Baklava

0 comments

A layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey.

prep time

1 hr

cook time

1 hr

serves

Syrup

2 cups sugar and 1 cup honey
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons light corn syrup (optional)
2 (3-inch) sticks cinnamon (optional)
4 to 6 whole cloves, or 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)

Filling

450- blanched almonds, pistachios, walnuts, or any combination, finely chopped or coarsely ground (about 4 cups)
1/4 cup sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves and cardamom

For Layering the pastry

1 pound (about 24 sheets) phyllo dough
About 1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter or vegetable oil

Method

To make the syrup: Stir the sugar, water, lemon juice, corn syrup, cinnamon sticks, and/or cloves over low heat until the sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Stop stirring, increase the heat to medium, and cook until the mixture is slightly syrupy, about 5 minutes. Discard the cinnamon sticks and whole cloves. Let cool.
To make the filling: Combine all the filling ingredients.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 12-by-9-inch or 13-by-9-inch baking pan
Place a sheet of phyllo in the prepared pan and lightly brush with butter. Repeat with 7 more sheets. Spread with half of the filling. Top with 8 more sheets, brushing each with butter. Use any torn sheets in the middle layer. Spread with the remaining nut mixture and end with a top layer of 8 sheets, continuing to brush each with butter. Trim any overhanging edges.
Using a sharp knife, cut to form diamond shapes.
Just before baking, lightly sprinkle the top of the pastry with cold water. This inhibits the pastry from curling. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to 300 degrees and bake until golden brown, about 15 additional minutes.
Cut through the scored lines. Drizzle the cooled syrup slowly over the hot baklava and let cool for at least 4 hours. Cover and store at room temperature for up to 1 week. If the baklava dries out while being stored, drizzle with a little additional hot syrup.

Baklava is a layered pastry dessert made of filo pastry, filled with chopped nuts, and sweetened with syrup or honey. It was one of the most popular sweet pastries of Ottoman cuisine. The pre-Ottoman origin of the dish is unknown, but, in modern times, it is a common dessert of Iranian, Turkish, and Arab cuisines, and other countries of the Levant and Maghreb, along with the South Caucasus, Balkans, and Central Asia.

Some say that the word “baklava” may come from the Mongolian root baγla- ‘to tie, wrap up, pile up’.

Baklava is a dessert common to Middle Eastern, Turkish and Lebanese food

Dietary Information

Nutritional Information

Typical values*	per Serving	contents
Total Energy		699 Kcal
Protein	7%	47 Kcal
Fat	45%	312 Kcal
Carbohydrates	49%	340 Kcal

Factoid

In Turkish cuisine, baklava is traditionally made by filling between the layers of dough with pistachios, walnuts or almonds (in some parts of the Aegean Region). In many parts of Turkey, baklava is often topped with kaymak or ice cream.

Video