Baklava

There are some desserts that are so complex-tasting that they seem intimidating to me.  For me, Baklava is one of those desserts.  It’s been on my baking bucket list for ages.  With a birthday to celebrate, this last weekend was the perfect opportunity to kick it!

It proved to be so NOT difficult.  With a few quick and easy preps {clarifying butter, blanching almonds} is was quite easy to do.

Baklava
recipe slightly adapted from Alton Brown’s recipe on Food Network

Filling:

1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
6 oz. blanched almonds  {see note 1}
6 oz walnuts
6 oz roasted & salted pistachios
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
1 tsp rosewater {see note 2}
1 lb phyllo, thawed
16 oz. butter, clarified

Syrup:

1 1/4 cups honey
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups water
1 cinnamon stick
1 {2 inch} piece orange peel

Directions:

Butter bottom and sides of a 9 X 13 pan.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place almonds, walnuts, pistachios, sugar, cinnamon, and allspice in the bowl of a food processor.  Pulse 15-20 times until nuts are ground to small pieces.  You don’t want finely ground or pasty!  Set aside.

Combine rosewater and 1/4 cup water in a spritz bottle and set aside.

Trim phyllo to fit in a 9 X 13 pan.  Lay down a sheet of phyllo in prepared pan. Brush sheet with clarified butter to coat.  Repeat this with 9 more sheets of phyllo {brushing EACH sheet with butter}.

Top with 1/3 of the nut mixture, spread thinly.  Spritz generously with rosewater mixture.

Repeat 6 layers of phyllo, brushing each sheet with clarified butter.

Top with 1/3 more of the nut mixture.  Spritz generously with rosewater mixture.

Repeat 6 more layers of phyllo, brushing each sheet with clarified butter.

Top with the remaining 1/3 nut mixture.  Spritz generously with rosewater mixture.

Lastly, layer 8 sheets of phyllo, buttering each generously with clarified butter between sheets.  Butter the top  {and final} sheet generously.

Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from oven and cut into 12 squares.  Cut each square diagonally, making 24 triangles.  Return pan to oven and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Remove & cool for 2 hours.

Make the syrup during the last 30 minutes of cooling.

For the syrup:

Combine honey, water, sugar, cinnamon stick, and orange peel in a 4 quart pan & set the heat to high.  Stir occasionally until the sugar dissolves.  Bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, discard cinnamon stick and orange peel.

After baklava has cooled for 2 hours, recut the baklava following the same cuts as before.  Pour the hot syrup evenly over the top allowing it to run into the cuts and around the edges.

Allow to sit, uncovered, to cool completely.  Cover and store at least 8 hours (see note 3} or overnight to absorb the honey mixture.  Store covered up to 5 days at room temperature.

{NOTE 1:  blanching almonds to remove the skins:  place 2 cups cold water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat.  Add almonds and cover pot for one minute.  Drain almonds immediately.  Rinse with cold water.  Pinch skins to remove from almond, or place them on a clean kitchen towel and rub gently to remove skins.}

{NOTE 2:  TJ Maxx is a great place to find rare items like Rosewater!!}

{NOTE 3:  WHO THE HECK can wait 8 hours???  Not us, for sure! We tried a piece each after 3 hours and it was A-mazing!  8 hours allows the honey mixture to absorb more thoroughly though :)}