Baklava

Baklava - a delightful dessert from the middle Eastern part of the world. If you ever had a chance to eat at a Mediterranean restaurant, then you must have tried this dessert at least once. This is the one and the only dessert you get to see in their menu list and it tops everything else when it comes to sweetness; as this dessert is made out of layers of filo dough, layers of butter, chopped nuts and sugar syrup. As I write the recipe, I have already swallowed two pieces of baklava for my breakfast. It is so very tempting and I just can't control my taste buds. I'm sure you will love it too!

Ingredients:

4 oz filo dough
50 gms of almonds
100 gms of pistachios
100 gms of Walnut
1 tsp of cinnamon powder
1 tsp sugar
4 oz butter

Syrup:

1 cup of sugar
1 cup of water
1/2 cup of honey
1 tsp vanilla essence

Steps:

1. Thaw the filo dough roll as per the packet instructions. I have thawed the filo dough sheets for about 2 hours.

2. Let's make the syrup first. In a sauce pan, add sugar and water. Let it boil on medium flame.

3. Once the sugar dissolves, add vanilla essence and honey. Mix well and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Switch off the flame after 20 minutes and let it cool.

4. Preheat oven at 350-degree Fahrenheit or 180-degree Celcius for at least 20 minutes.

5. Melt the butter in a bowl and keep it ready.

6. In a blender, add the almonds, pistachios and walnut and chop them coarsely.

7. In a bowl, add chopped nuts, cinnamon powder and a tsp of sugar. Mix them well and keep it aside for layering.

Tip: You can also use organic brown sugar.

8. Grease a 9 * 13 inch pan with butter on the bottom and the sides. I have used a silver foil and then buttered it.

9. Once the filo dough is thawed, remove it from the paper wrap and place it on your kitchen countertop or the work surface. Keep a damp towel ready, to cover the filo dough as we work on layering the sheets.



Tip: Baklava is nothing but alternate layers of filo dough, butter, chopped nuts up to 8 layers.When you are making the dessert for the first time, it might take half hr to one hour.

10. Take two sheets of filo dough and place it in the greased pan. Brush the sheets with a melted butter.



Repeat it until there are 8 sheets of filo dough in the pan. This forms the base.



11. Add 3-4 tbsp of chopped nuts on top of the buttered filo dough.



12. Now add two sheets of filo dough. Brush it with melted butter.



13. Repeat the process until 7-8 layers of chopped nuts are assembled. I have made 7 layers of chopped nuts and filo dough.



This is how the layers look at the sides.



14. Finally, the top most layer has filo dough brushed with butter. To this add another 3 layers of filo dough with butter. Now, we have 8 sheets of filo dough on top.

15. Once the assembling is complete, run a wet knife across the baklava layers to slice them into triangles or any other desired shape.





16. Place the pan in the oven and bake at 350 degree fahrenheit for about 45-50 minutes or until the baklava turns golden and crispy.



Tip: You can check after 45 minutes. Mine got baked with a golden color and crispy texture at 45 minutes.



17. Once removed from the oven, immediately pour the sugar syrup over the baklava.



18. Since it is too hot, sugar syrup gets absorbed quickly.



19. Top the baklava with some chopped pistachios.



20. Wait it is warm and then cut the baklava into pieces as marked already. Serve with a spoon of sugar syrup on top of the baklava. Mouth watering, sugar glazy baklava is ready to eat!