Baklava

Who hasn't heard about this middle eastern dessert? I never attempted to even make it till this past week. Reason? amount of butter. But, when I tell you that do not make this unless you are having 40 people over to your place for a party, you will have to listen to me. Please listen to me. Don't think of doing a test run before the party. Because, you cannot go wrong with this dessert. So, don't ever make it for just your family unless your family itself is 20+ people. I made this for my kid's birthday party. There were totally 34 people including kids. Even then, there was some left over which I had to literally request people to take home. You see, I cannot resist sweets and I don't want to go cloth shopping for bigger clothes.

Coming to the recipe, if you google the baklava recipe, you get a lot of links  and most of them have the same recipe with very few changes. I made my own changes with respect to nuts and spices.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound Phyllo sheets thawed
• Butter - 2 sticks melted
• Cinnamon - 2 tsp (powder)
• Cloves - 1 tsp (powder)
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Almonds - chopped and then measured 2 cups
• Pistachios - chopped and then measured 1 cup
• Fine soji or semolina - 1/4 cup (I added this instead of bread crumbs)

For the Syrup:

• Sugar - 2 cups
• Water - 2 cups
• Cinnamon - 1 " stick
• Cloves - 3 - 4
• Lemon juice - 1 TBSP

Method:
I used a 9 X 13 pan because the phyllo sheets were 9 X 14. I did not have a overhang on any side. Brush the pan generously with melted butter. Start layering phyllo sheets one at a time and brush each layer with butter. After about 10 sheets, pour the filling ingredients (nuts and spices) on to the pan. Spread evenly. Start layering about 10 - 12 sheets on the top brushing with butter as you go. When done, Take a sharp knife and cut into diamonds only till you hit the filling. Do not score the bottom pastry. Preheat the oven to 325 F. You can bake it at 350 if you are using an aluminum pan. Brush the top also with butter and bake for 1 hour or golden on the top. If it is browning too fast, cover with aluminum foil after 45 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the syrup. Boil all the ingredients mentioned in for syrup above. Bring it to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. When the bake time is over and you take it out of the oven, let it stand for 3 - 5 minutes and then slowly pour the syrup on to the pastry. Let it come to room temperature and then transfer the pan to the refrigerator uncovered for 8 hours at least. This taste best after soaking for 2 days. When ready to serve, score thorough the lines and cut the bottom pastry. This is very addictive and if you have a sweet tooth, it is almost impossible to eat one slice and keep quiet.

Variations:
You could use other nuts or combination of nuts. You can use cardamom instead of cinnamon. There are lot of recipes out there which use honey syrup.

Happy Baking!! Pin It