Sunday, March 28, 2010

Baklava

Gooey, rich, buttery, and sweet.  Baklava is a dessert that is claimed by many cultures as their own.  Whether it is Greek, or Turkish or even Chinese, makes no difference to me.  All I know is that it's good, really good.









Walnut Baklava:

1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) butter, melted
4 cups chopped walnuts
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1 package frozen phyllo dough, thawed in refrigerator

Syrup
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves

  • Preheat oven to 375F
  • In a food processor, pulse walnuts with the cinnamon and sugar, set aside
  • Place stack of thawed phyllo sheets on a work surface
  • Brush the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch lasagna pan with butter
  • Lay one sheet of phyllo dough in the pan and brush it with butter. 
  • Repeat until you have 4 layers on the bottom of the pan, brushing each with butter as you layer
  • Sprinkle phyllo stack with 1/3 cup walnut filling
  • Lay another sheet of phyllo on top and brush with butter.  Repeat until the filling is used up, reserving 5 sheets of phyllo for the top layer.
  • With a sharp knife, trim the edges
  • Using a sharp knife, cut unbaked baklava into squares, or triangles, or diamond shapes
  • Bake until puffed and golden 30 to 35 minutes.
  • *While it is baking, make syrup by bringing all of the syrup ingredients to a boil and letting it simmer until the sugar is dissolved and mixture is syrupy (approx 10 minutes)
  • Transfer the baklava out of the oven onto a wire rack and let it cool slightly
  • Pour hot syrup over the baklava and let it stand at room temperature until syrup is absorbed, at least 3 hours. 
  • To store, keep at room temp for up to 3 days.

Brush each layer with melted butter
Sprinkle in walnut mixture
Trim the edges
Cut
Finished
Serve

9 comments:

  1. instead of sugar you can try honey...

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  2. Wow, this is stunning. I am a huge fan of baklava. Its definitely one of my all time favourite treats. Yours looks so delicious. I'm hungry now.
    *kisses* HH

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  3. So you slice it before you bake it? I didn't know that!

    BTW, what kind of knives do you use? They must be fantastic to make such good cuts!

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  4. Hi Pastilla!!

    I use Wusthof knives. And I sharpened them right before I made those cuts:) By the way, as soon as I can find my way into a Middle Eastern grocery store, I am going to attempt to make Pastilla!!!! (With chicken of course, I wouldn't even know where to find pigeon out here)

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  5. Thank you, HH:) It's nice to meet you and I love your blog too!

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  6. hi there
    baklava I ma fan of those !! tahks and the photo is great !! Pierre de Paris

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  7. I keep seeing recipes for phyllo. Where da heck do you buy phyllo?

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  8. Darthfoofie,

    You can find phyllo in the freezer section at any grocery store. It should be right next to the frozen puff pastry and pie crust:)

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  9. this appears to be perfectly made. what an amazing creation--i'm smitten!

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