To me, nothing beats my mom's homemade baklava. The flaky phyllo pastry and the crunchy filling are my favourite components in a dessert! The perfect make-ahead dessert, which is even better the next day, when the syrup has soaked the pastry!
This homemade baklava can travel you far away especially if you combine it with a scoop of mastic ice cream.
INGREDIENTS:
For the Baklava and Nut Filling
250 gr almonds chopped
250 gr walnuts, chopped
¼ cup sugar
1 to 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
large pinch of ground cloves
500 gr package phyllo dough
250 gr of unsalted butter, melted
For the Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup cold water
1/2 cup honey
5 whole cloves
1 slice of lemon peel
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 175 degrees C
Butter the bottoms and sides of a square (around 23x31cm) pan
Chop nuts and mix with sugar and cinnamon. Set aside
Unroll phyllo dough. Cut it in half to fit pan, and cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work.
Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered
Sprinkle 1/2 of nut mixture on top.
Top with two sheets of dough, butter, dough, butter, dough, butter and sprinkle 1/4 of nut mixture (repeat 2 times). The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep
Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan.
Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp
Make syrup while baklava is baking
Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted.
Add the whole gloves and honey and simmer for about 20 minutes
Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it
Let cool uncovered
Tips:
1. For best results, let baklava sit 4-6 hours or overnight at room temperature for the syrup to soak the pastry and soften the layers
2.Garnish baklava with finely chopped nuts if you like
3. Store at room temp
4. Baklava is a good buddy with mastic or vanilla ice- cream
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