Baklava
Baklava is a dessert that dates back to the ancient Ottoman and Persian empires. It’s a sweet, nut-filled pastry. Sometimes, it’s written with a "W" instead of a "V".I make my version with a simple syrup to which I add a bit of lemon. Traditionally, in Algeria (my sweetheart is half Algerian, half Québécois), the dessert is drizzled with a syrup made from honey and orange blossom water. Still, my husband (and my mom too) thinks my recipe is a 12/10!You have to like nuts, though, because there are A LOT of nuts in this recipe! That said, you can use whatever nuts you have on hand. So, if you have leftover nuts piling up in your pantry and don’t quite know what to do with them, this is the perfect recipe!In short, it’s a perfect dessert: ultra flavorful and waste-reducing (or pantry-clearing)! The only small drawback is that phyllo dough can be a bit tricky to handle. But don’t worry—I’ve included a tip right in the recipe to help with that!
Ingredients
Syrup
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar
- 1 ½ lemon juice
- ¾ cup water
Pastry
- 3 ¼ cups finely chopped mixed nuts of your choice (not ground)
- ¾ cup finely chopped almonds (not ground)
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 6 tablespoon melted butter
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 box phyllo dough sheets Phyllo dough packages typically contain 12 or 16 sheets. If your package has 12 sheets, simply use one less sheet per nut layer than indicated in the recipe—i.e., use 3 sheets per nut layer instead of 4.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 355°F (180°C).
- To make the syrup, place the sugar, lemon juice, and water in a saucepan. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Bring to a boil and stop stirring for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, let the syrup cool.
- Grease a rectangular Pyrex baking dish (approx. 8 x 11 inches) with butter.
- In a bowl, mix the nuts, almonds, spices, and sugar. Then divide the nut mixture into three equal parts.
- Brush half of a phyllo sheet with the melted butter and olive oil mixture using a silicone brush. Fold the sheet in half lengthwise and trim it so it fits the baking dish. Repeat this with three more sheets.
- Tip: Phyllo dough can be a bit hard to work with. Don’t give up on the recipe for that reason! If the dough tears, you can patch the holes using trimmed pieces of phyllo dough. You won’t even notice once it’s baked—I promise!
- Add one portion of the nut mixture.
- Then add four more sheets of phyllo dough, brushing each with the butter-oil mixture as before.
- Add the second portion of the nut mixture.
- Add another four sheets of brushed phyllo dough.
- Add the last portion of the nut mixture
- Finish with four more sheets of brushed phyllo dough.
- Brush the top with the remaining butter-oil mixture.
- Cut the baklava three times across the width without cutting all the way to the bottom of the dish (i.e., don’t cut through the bottom layer of phyllo).
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Pour the cooled syrup over the hot baklava.
- Once completely cooled, cut into squares or diamonds.