Beautiful Baklava
Delicately crisp layers of phyllo dough packed with roasty chopped nuts, all clung together through the application of a thick sweet scented syrup, a tray of golden baked Baklava is a beauteous thing to bring to a party, sure to get a lot of wows and yummies!
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 1 hr
- Yield
- 32 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 10 inch square baking pan
- 9.5 oz phyllo pastry sheets, 270g, thawed overnight in fridge
- 3/4 cup butter, melted, 170g
- 1 cup pistachios
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cardomom (optional)
- 1/8 ground cloves (optional)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/4 cup honey
Instructions
- 1
Defrost the phyllo: The night before you want to make the baklava, place the frozen phyllo sheets in the fridge overnight to defrost. The next day they will be ready to use.
- 2
Prepare the nuts: Shell nuts as necessary. Use a hand blender to chop the nuts to medium fine. Mix the chopped nuts, cinnamon, cardomom (opt.) and cloves (opt.) together.
- 3
Prepare the syrup: Add the sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, water and honey to a small pot. Heat over a low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar is melted. Continue simmering over low heat until the syrup is slightly thickened, around 5 mins. Allow to cool completely to room temperature.
- 4
Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C).
- 5
Cut the phyllo to size: Cut the phyllo in half so that the sheet will fit in the pan. Our phyllo sheets were 10 by 19 inch so we just used a scissor to cut in half to fit in our pan. If you have a different size pan adjust to fit.
- 6
Layer the baklava: Bottom Layer: Brush the baking pan with melted butter. Lay in four sheets of phyllo, brushing each sheet all over with butter before placing the next sheet. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nuts evenly over the pastry sheet. Bottom Middle Layer: Lay on three sheets of phyllo, brushing each sheet all over with butter before placing the next sheet. Sprinkle 1/3 of nuts evenly over the phyllo sheets. Top Middle Layer: Lay on three sheets of phyllo, brushing each sheet all over with butter before placing the next sheet. Sprinkle the last 1/3 of nuts evenly over the phyllo sheets. Top Layer: Lay the final four sheets of phyllo on top, brushing melted butter on each sheet before placing the next. Brush butter generously over the top layer as well.
- 7
Slice the baklava: Slice the baklava lengthwise into four equal sized strips. Further slice at a diagonal to form diamond shaped pieces.
- 8
Bake the baklava: Bake the baklava for 1 hour or until the top is a golden brown.
- 9
Add the syrup: Once the baked baklava is removed from the oven immediately add the room temperature syrup evenly over the hot baklava. Must be room temp syrup added to piping hot baklava in order to insure the phyllo layers remain crispy even after soaking in the syrup.
- 10
Resting: Allow the baklava to rest and the flavors to mingle and absorb overnite or at least for 5 to 6 hours. Serve crispy and dripping with lusciousness!
- 11
Storage: Keep covered at room temperature for up to 7 days.