Vegan Baklava by Sweetland London

April 7, 2022

So, you went vegan and thought baklava were out of the picture? You got fed up with going to markets and finding all the baklava were made with honey or butter even. Well, worry no more.

We’ve got some great news. Here at Sweetland London, we have a delectable selection of vegan baklava just for you.

There’s no longer a reason for you to miss out on your favorite crispy-sweet dessert. Just because you’re vegan it doesn’t mean you can’t be naughty and treat yourself once in a while.

Our vegan baklava are handmade fresh in our UK pastry kitchen using only plant-based ingredients. In fact, they are even certified by the Vegan Society. So you know you can trust us when we say they are fully vegan.

What does Sweetland’s vegan baklava selection include?

Baklava is a delicious dessert pastry made with thin layers of filo pastry. It is filled with nuts and topped with delicious syrup. We follow traditional Lebanese recipes for the most luxurious Mediterranean baklava.

Our vegan baklava selection includes a variety of different types of fully plant-based baklava. They are made using vegetable ghee rather than butter ghee, which we will talk about in more detail later in this article.

The selection you get varies depending on the size you select. Below we have outlined the various shapes of vegan baklava you can satiate those ravenous cravings with:

Vegan Almond Baklava
Vegan Finger Cashew Baklava
Vegan Coleschwor Cashew baklava
Vegan Walnut Bakalva
Vegan Boukaj Cashew Baklava
Vegan Pistachio Baklava

How did we make our baklava selection vegan?

First, our priority when making our vegan baklava selection is to continue using traditional methods and ingredients. We wanted to keep them as close to the original recipes as possible. This allows for consistency in our flavors and textures, for luxury in every bite of baklava.

Fortunately, baklava as they are, only need a little tweaking to become vegan.

The secret comes down to the ghee. Traditionally, we use butter-based ghee. However, to make our baklava vegan, we use vegetable ghee. Which is in fact already used in our regular baklava in combination with our butter ghee.

This means we maintain the ghee’s signature creamy and delicious texture. Essentially we remove any use of dairy, making for completely plant-based vegan baklava.

Below we have a list of ingredients used in our vegan baklava selection:

Wheat flour (contains gluten)
Vegetable ghee
Sugar
Water
Cashews
Walnuts
Almonds
Pistachios
Glucose syrup (contains gluten)
Starch
Sunflower oil
Rosewater
Citric Acid
Salt

How are the ingredients put together?

The primary ingredients used to make the filo pastry are flour and water the mixture is combined and rolled flat in to paper thin individual layers using a pastry sheeter.

The baklava is then constructed by hand individually layering sixteen sheets below and sixteen sheets again above a generous filling of nuts, whether pistachios, almonds, cashew, or walnuts in each baklava tray.

The baklava is then ladled with a generous helping of vegetable ghee and left to absorb it, once the ghee is almost completely absorbed by the filo pastry it then makes its way to then oven to be baked.

The vegetable ghee ensures that each of the sixteen layers of filo pastry as crispy and satisfyingly crunchy as possible, this is the Sweetland London standard!

As soon as each tray of baklava comes out of the oven it is immediately topped with hot sugar syrup made with sugar, water, and rosewater. Once it has cooled the baklava is ready to either be served, packed or head to the Sweetland shop counters.

Our vegan baklava selections packs come in a wide variety of sizes and packaging. They are great to have at home for dessert, to share with family and friends, or even as an office snack:

300g Gift Box
500g Tin
850g Gift Box
1kg Tin
1.5kg Gift Box

As with many vegan recipes, the versatility that cashews provide for desserts makes them a popular choice. So a number of our selection utilizes cashews. Namely the finger, coleschwor, boukaj vegan baklava. Whereas our square vegan baklava use almonds. And the vegan pistachio baklava comes in a diamond shape.

Why provide vegan baklava?

Well, here at Sweetland London we pride ourselves on catering to all needs. We care most about sharing our delicious recipes with everyone, without compromising Mediterranean tradition.

Veganism has proven to be a growing and compassionate movement, and it’s not going anywhere. And most of all we can’t stand the idea of our vegan friends going without our scrumptious baklava.

Hopefully, there will come a day when standing up for our ideals won’t require any sacrifice on our palette’s part. Hence why we want to make sure to contribute to those who choose to commit to a vegan diet. To come closer to that future for all of us.

We could all do with a little sweetness in our lives, to lighten the load and share wonderful memories with our loved ones. Food is what brings us together, so why not continue to share that experience with all of our friends.

If you find yourself craving baklava, click here for a selection of our vegan baklava.