Summary
Cherry Lime Rickey Round Baklava has the flavor of the drink. It uses phyllo dough, butter, dried cherries, and lime. It bakes up shatteringly crispy with the sweetness of cherry and the tartness of lime.
What's on Your Plate
Cherry Lime Rickey Round Baklava wraps one full sheet of phyllo around chopped dried cherries, lime zest, and sanding sugar, with the dough itself dusted inside with crystalized lime before it's twisted and baked. It is a dessert version of the classic cherry lime rickey soda fountain drink: tart, only lightly sweet, and not something you can eat neatly.
If you love a cherry lime rickey, the old soda fountain drink that pairs sweet cherry syrup with tart lime, you are going to want to make this baklava. It takes that same flavor pairing and tucks it inside a single sheet of butter brushed phyllo dough, twisted at the top like a little purse and baked until golden. One quick note before we get into it: the drink is spelled "rickey," even though it is easy to say, and just as easy to type, as "ricky." Both spellings will get you here, so no matter how you searched for this, you are in the right place.
A Soda Fountain Classic, Baked Into Dessert
The rickey started as a cocktail in 1880s Washington, D.C., made with bourbon, lime, and soda water at a bar called Shoomaker's. Gin took over as the spirit of choice a decade later, and eventually the drink split into two directions: bartenders kept mixing gin rickeys, while soda fountains across the East Coast served an alcohol free version, the lime rickey, sweetened with cherry syrup and topped with seltzer. That cherry lime rickey became a summer staple at old fashioned soda counters, and a few, like Sip 'n Soda in Southampton, New York, are still serving it the same way after three generations.
This baklava borrows that same pairing of sweet cherry and tart lime, but trades the glass for a sheet of phyllo. Instead of dried cherries doing the work of cherry syrup, and lime touching both the dough and the filling, you get a dessert version of a drink that has been refreshing people for well over a century.
Baklava is an Armenian pastry, from the words bakh (Lent) and halvah (sweet), according to Alexandra M. Lord's article about the rich history of the tasty dessert. Once considered an unusual and foreign pastry in the United States, it has now become a sought after treat. Phyllo dough is unleavened so it is fine for Lent and Passover as well.
Just as there are scores of different sweet baklava, there are scores of different ways of making savory filo appetizers as well. This round variety, sometimes called Ladies' Bellybuttons, also make wonderful savory appetizers like our Savory Round Baklava.
Why This Recipe Works
The lime does double duty here. Before the phyllo is folded, the inside of the dough gets a light dusting of crystalized lime, so the flavor perfumes the pastry itself as it bakes, not just the filling. Then the center gets a mix of chopped dried cherries, lime zest, and sanding sugar, which is really the only sugar in the whole pastry. That restraint matters, since it means the finished baklava is closer to tart than sweet, which is exactly right for a recipe named after a rickey.
Because the cherries start out dried, thirty minutes in the oven concentrates them rather than turning them jammy, so you end up with three distinct textures in one bite: crisp phyllo on the outside, a softer lime infused layer where the dough meets the filling, and a chewy, condensed cherry at the center. If you want a sweeter finish, a light dusting of powdered sugar after baking will do it, though the pastry is good, and balanced, without it.
Common Mistakes and Gotchas
Phyllo is thin and it will tear. Expect a few holes and a few breaks as you work, and do not worry about it. A generous brush of butter helps seal small breaks back together, and once everything is twisted and baked, small imperfections in the dough disappear into the folds anyway.
- Work with one sheet of phyllo at a time and keep the rest covered, since dry phyllo cracks instead of folding.
- Brush butter generously, especially over any tears, rather than sparingly. It patches the dough and helps the twist hold its shape.
- Rolling the dough around a chopstick before twisting it off gives you a tighter, more even bundle than trying to twist loose phyllo by hand.
- These do not cut neatly. Plan to eat them whole, or accept that breaking one open will scatter a little filling and a few flakes of phyllo. This is a stand over the sink kind of dessert, in the best way, similar to how Porto's Bakery's Cheese Roll always leaves a little bit of itself on you.
Serving and Storage
Serving
Since each baklava is made from a full sheet of phyllo, one comfortably serves two people, so plan your portions with that in mind. A plain white plate lets the golden phyllo and dark cherry filling stand out, and a lime wedge or a whole cherry alongside makes a simple garnish without overshadowing the pastry. If you want to show off the filling, expect the cut to be a little messy rather than clean, since phyllo shatters more than it slices.
Storing
Store any leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to two days. Skip the refrigerator if you can, since the cold air will make the phyllo tough and chewy instead of crisp. If you need to keep them longer, a quick reheat in the oven at a low temperature will help bring some of the crispness back.
FAQ
Why is it spelled rickey instead of ricky?
Rickey is the correct spelling of the cocktail and soda fountain drink this recipe is named after. It is easy to say, and to type, as "ricky," so if that is how you found this page, you are in the right place either way.
How many people does one baklava serve?
Each baklava is made from a full sheet of phyllo and is quite rich, so one comfortably serves two people. Plan your batch size accordingly if you are serving a group.
Can these be cut neatly for a party tray?
Not really, and that is normal for this style of baklava. The layers of phyllo shatter rather than slice, so plan to serve these whole and let guests break into them by hand.
Can I use fresh cherries instead of dried?
This recipe is built around dried cherries, which concentrate and turn chewy in the oven rather than releasing extra liquid the way fresh cherries would. Fresh cherries would change both the texture and the moisture level of the filling, so they are not a direct swap here.
How do I make it sweeter?
Dust the finished, cooled baklava lightly with powdered sugar. The pastry is intentionally not very sweet, so this is the easiest way to adjust it to taste without changing the recipe itself.
Step by Step Photos
Cherry Lime Rickey Round Baklava Recipe
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Cherry Lime Rickey Round Baklava
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Ingredients
- 12 sheets (12 sheets) Phyllo dough
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) Butter, melted
- 2 tablespoon (29.57 ml) True Lime
~~ -- stuffing -- ~~
- 1/4 cup (30.3 g) dried cherries, chopped
- 1 teaspoon (4.93 ml) lime zest
- 1 teaspoon (4.93 ml) True Lime
- 2 tablespoon (29.57 ml) lemon peel cubes
- 1 tablespoon (14.79 ml) sanding sugar
~~ -- glaze -- ~~
- 1 (1) lime, juice of
- 1/4 cup (59.15 g) maraschino cherry juice
Instructions
- 12 sheets Phyllo doughHave everything ready before you begin. The dish towel should be damp, but not wet. It is used to cover the dough to keep it from drying out. This kind of dough dries out very quickly so unless you are a super hero, you have to use a dish towel. Be aware that if your kitchen is cold, you might have to remelt your butter.
- Preheat the oven to 350 °F (177 °C)
- 1/2 cup (113.5 g) ButterMelt the butter and keep it warm.
- 2 tablespoon (29.57 ml) True Lime, 1/4 cup (30.3 g) dried cherries, 1 teaspoon (4.93 ml) lime zest, 1 tablespoon (14.79 ml) sanding sugarMake the stuffing by putting the cherries in a small food processor and chop them until they are pea size. Add the lime zest, True Lime, and sanding sugar. Mix sell. Set the mixture aside.
- 1 lime, 1/4 cup (59.15 g) maraschino cherry juiceMix the glaze together and set that aside as well.
- Pull one piece of filo dough off the pile and lay it on your board. Cover the rest loosely with the damp cloth.
- Dip your pastry brush in the butter and butter the entire sheet.
- 1 teaspoon (4.93 ml) True LimeSprinkle the buttered sheet lightly with lime powder.
- Fold the sheet over in half and butter that side as well.
- Now, take your skewer, and lay it at the top of the fold.
- Bring the filo over the skewer and continue rolling the filo with the skewer until all but a 1/2 inch is rolled up.
- Take two fingers of each hand and gently squeeze the filo together on the skewer. Some butter will leak out – that's okay, that's why we're using a cutting board.
- Gently remove the squeezed filo from the skewer
- Curl it to make a round circle.
- Put the circle on the rack and continue doing this until all the filo is used up.
- 2 tablespoon (29.57 ml) lemon peel cubesAfter all the circles have been made, put about a half-teaspoon of the filling in the indentation of the each circle. Add a bit of the lemon peel cubes to each filling.
- Brush them well with butter, then put the pan into the oven and bake for about 25 to 30 minutes, or until the filo is golden brown.
- Do not let it get too dark as it will continue to cook once it is out of the oven.
- Let the baklava cool and spoon the glaze over each one.
- Let the baklava sit for 30 minutes.
- Sprinkle with more sanding sugar and serve.
Video
Nutrition
Transcript of Cherry Lime Rickey Round Baklava
Transcript
Good afternoon, and welcome to The Good Plate's kitchen. Today we are making cherry lime rickey baklava. Yes, that's right, we're going to make baklava that is cherry lime rickey flavored. It's actually one of my favorite flavors: sweet cherries and tart limes. And we're going to make it today.
Here we have butter, lots of butter. When we make baklava, it always has butter, okay? And then we have lime, because it's a cherry lime rickey. We have cherry lime, which we're going to be mixing with the butter to give it a more cohesive flavor. And of course we have cherries. These are dried cherries, and we're going to cut them up and put them as filling in our baklava.
And then we have something else interesting: candied lemon peel cubes. We're going to use these because nobody makes candied lime peel cubes. I don't know why. You can find citrus in all kinds of other things, but they don't have that. So we're also going to be using lime, and we'll see how that goes. And of course we have phyllo dough.
Now we're going to need something to keep the phyllo dough from drying out, and we're going to need to do some other prep. I'll be back as soon as that's done.
One of the first things we need to do before we get started is make sure the butter is melted, so I'm going to melt a stick of butter, and it will melt while we're doing other things. Another thing we have to do is prepare the cherries. I have a small electric food chopper here, and we need to chop these cherries and put them in here, and seal it up.
Okay, let's check them. It's a little bit more... check... that's perfect. Set these aside. Let's check on our butter, it's starting to melt.
Now I'm going to show you how to make one of these. I have my brush, and here's my butter. Let me take some of the butter and brush it on liberally. And now I'm going to take a little of this, this is lime, and sprinkle it lightly. Now that I did that, I'm going to fold this in half, like this. A bit more butter, and this side as well.
I'm going to turn it like this. And I have a chopstick. Okay, chopstick, and start from here, and roll this around the chopstick, as tightly as possible. A little twist up like that. Now we're going to take it off, but watch how we take it off, because we're going to squeeze it, and then take this off, and put it together like this, and put it on my sheet. And guess what? It's going to get even more butter on it.
If they break, it's not a big deal, so you will probably break some of these, and they won't stay in one piece. You can see mine already has holes in it. Oh, holes, it's okay.
We have people helping, so it goes even faster. We have two done, I'm going to get the rest done, and we'll see you in a little bit.
Well, here we are, our lovely cherry lime rickey. Now, I want you to know, I'm going to have this one, since it's already broken open. Crunch. Oh, look at that, look at that. These are kind of like Porto's Cheese Rolls, and when you eat them, you know you're going to get a little bit of them on you.
Now I'm going to try this one right now. Mmm, wow. These are not very sweet. If you want yours to be sweeter, you can sprinkle them with powdered sugar, but I like them just the way they are. I hope you make them soon, and I want to thank you for watching. We'll see you next time on The Good Plate!
