and orange peel. Cover; process with on-and-off pulses until mixture is finely chopped. Spread half of mixture on each pie crust square.
3. Roll up each pie crust into a log; pinch edge tightly to seal. In small bowl, beat egg and water until blended. Brush egg mixture over each log. Using serrated knife, cut each log into 10 slices. Place slices, cut sides up, 1 inch apart on cookie sheet; replacing any filling. Reshape slices, if necessary.
4. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove pinwheels on parchment from cookie sheet to cooling rack. Spoon about 1 teaspoon honey on each slice. Serve warm or cool.

Sweet Inspiration: Dessert Travels in Turkey with Cake Gumshoe Nicholas

So, I have a totally sweet customer named Nicholas. He's basically the ideal customer: he comes in and buys stuff, and then tells me all about the delicious sweets he eats when he travels the world. Just looking at his pictures is bound to evoke some seriously sweet wanderlust. Here's what he's eaten recently

The Baklava plate from Karaköy güllüoğlu, Istanbul (not Constantinople), Turkey!

The baklava is from one of the better known baklava places, and one that is well known on TripAdvisor. Had it not been for them, I would have never found it. I have thee name under the picture in my picasa and it's located on the north side of the golden horn (if you find Ayasofia and then cross the nearest bridge you're right by it).

The plate, plus turkish tea, was about $5-6 and the baklava was amazing. Extremely fresh and varying tastes, including the chocolate baklava which tasted like a dark chocolate brownie at it's best with honey. The one right beside it in the picture was a walnut baklava and I wish I had grabbed one extra to get a better shot, but for some reason I was on a pistachio trip (which is a nut I have traditionally not liked). The other three are various levels of pistachio, from some (the triangle) to entirely (the green roll at the end).

Visit the Karaköy güllüoğlu website here.