Try this Efi's Baklava recipe, or contribute your own.
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- syrup:
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 pkg phyllo dough thawed and room temperature
- 2 sticks unsalted butter melted
- 5 cups chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs
- 2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- Carbohydrate 101.133246638812 g
- Cholesterol 732.575 mg
- Fat 623.772135780085 g
- Fiber 46.8059967309315 g
- Protein 156.698518773496 g
- Saturated Fat 190.782364757362 g
- Serving Size 1 1 recipe (1803g)
- Sodium 642.354815446672 mg
- Sugar 54.3272499078804 g
- Trans Fat 56.6641167848623 g
- Calories 6291 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 325.
- Butter or spray a 9x13 inch baking pan. Don't use a glass dish.
- Melt 2 sticks of butter in a saucepan on the stove.
- Pulse walnuts in food processor, 2 cups at a time, until a mix of small pieces and some fine pieces. Don't chop to the point that they are ground.
- In a large bowl, combine chopped walnuts, sugar, bread crumbs, cinnamon and cloves.
- Place 1 phyllo sheet in the buttered 9x13 pan and brush with melted butter.
- Continue this process with six sheets of phyllo, placing each sheet on top of the other and brushing well with butter.
- Scoop out a generous handful of the walnut mixture and sprinkle on top of the last buttered sheet of phyllo.
- Place 2 sheets of phyllo on top of the walnuts, one at a time, brushing each with melted butter.
- Add more walnuts on top of the second buttered sheet.
- Repeat until all the walnuts have been used and end with six phyllo sheets for the top.
- Butter each of the six sheets indivually just like you did at the beginning.
- Using a bread knife, cut straight lines and then diaganol lines. Hold the phyllo and cut slowly to avoid tearing.
- Sprinkle a little water over the top and place in oven. Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the top is deep golden brown.
- While the baklava is baking, prepare the sugar syrup.
- In a saucepan, combine 2¼ cups granulated sugar, 2 cups water, 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice and 1 or 2 cinnamon sticks.
- Bring to a rolling boil and boil for exactly 8 minutes from the time it started boiling. Then remove from heat.
- As soon as you remove the baklava from the oven, pour the warm sugar syrup over the top.
- Now just let it cool for a while and then go over the cuts again with the bread knife.
- Place on a serving platter.
- The baklava will keep for several days in the refrigerator and just bring to room temperature before serving.
The ingredient list omits the chemical reality of butter fat and sugar syrup colliding with fragile paper-thin sheets. Unbaked pastry dries instantly upon air exposure. Keep a slightly damp towel directly over the stack while assembling the pan. Metal pans conduct heat more reliably than ceramic or glass alternatives, ensuring the bottom layers crisp instead of steaming.
- Pulse walnuts in a food processor until texture resembles coarse sand mixed with distinct tiny granules, avoiding a pasty powder that packs too densely.
- Boil the sugar syrup for precisely eight minutes after reaching a rolling boil to prevent crystallization upon cooling.
- Score the pastry with a serrated bread knife before baking, holding the top sheets gently to prevent tearing.
- Store the finished pastry covered in the refrigerator for several days, allowing the syrup to fully saturate the crumb without turning the crust soggy.
Chilling the dessert overnight allows the sugar syrup to migrate completely through the walnut layers. Bring individual portions back to room temperature before eating to restore the crisp crunch of the baked butter fat.
