For my sister's baby shower, we are planning a Winnie the Pooh theme, which makes it an obvious choice to incoporate honey into the recipes for the food we will be providing. I have always wanted to try making Baklava, but since I wanted to do a test run before trying it for the shower I decided to make it for my co-workers and have them be the guinea pigs.
I went to my favorite recipe website, Allrecipes.com and searched for Baklava. A slew of recipes came up so I read some reviews and picked the recipe called Bakalava II. Here is the link for it if anyone would like to check it out for themselves, but I will be providing the full recipe below. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Baklava-II/Detail.aspx
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 cups water
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1/4 lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 pounds chopped almonds
- 2 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, melted
- 1 (16 ounce) package frozen phyllo pastry, thawed
DIRECTIONS
I did not use almonds, I used half walnuts and half pecans. I already had the walnuts at home, and purchased the pecans. When looking through the recipes I found people used all varieties of nuts, so try what you like, or experiment a little.
You do not need to cut the phyllo, although you can if you want. You can leave the sheets at full size and just fold them over once buttered.
Watch the oven! I only needed to cook mine for 50 minutes exactly. I started at 45, and then cooked it for 5 more minutes and it was prefectly golden brown.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a saucepan over medium heat, combine 2 cups sugar, water, honey, cinnamon stick, lemon and vanilla. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes, skimming any foam that is formed. Set side.
- In a small bowl, combine chopped almonds, 2 tablespoons sugar, ground cinnamon and cloves; set aside. Brush butter on bottom of a 9x13 inch pan. Each sheet of phyllo dough is twice as big as the pan, so cut each in half, making 2 sheets. Place a sheet of phyllo on bottom of pan, and brush with melted butter. Repeat process for a total of 8 sheets, buttering each. Sprinkle about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of nut mixture evenly over the phyllo, and cover with 4 more sheets, buttering each. Continue sprinkling nuts after every 4 sheets of phyllo, until all but 8 sheets (4 full sheets) are used.
- Use remaining 8 sheets for the top layer, buttering each sheet of phyllo. Before buttering the last sheet, tuck in any loose edges. Press down layers with palms of your hands. Pour remaining butter over the top. With a large knife, cut 5 strips lengthwise about 1/2 inch deep, then cut diagonally to form diamond shapes.
- Bake in preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and immediately pour syrup over baklava. Allow to cool thoroughly. Cut diamonds to go all the way through, and serve.
I did not use almonds, I used half walnuts and half pecans. I already had the walnuts at home, and purchased the pecans. When looking through the recipes I found people used all varieties of nuts, so try what you like, or experiment a little.
You do not need to cut the phyllo, although you can if you want. You can leave the sheets at full size and just fold them over once buttered.
Watch the oven! I only needed to cook mine for 50 minutes exactly. I started at 45, and then cooked it for 5 more minutes and it was prefectly golden brown.
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Comments: 35
Congratulations for taking this project on. Your photos made my mouth water and I was wondering if you wanted to bring some to camp? Just kidding...
It was kind of expensive to make, it will be a very rare once in a while thing for me.
My local market sells Baklava for over $8 a pound.
I adore baklava!
A Saudi friend who no longer live in the US used to pour rosewater syrup over hers.
10 4 u
Hope your day is filled with joy......Points Nation!
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Lexa