What is original baklava made of?
Traditional Turkish baklava, also known as fistikli baklava or pistachio baklava, is typically made with a cutting-edge mass, finely crushed pistachios, butter and a simple syrup based on sugar, water and lemon juice.
You will find many variations of this beautiful dessert from the Middle East baklava, where simple syrup is fragrant with rose water, Greek baklava with walnuts and a generous stream of cinnamon inside.
This recipe is inclined to Greek baklava, although with my own very hazelnut Egyptian twist (everything is in the nut mixture).
Can you use other nuts?
Pistachios or walnuts are the most commonly used nuts. But you do not have to use only one or the other. I love using a combination of nuts and a lot of them! My favorite thing about this version of Greek baklava is that it uses a mixture of three different nuts: pistachios, walnuts and hazelnuts, as well as cinnamon, a pinch of ground cloves and a pinch of sugar.
Nuts are chopped, but to get the perfect bite, they do not grind them too finely. This recipe for baklava is a little on the hazelnut side and no one ever gets angry! But you can completely make this recipe yours and change the nut mixture to your liking.
Baklava Ingredients
- Phyllo pastry - find frozen phyllo dough in the freezer section next to the cake crust.
- Walnut mixture - pistachios, walnuts, hazelnuts, sugar, ground cinnamon, pinch of ground cloves. You can change the nut mixture depending on what you have. For example, you can use only walnuts or pistachios, but make sure you have enough nuts that you use. And if you're not a cinnamon fan, you can ignore that.
- Honey syrup: water, sugar, honey and lemon juice. To infuse the syrup with more flavor, I add two more completely optional elements, orange extract and whole cloves.
Ingredients
for baklava and walnut filling
• 1-2 tablespoons ground cinnamon (start with less if you're not sure)
• Large pinch of ground cloves
• 16 oz mass phyllo, thawed
• 1 ½ to 2 sticks of unsalted butter (up to 16 tablespoons), melted
• 6 oz peeled pistachios, coarsely chopped
• 6 oz walnuts, coarsely chopped
• 6 oz coarse chopped hazelnuts
• ¼ cup sugar
For honey syrup
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 cup cold water
• 1 cup honey
• 1 tablespoon orange extract (optional)
• 5 whole pods
• 1 lemon, juice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Prepare honey syrup: Put sugar and water in a saucepan and heat the frying pan, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Add honey, orange extract if used, and whole cloves; mix. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove syrup from heat and allow to cool until hot. Add lemon juice. Remove the whole nails.
- Prepare the nut mixture: In the bowl of a food processor equipped with a blade, add pistachios, nuts and hazelnuts. Press a few times to cut. Transfer to a large bowl and add sugar, cinnamon and ground cloves. Mix well to match.
- Prepare Phyllo dough: Roll out the dough with thawed edges and place the sheets between two clean tea towels. This will help prevent the phyllo from breaking while you are working.
- Assemble Baklava: Prepare a 9" x 13" x 2" baking sheet. Brush the inside of the baking sheet with a little melted butter. To assemble the baklava, take a sheet of phyllo and place it in the pan (for this size I usually fold my phyllo sheet in half, and it fits perfectly. You can also make a little cut using a pair of kitchen scissors). Brush the top of the cutting sheet with melted butter.
- Repeat this process a few more times until you have exhausted about 1/3 of the cutting edge mass, brushing each layer with melted butter.
- Now distribute about half of the nut mixture evenly over the top layer of phyllo.
- Continue to assemble the baklava, one sheet of phyllo dough at a time using another third of the phyllo. Again, brush each layer with a little melted butter. Evenly distribute the remaining half of the nut mixture over the top layer of phyllo.
- Finish the remaining third of the filo paste following the same process, placing one folded sheet at a time and brushing each layer with melted butter. Brush the top sheet of phyllo with butter. Cut the Baklava dough into pieces: With a sharp knife,
- cut the dough into 24 diamond-shaped pieces (you can get up to 36 pieces smaller).
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- Baking: Place the baking dish on the central shelf of your heated oven. Bake anywhere 35-45 minutes or until the top of the baklava turns golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. (IMPORTANT... Because the ovens vary, be sure to check your baklava halfway cooking).
- Pour the syrup over hot baklava: As soon as you remove the baklava from the oven, pour the cooled syrup over all the hot baklava.
- Cool completely: let baklava stand for a few hours before serving or for at least 1 hour. Cut the previously marked parts. Serve with a garnish of chopped pistachios, if desired.
How to Make Baklava: Step-by-Step
Guide how to make baklava
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. Make honey syrup: Put sugar and water in a saucepan and heat the frying pan, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Add honey, orange extract and whole cloves (cloves are optional here); mix. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove the syrup from the heat. Add lemon juice. Remove the whole teeth and let the syrup cool completely (it will thicken a little).
3. Prepare the nut mixture: In the bowl of a food processor equipped with a blade, add pistachios, nuts and hazelnuts. Press a few times to cut. Transfer to a large bowl and add sugar, cinnamon and ground cloves. Mix well to match.
4. Prepare Phyllo dough Gently roll out the dough on the thawed edge and place the sheets between two clean tea towels. This will help prevent the phyllo from breaking while you work.
5. Assemble the first layers of Baklava
Prepare a baking sheet of 9" x 13" x 2". Brush the inside of the baking sheet with a little melted butter.
To assemble the baklava, take a sheet of phyllo and place it in the pan (for this size I usually fold my phyllo sheet in half, and it fits perfectly. You can also make a little cut using a pair of kitchen scissors). Brush the top of the cutting sheet with melted butter.
Repeat this process a few more times until you have exhausted about 1/3 of the cutting edge mass, brushing each layer with melted butter.
6. Spread part of the nut mixture Now distribute about half of the nut mixture evenly over the top layer of phyllo.
7. Continue to assemble the Baklava Continue to assemble the baklava, one sheet of phyllo dough at a time using another third of the phyllo.
Again, brush each layer with a little melted butter. Evenly distribute the remaining half of the nut mixture over the top layer of phyllo.
Finish the remaining third of the filo paste following the same process, placing one folded sheet at a time and brushing each layer with melted butter. Brush the top sheet of phyllo with butter.
8. Cut the Baklava into pieces With a good sharp knife, cut the dough into diamond-shaped pieces (between 24 and 36 pieces) about ½ inch deep. (See the video to see exactly how I cut baklava)
9. Cooking: Place the baklava dish on the middle shelf of your hot oven. Bake anywhere 35-45 minutes or until the top of the baklava turns golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. (IMPORTANT... Because the ovens vary, be sure to check your baklava halfway cooking).
10. Pour the syrup. Let it cool down. Decoration: As soon as you remove the baklava from the oven, pour the cooled syrup over all the hot baklava. Be sure to dedistribute the syrup evenly. Allow the baklava to cool completely (it is better to leave it for several hours, or at least 1 hour, to allow thread.or scaly layers completely absorb honey syrup). Cut the pieces you marked earlier. And if desired, decorate with a little pistachio before serving.
MAKING Baklava HOMEMADE SYRUP
The best part of this recipe is that it is combined with your own homemade syrup specially for Egyptian Baklava. Once done correctly (which could take a few attempts, do not be discouraged!) has a loose consistency, “honey-like” and the perfect amount of sweetness. The trick is to boil the mixture of sugar, water and lemon juice enough to get a thick texture. To avoid burns, keep the heat at a medium-high temperature.
You must take care of those tips in making Baklava:
There are a few things that intimidate people when it comes to making baklava. A sure is how to work with a thin mass of sharp paper. I shared some tips on this with my spanakopita recipe, but let's take these again, plus some more specific baklava tips that will ensure you make the BEST baklava ever:
1. Defrost your sharp dough correctly. Too much moisture will make the edge sticky and difficult to handle. Do not remove the fillo (fillo) from the container, place it in the refrigerator 12-14 hours until ready for use.
2. Place the lined pastry sheets between two clean napkins while working. Unless you are able to work quickly, before starting to assemble the baklava, place the thawed phyllo sheets between two clean tea towels. This helps blade blades remain indulgent so that they don't break too much or break too much.
3. Prepare your honey syrup in advance. It is important that honey syrup is fresh when it reaches freshly cooked hot baklava. In this way, warm baklava layers will absorb as much syrup as possible and you will perfectly get baklava honey. You have enough time to prepare the syrup while cooking baklava, but be sure to remove it from the heat and place it in a cool place
4. Chop the nuts well, but do not grind them too finely into batter or powder. Obviously, you do not want nuts tucked in baklava to be too large or it is difficult to bite in beautiful pastry. But be sure not to grind the nuts too finely as you end up with powder for filling. You still want to be able to taste the nuts and enjoy their texture.
5. Cut the assembled baklava into pieces before cooking. So important, before cooking, use a sharp knife to cut the dough into pieces (I cut my baklava into larger diamond-shaped pieces. Usually you can get about 24 to 36 pieces depending on your size). Why cut it before cooking? Because once the lined pastry is cooked, it is super crispy and if you try to cut it, it breaks into a mess.
6. Make your baklava one night in advance! Hooray for the perfect dessert to move forward! Baklava is even better the next day, when you had the opportunity to fully immerse yourself in honey syrup. You can keep it covered at room temperature overnight. Make sure it is completely cooled before covering it (if important)
How to prevent baklava from soaking?
Remember my advice on hot baklava and fresh syrup? It is also the key to preventing your honey baklava from soaking. The hot scaly phyllo will properly absorb the cooled syrup while remaining crispy.
If the syrup was also hot, or the syrup and baklava were cold, the syrup will be collected in a little pool and will not be properly absorbed. This will soak the beautiful pastry shop in which you worked so hard.
How to keep baklava?
The good news is that baklava is one of the few desserts that you can make a few days in advance. It keeps well for up to 2 weeks in an airtight glass container at room temperature or in the refrigerator.
Personally, I move the remnants of baklava to the refrigerator after a few days, but keeping it at room temperature better retains its crispy texture. You will know when your baklava is approaching the end of its life when it starts to dry.
You can freeze already cooked baklava for up to 4 months, if desired. It is good to store it in small batches so you don't have to defrost the whole pan when you need a gift. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight or at room temperature for a few hours.