Baklava is one of the most popular Greek dessert made of layers of crispy phyllo, stuffed with chopped nuts , drizzled with honey syrup.

Of course middle Eastern food rocks especially kebabs , Shawarma, koftas ,Falafal, hummus . I have tried almost all of their food and Baklava is one of the royal dessert among all. Rich, crispy thin layers of pasty filled with nuts and honey totally makes your day.

Lately my addiction to baklava is growing so much that if I prepare it today, the full batch gets over within 3 days and 70% of them by me . I know it is too sugary but to tell you the truth, it has become one of my favorite desserts now. Just for the info, baklawa is something that you won’t stop after just one bite.

Back in India heard a lot about this dessert and I vaguely remember trying it out somewhere. Don’t exactly remember where or who gave me but after since then this dessert has made its home in my heart.

Few weeks back I took a dare to bake this illustrious sweet. Referred the internet for inspirations to make this recipe. I wasn’t quite sure whether it will turn crispy or soggy because we have to add sugar honey syrup on the baked crispy baklava. Keeping my fingers crossed , took the dare to bake it and yep! Here they are! Almost close to authentic ones . I am totally contented. Whenever I cook something and it comes upto my expectation level, just want to hit the best clicks , but this time, I kept patient till the next day since it was already getting dark outside . And to my joy it was a beautiful sunny day for my baklawa photo shoot. Of course soon after the shoot , my hubby takes the first bite and yesssss! I totally nailed it.

That’s enough for now. You must be really craving for it . So wanna know how to make it? Just follow me in my kitchen . I am gonna show you each and every step of this mesmerizing, easy dessert.

Preparation Time: 1 Hour

Baking Time: 40 Minutes

Yields : 30 Pieces

Ingredients : 

• 3 Cups nuts(I used walnuts and Cashewnuts), chopped
• 1 Whole pack of phyllo dough pastry sheets
• 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon Powder
• 1/8 Teaspoon Clove Powder
• 1 Cup butter, melted

For Syrup : 

• 1 Cup white granulated sugar
• 1 Cup Honey
• 1/2 Cup Water

Method:

Coarsely grind the nuts in the food processor or grinder . Take them out in a bowl and sprinkle cinnamon and clove powder and mix.

These phyllo dough is sold frozen, so you cannot just use it. You need to , thaw them first. What I mean by thawing is, remove from freezer and refrigerate it for 24 hours and then let it rest on the counter top for an hour before actually making your recipe.

Roll out the phyllo dough sheet on your counter . Since I have used 13″ x 9″ baking pan, I had to trim my sheets using scissors so as to fit in the pan. Keep them covered with damp cloth just to take care that they don’t dry off and use them as you proceed, every time covering the rest of the sheets.

Preheat the oven at 355 degree Farenheit and while it is preheating, follow the assembling steps given below.

Pour in a generous amount of melted butter in the pan and spread it well covering the bottom and sides.

Place one sheet over the buttered pan and apply butter on top again. Place another sheet and apply butter. Keep repeating for total 6 sheets.(Since my phyllo dough package had total of 25 sheets, I have divided them into batches like 6 first, then 5 , again 5 and then 9) .

Pour over 1/3rd of the nut mixture on top spreading evenly.

Now place a phyllo sheet on top of the nut mixture and brush some butter. Keep placing the sheets buttering up everytime for total 5 sheets.

Add another 3rd of the nut mixture and repeat the process for 5 more sheets .

Now finish it off by adding the remaining nuts and the last 9 layers . Don’t forget to butter the topmost layer to get that nice brown color after it is baked .

With the sharp knife, give diagonal cuts to give each baklawa piece a diamond shape.

Bake it in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until you see the top nice and golden.

While your baklawa cake is baking , lets prepare syrup .

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, honey and water. Stir well and keep it on high heat.

Once it starts to boil, lower the heat and let it simmer on low heat for 5 minutes .

Remove from heat and let it stand until the baklawa is baked. Till then, this syrup will be nice and thick perfect to pour on the Crispy baked Baklava.

Once Baklava is removed out from the oven, immediately pour this syrup. You will hear slight sizzling. Don’t worry, that will make it crispy.

Let it rest uncovered allowing to cool completely before removing the pieces out. Better to eat it the next day so that all the syrup nicely seeps inside nook and corner of each piece . Let me tell you , though I kept it till next day, I just couldn’t resist and tried out little from the corner as soon as it is cooled. 😉 . go on, grab a bite .

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