Baklava
(A sweet Middle-Eastern pastry) Layers of phyllo dough filled with chopped walnuts and cinnamon, sweetened with honey syrup! My dear friend and neighbor, Maria and her family would make this delicious dessert during the holidays. What a wonderful treat! We looked forward to it every year!!
Ingredients
SYRUP:
- 1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
- 1/2 c. honey
- 1 1/2 c. water
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp. lemon juice
FILLING:
- 1 (16 oz.) pkg. shelled walnuts finely chopped
- 2 T. ground cinnamon
PASTRY:
- 1 lb. butter melted
- 1 lb. phyllo pastry thawed
Instructions
- SYRUP: In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, honey, water, and cinnamon; simmer for 8 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook 2 minutes longer. The syrup should be sticky to the touch. Set aside to cool.
- FILLING: In a small bowl, combine walnuts and cinnamon until blended; set aside.
- PASTRY: In a small saucepan, over medium heat, melt butter; keep warm. Unfold a stack of phyllo sheets; cover the phyllo sheets with a towel or plastic wrap to prevent the sheets from drying out while you're working with them. Remove only one sheet at a time.
- Brush a 12 x 18-inch pan with butter. Spread 1-2 sheets (depending on the size of your sheets) of phyllo into the pan and brush with melted butter. Repeat until there are 6 layers of phyllo. Sprinkle one-third of the nut filling on the 6th layer.
- Add 6 more phyllo sheets, again brushing each with melted butter, sprinkle with one-third nut mixture. Repeat this procedure until all ingredients are used, ending with 6 layers of phyllo for the top. Brush top with butter.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Before baking, cut dough in the pan diagonally into 2-inch strips, then cut diagonally again to make diamond shapes.
- Bake for 45 minutes. The pastry should be golden brown and flaky. The pastry should be dry, not soft, in the middle.
- Pour cooled syrup over hot pastry. Pour only enough syrup to fill halfway on the pastry. Serve warm or cooled.
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