Baklava

Baklava is a very rich sweet pastry made out of layers nuts and filo pastry sweetened with sugar syrup and/or honey. Its main characteristic is crunchy, nutty and very sweet (one of the sweetest desserts I tried).

Baklava is a rich and sweet pastry made with layers of nuts and filo pastry, sweetened with a syrup of sugar and/or honey. One of the most notable characteristics of Baklava is its texture, which is a combination of crunchy, nutty and very sweet. I had my first taste of Baklava when a colleague brought it back as a gift from his home country of Jordan. He had brought back different variations and I found that it was quite authentic. At first, I found it to be quite sweet, but after having it in small quantities, I found it to be quite enjoyable, especially when paired with coffee.

Like many popular foods, the origins of Baklava are not well-known. Many ethnic groups have claimed to have invented it, from the Greeks to the Arabs. However, the strongest evidence suggests that it was created in the imperial kitchens of the Topkapi Palace and based on a Central Asian Turkic tradition of layered breads. In the past, Baklava was considered a luxury food due to the use of exotic ingredients, but today it can be found in Middle Eastern and Greek specialty shops, as well as being made at home as the filo dough is widely available in supermarkets.

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Baklava

  • Author: Raymund
  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 50 mins
  • Total Time: 1 hour 10 mins
  • Category: Dessert
  • Cuisine: Greek

Description

Baklava is a very rich sweet pastry made out of layers nuts and filo pastry sweetened with sugar syrup and/or honey. Its main characteristic is crunchy, nutty and very sweet (one of the sweetest desserts I tried).


Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 375 g filo / phyllo pastry
  • 150 g walnuts
  • 100 g almonds
  • 50 g pistachio
  • 3 tbsp powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup melted butter
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 3/4 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Using a food processor finely chop together walnuts, almonds and pistachios.
  2. Remove from food processor then place in a bowl. Add powdered sugar and cinnamon into the bowl and mix to distribute evenly.
  3. Prepare a damp cloth, you will use this to cover your unused filo pastry to keep them from drying out.
  4. Grease a 9 x 5 inch deep dish or you can line it with wax paper. Place a sheet of filo in the pan then brush top with butter. Place another layer then brush again top with butter, repeat the steps until you have 12 layers.
  5. Pour half of the nut mixture on top then place a sheet filo to cover top, brush it again with butter and repeat steps until you have 10 layers.
  6. Pour remaining half of the nut mixture on top then place a sheet filo to cover top, brush it again with butter and repeat steps until you have 12 layers. Before brushing the final layer with butter press the bottom layers firmly.
  7. Trim excess dough using a knife then place baking dish in the refrigerator for an hour to set. Using a sharp knife cut into diamond shapes all the way to the bottom.
  8. Bake in a 180C preheated oven for 50 minutes or until baklava is golden and crispy.
  9. While baking prepare your sugar syrup by boiling together water, sugar, honey and vanilla. Once boiling simmer for 30 minutes in low heat uncovered.
  10. Remove baklava from the oven then immediately pour sugar syrup on top. Let it cool for at least hours to let the whole thing set.

Notes

Use a mutliflora manuka honey so it would have a fragrant smell like flowers, giving it a more authentic taste

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14 Responses

  1. kiwidutch says:

    Himself loves this now and again, and I’ve tried various versions of it made by Greek, Portuguese, Armenian and Turkish people but found all of them were really too sweet for my personal taste.
    Each to their own… Himself says more for him !

  2. I am quite sure that this is love at first bite!!!!! It looks so moistlicious!!!

  3. Being Armenian, I make Paklava all the time, but I have to say, it never occurred to me to use a mix of nuts for some reason. I usually make the traditional walnut version but will sometimes use almonds instead and mix in other things. Even with the fact that so many people sprinkle crushed pistachios on the tops, it still never occurred to me to use a mix of nuts! I personally find the honey syrup to be too sweet and stick with a sugar/water/lemon simple syrup. I have never heard of anyone refrigerating it, but that would probably make the cutting easier. I’ll have to try to remember that next time. Yours turned out beautifully. Just FYI, if you slice on the diagonal from corner to corner first, you can usually avoid the little random pieces – of course, those are perfect for sampling! 😉

  4. Delicious food Raymund, I’ve never made my own baklava and it certainly looks as though I need to try. I have seen my teachers give a demo on making the ultra light pastry (like Filo) and yes, it was a specislised skill and so magnificent to behold. I love those flakey layers and rich sticky syrups, yum! Looks fabulous as always!

  5. I think if I ate that I’d gain 5 pounds because I couldn’t stop. Looks delicious!

  6. This is just incredible.. I’ve never made baklava and your photo shows that you’ve made it just perfectly! It must have tasted so wonderful, I’d love to have a pan like that to share with my friend:) xx

  7. Having many family and friends who are from the ME and live in the ME, I have had my share of great baklava, though its not my favourite, I find I prefer many of the other Arabic desserts more. For that reason I’ve never made baklava! Raymund, yours looks perfect! Totally authentic! It is pretty sweet but most ME desserts are eaten with tea or coffee and that cuts the sweetness down incredibly.
    Great job!

    Nazneen

  8. This is a perfect and beautiful baklava. I love it so much but never attempt at making it before 😀

  9. americancooking22 says:

    Oh man – there are few things I wouldn’t do for some baklava. I’ve heard (and now read in your post) that it is incredibly laborious to make. I have bookmarked this page when I do decide to tackle it! Photos look amazing!

  10. Shirley says:

    I could eat that whole pan by myself, I love baklava so much! Beautiful job.

  11. Lovely sweet way to end any meal !

  12. Dominick says:

    I just fall in love with this beautiful dessert. Thank you author for your nice work. And believe me this baklava cookies is too good to see also I hope the of this will be amazing.

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