Sometimes there just isn’t any place to put stuff, so it goes here.
This was my first attempt to make this dish and I wound up margin two other recipes plus making some changes of my own.
For reference see:
And my changes all go under the heading: “Prefers Stronger Flavors”
Ingredients:
- 1package, 40 sheets, phylo dough, brought to room temperature
- 2 1/2 Sticks of butter
- 1lb (about 4 cups) Walnuts
- 1c Salty nuts.(Optional - I used Smokehouse Almonds)
- 2 tsp Ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp Ground cardamon
- 1/2 tsp Ground cloves
- 2c Honey
- 1/2 c Sugar
- 3/4 c water
- 2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
- 3 tsp Vanilla
Steps:
- Preheat over to 325°
- Make Nuts:
- Combine walnuts and (optional) salty nuts in a food processor. Pulse until finely chopped but don’t overdo it.
- Mix in the cinnamon, cardamon, and cloves and set aside.
- Make the Syrup
- Combine honey, sugar, water, lemon juice, vanilla and 1/2c of button in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and ensuring the sugar gets dissolved.
- Set aside and allow to cool.
- Make the thing
- Melt 2 cups of butter and keep warm enough to stay melted.
- Unroll the phylo dough and trim as needed to fit in a 9X13 pan.
- Butter the bottom and sides of your pan.
- Lay out one sheet of dough and brush lightly with melted butter. Repeat dough/butter/dough until you have 10 stacked and buttered sheets.
- Spread 1/5 of the nuts over the dough, about 3/4 cups.
- Continue layering the buttered dough and nuts in 5-sheet groups and finish with a 10-sheet top. when you’re done you’ll have the following pattern:
- 10 sheets of buttered dough
- 1/5 nuts
- 5 sheets of buttered dough
- 1/5 nuts
- 5 sheets of buttered dough
- 1/5 nuts
- 5 sheets of buttered dough
- 1/5 nuts
- 5 sheets of buttered dough
- 1/5 nuts
- 10 sheets of buttered dough on top
- Cut the pastry length-wise into four equal strips
- Then cut diagonally into diamonds. I made 7 diagonal cuts but just make fewer for bigger pieces, or more form smaller pieces.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hr 15min or until top and exposed nuts are golden brown and toasty.
- Remove from the over and immediately start pouring the cooled syrup over the hot pastry - you’ll hear it sizzle and this prevents the pastry from getting soggy. Pour all of the syrup evenly across the top.
- Let baklava cool for several hours uncovered and at room temperature as the syrup penetrate and soaks into everything.
- Store for up to two weeks at room temperature and only loosely covered.
I admit I was reluctant to try this recipe as I’d heard how difficult it could be but in hindsight it wasn’t bad at all. Maybe a little tedious with the phylo layering but still not that bad AND well worth it! This came out really well and honestly was the best baklava I’ve ever had. But I say that suspecting the real issue was freshness and not some superior recipe.
I note that Pioneer Woman suggests only buttering every-other later of dough and I wound up switching from every layer to every other about half way up and I think she’s right. So long as you’re not stingy with the butter, every other layer seemed to work just fine and save a significant amount of time.
I also note that I added salty nuts to my mixture because I’m always a fan of that sweet+salty thing though in the final product I can’t taste the salt…so I may adjust that in the next version. I also add a fair bit more seasonings to the nuts, particularly cardamon. Following these recipes I just couldn’t taste any real spices after mixing so I added and was very happy with the result.
Have fun!