Recipe Details

Summary

Name: Baklavas

Category: Greece

Filling:

1 pound walnuts, coarsely chopped

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Pastry:

1 pound phyllo pastry

6 oz. unsalted butter, melted

Syrup:

1/2 pound sugar

10 oz. water

2 cinnamon sticks

2 teaspoons lemon juice

some lemon peel

2 tablespoons honey

Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl.

Liberally butter the base and sides of an elongated or round baking

dish. Measure the length of the phyllo against the baking dish roughly

and, allowing 1 inch extra approximately for shrinkage, cut to length

with a sharp knife. Brush each layer of phyllo with melted butter and

spread over the base of the container as evenly as possible. Once you

have used 5 layers of pastry, sprinkle a thin layer of filling all over

the surface and add 3 more layers. Sprinkle a thin layer of filling and

place 2 more sheets of phyllo on top. Sprinkle on all the remaining

filling, spreading it evenly, and cover with 7−8 more layers of phyllo,

brushing individually with butter. Fold any excess pastry on either of

the sides over the filling and brush it with butter. Brush the top layer

liberally with butter in order to get it crisp and golden. Trim any

excess pastry with a small sharp knife, keeping in mind that it will

also shrink.

Cut the top layers of fyllo carefully, either diagonally into diamond

shapes or straight, which will result in square or elongated pieces.

Be careful not to cut right down to the base, but only the top layers.

This is done in order to make cutting and lifting the pieces out, once

it is cooked, much easier and efficient. Using the tips of four fingers,

sprinkle drops of water all over the surface and cook it in a preheated

oven at 375F for 15 minutes; lower the heat to 350F and cook for a

further 20 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the syrup. Place all the

syrup ingredients, apart from the honey, in a saucepan and stir to

dissolve the sugar. Simmer for 6−8 minutes, add the honey and simmer

for a further 5 minutes until it thickens slightly. Let the baklava

cool down then pour the hot but not boiling syrup slowly all over,

through a strainer.

Let it stand and absorb the syrup. Cut and serve.