Picture this, dear readers. Nutty aromatic roasted nuts soaked in sweet scented syrup enveloped in devastatingly crispy thin as a whisper pastry layers. Sound enticing? This is Baklava!
This baked treat has a history going all the way back to ancient Assyrians of Mesopotamia in 8th century BC, around 2800 years ago! From then and there the idea of the baklava has spread, appearing in different permutations as a dessert in many cultures throughout in Asia and Europe.
Delicately crisp layers of phyllo dough packed with roasty chopped nuts, all clung together through the application of a thick sweet scented syrup, a tray of golden baked Baklava is a beauteous thing to bring to a party, sure to get a lot of wows and yummies! I’ve wanted to make this for a while now but hesitated, thinking that it looked kinda complicated. Well it’s true, it does look complicated and fancy but it’s actually quite easy to make! And ever so impressive to show off and munch on after!
First let us speak of the foundation of baklava magic, the phyllo dough (also known as filo dough.) Phyllo is a very, very thin unleavened dough, so thin that it is translucent! The dough is made with flour, water and a bit of oil and then stretched out to an amaaaaazing thinness. Like tissue paper thinness. And when it bakes up it becomes super thin golden crispiness...super cool amirite?! I love this stuff!
Luckily for us modern folk there are machines that make it nowadays and we can ever so conveniently pick up pre-made phyllo from the frozen sections at the grocery store. To prepare the frozen phyllo for use remember to move it to the fridge the night before. It should thaw it out beautifully. While actually using remember to keep the unused phyllo under a damp towel to keep it moist and pliable!
With the phyllo thawing in the fridge the next thing you'll want to make is the syrup used to soak the baklava. There is an important reason that the syrup is made early. It needs to be cooled down to room temperature before soaking the baklava. This is key to keeping the baked phyllo sheets crispy!
The syrup is made with sugar, honey and fresh lemon juice. The lemon juice brings a fresh, citrusy tartness as well as preventing sugar crystallization. In many regional variations of baklava rose water is added to provide a beautifully floral note. A dab of orange blossom water would work in a similar fashion.
Let's talk about nuts! For the chopped nut layers you can choose whatever nuts you like. We decided on a combo of pistachios, hazelnuts and pecans. Pistachio and pecans for their buttery rich taste and hazelnuts cuz we love the taste of roasted hazelnuts with their caramel notes. Walnuts are another popular choice for baklava. You don’t even have to combo the nuts you could just use one kind.
Shell your nuts if needed and then blitz til chopped, not fine, but small enough not to fall out of the baklava but still big enough to give it a good texture. Add a bit of cinnamon, ground cardomom or ground cloves to add a distinctive and warm spice accent to the nuttiness.
The phyllo sheets probably don't come in the same size as your pan. They will need to be cut down to fit. We got lucky and discovered that our phyllo sheet only needed to be cut in half to fit our pan.
To make the phyllo sheets bake up nice and crispy the trick is to butter it everywhere. Here we are laying in the bottom layer of our baklava. First the pan is brushed with melted butter, then the first sheet of phyllo is laid on and brushed with butter before layering on the next sheet, buttering everywhere and so on… Thus shall each phyllo layer will bake up as a separate golden crunchy layer.
Once you've layered the bottom phyllo sheets, it’s time to add the nuts. Sprinkle the nuts generously over the phyllo. Repeat layering phyllo sheets and adding nut layers until everything is used up!This begs a question- how many sheets of phyllo to use in the layers and also how many nut layers should there be? Well, this depends on how large your pan is and how many sheets of phyllo you have. For example, I got one box of phyllo sheets which had seven sheets total. It turned out that one sheet was approximately twice the size of my pan. So, by cutting each sheet in half, I had 14 layers of phyllo total.
So how to divide these sheets? We needed a top and bottom layer of pastry and some layers in between. So, with 14 sheets total, we decided on 4 layers for top and bottom each so as to make these structurally important layers stronger. With the remaining 6 layers we divided them into 2 layers of 3 sheets each. Which meant that we would need 3 nut layers. Division done!
Your circumstance will probably be a bit different depending on your pan size and the type and amount of phyllo you use. Do note that you definitely can use more phyllo layers then we did and it will making the end result more crunchy. Just spend a moment to calculate the layers before you start.
Here is our finished layering. Remember to generously butter each and every layer of phyllo:
- bottom (4 layers phyllo),
- 1/3 of nuts layer
- middle (3 layers phyllo)
- 1/3 of nuts layer
- middle (3 layers phyllo)
- 1/3 of nuts layer
- top (4 layers phyllo)
The last step before baking is to cut the baklava. It must be cut before baking! It's way too crunchy to cut nicely afterward. Slice longwise so you have four equal slices.
Across these four slices you will then slice at a diagonal to create a diamond shape for the classic baklava look. If you like you can also just cut it into squares or rectangles. Easier and just as pretty.
Into the oven the baklava goes to bake until a golden crackling brown. Then, right after removing from the oven, pour the pre-prepared room temperature syrup all over the hot, hot baklava. This step is key to achieving the crispy phyllo sheets that stay crispy even after soaking in the syrup! The baklava is left to soak up the syrup overnight, the flavors melding together in the process.
Next day your baklava is ready to serve. Baklava party! Crackling thin and crispy pastry layers hold together an array of delicious chopped nuts soaked thru and thru in citrusy, floral scented syrup, each bite a delight of textures and tastes. So exotic and divine, ain't this Baklava Beautiful!
Beautiful Baklava Recipe
(adapted from recipe here) (makes one tray)
Prep time: 15 mins Bake time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
- 10 inch square baking pan
- 9.5 oz phyllo pastry sheets, 270g, thawed overnight in fridge
- 3/4 cup butter, melted, 170g
- 1 cup pistachios
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp ground cardomom (optional)
- 1/8 ground cloves (optional)
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2/3 cup water
- 1/4 cup honey
Instructions:
Defrost the phyllo: The night before you want to make the baklava, place the frozen phyllo sheets in the fridge overnight to defrost. The next day they will be ready to use.
Prepare the nuts: Shell nuts as necessary. Use a hand blender to chop the nuts to medium fine. Mix the chopped nuts, cinnamon, cardomom (opt.) and cloves (opt.)together.
Prepare the syrup: Add the sugar, brown sugar, lemon juice, water and honey to a small pot. Heat over a low heat, stirring occasionally until the sugar is melted. Continue simmering over low heat until the syrup is slightly thickened, around 5 mins. Allow to cool completely to room temperature.
Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C).
Cut the phyllo to size: Cut the phyllo in half so that the sheet will fit in the pan. Our phyllo sheets were 10 by 19 inch so we just used a scissor to cut in half to fit in our pan. If you have a different size pan adjust to fit.
Layer the baklava:
- Bottom Layer: Brush the baking pan with melted butter. Lay in four sheets of phyllo, brushing each sheet all over with butter before placing the next sheet. Sprinkle 1/3 of the nuts evenly over the pastry sheet.
- Bottom Middle Layer: Lay on three sheets of phyllo, brushing each sheet all over with butter before placing the next sheet. Sprinkle 1/3 of nuts evenly over the phyllo sheets.
- Top Middle Layer: Lay on three sheets of phyllo, brushing each sheet all over with butter before placing the next sheet. Sprinkle the last 1/3 of nuts evenly over the phyllo sheets.
- Top Layer: Lay the final four sheets of phyllo on top, brushing melted butter on each sheet before placing the next. Brush butter generously over the top layer as well.
Slice the baklava: Slice the baklava lengthwise into four equal sized strips. Further slice at a diagonal to form diamond shaped pieces.
Bake the baklava: Bake the baklava for 1 hour or until the top is a golden brown.
Add the syrup: Once the baked baklava is removed from the oven immediately add the room temperature syrup evenly over the hot baklava. Must be room temp syrup added to piping hot baklava in order to insure the phyllo layers remain crispy even after soaking in the syrup.
Resting: Allow the baklava to rest and the flavors to mingle and absorb overnite or at least for 5 to 6 hours. Serve crispy and dripping with lusciousness!
Storage: Keep covered at room temperature for up to 7 days.
Bodacious Bakes at The Hong Kong Cookery:
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