As a Greek woman, I have grown up with Baklava. My mom makes it, my grandmother (Yia Yia) made it, my aunts make it and every time there is a Greek festival it is there in all of its sticky, yummy goodness. As long as it is fresh, there really is no way to get a bad piece of this classic Greek dessert.
Here is one recipe for Baklava that I particularly like. It has the perfect balance of sweetness, with the lemon countering the honey. It is amazing. Don't worry. This is a pretty easy dessert to make.
Buy the Phyllo from the store. It will taste almost the same as home made and will save you a ton of time.
So here is the recipe:
I always start with the syrup because it needs time to cool.
Combine 3/4 cup water,
1 cup sugar,
1/2 a cup of honey
and 2tablespoons of lemon juice.
Bring that to a boil and once the sugar melts, reduce the heat and simmer for 4 minutes.
Take it off the heat and set it aside.
Finely chop 1 pound of walnuts or pulse
them 10 times in a food processor.
Add 1TSP of cinnamon and stir to combine.
I have a 1 pound box of store-bought phyllo dough.
Thaw according to package instructions then leave it at room temperature for 1 hour before working
with the dough.
Trim the dough to fit your baking pan.
Now you'll need a damp but not wet kitchen towel to keep the pastry covered at all times because it
can dry out quickly.
Butter your baking pan then start layering your first 10
pastry sheets, buttering each one as it goes into the pan.
Also now's a great time to preheat your
oven to 325˚F.
I'll be the first to admit, buttering the sheets
is a little tedious but it's still worth it in the end.
Once the first 10 sheets are in, sprinkle
3/4 cup of your nut mixture evenly over the top.
Now add five more phyllo sheets,
buttering each one, then 3/4 cup of nut mixture and repeat that process of five
sheets and nuts four times.
Finally we top it with our
last 10 sheets of phyllo dough, again buttering each one.
Cut the baklava into four rows, then slice diagonally, to create beautiful
diamond shaped pieces. Bake these in the center of your oven at 325˚F for an hour and 15 minutes.
Just as soon as the baklava is out of
the oven, spoon your cooled syrup over the hot pastry.
It will sizzle as it
absorbs the syrup.
Now it's important tolet the baklava sit for four to six
hours or overnight at room ttemperature forthe syrup to penetrate and soften
the layers.
Once the baklava has had a chance to rest sit back with a slice and a cup of coffee ( preferably Turkish).
I found that you can't go wrong picking the biggest slice so there we go.
Layer after layer of nutty goodness. . .
That's what I'm talking about!
You can really taste the honey in this but it's perfectly balanced with the fresh
lemon juice and it's surprisingly moist.
I hope that you enjoyed this recipe!
