Baklava is a rich, flaky dessert made with layers of nuts sandwiched between layers of thin dough and baked to perfection and then drenched in sugar syrup.
A few years back, my friend who had just returned from Turkey introduced me to Baklava. It was impossible not to touch, take a bite and relish the nutty goodness. I realized that the more I resisted, the more I was drawn to the layers of dough & nuts and the rich sweet taste. I am not a person who watches my diet, but at that time, it felt wrong, especially when I noticed that my friends were watching me like hawks when I went for the second and then a third helping. It was like first crush - sinfully sweet, exciting and beautiful 🙂 .
As luck would have it, a couple of years ago, I again chanced upon Baklava at the "World Unity Fair" at Colorado State University. That is when the "crush" turned love 😉 .
After that second tasting of Baklava, the desire to learn to make it became unfathomable. I started my research and found a recipe that I liked; but every website I based my research on scared me. Those websites all mentioned the need to be extremely quick with the paper thin phyllo dough . This made me think that I should be faster than "Flash Gordon" to make baklava and I was not yet ready to make it.
But finally, I gathered the courage and made it.
The journey towards the perfect baklava was not without bumps. The websites were not completely wrong; you have to work fast but you don't need super speed. During my first attempt, the phyllo dough sheets started breaking apart and I even thought of throwing the whole thing into the trash can. But, I am glad that I stuck with it. It turned out to be perfectly well baked baklava. The only problem with the first attempt was that my entire family felt it needed a little more syrup which I fixed in the later attempts.
I made a few changes to the original recipe. I reduced the cinnamon used by half and increased the quantity of the syrup.
You will definitely feel like having "just-one-more-piece", but please keep in mind that this is a very rich dessert. I have cut the baklava into approximately 50 pieces (about 2 inches square), but you can cater to even bigger crowd, if you make it into smaller pieces.
Did You Know this about baklava?
November 17th is celebrated as National Baklava Day 🙂 . But you do not have to wait till November 17th to enjoy this dessert. Follow the recipe and make some at home.
Oldest Baklava recipe was found in a Chinese cook book written in 1330 under the name güllach."Güllaç" is also found in Turkish cuisine.
Watch this video to see how it is made at "Karaköy Güllüoğlu" factory in Turkey - supposedly a very famous exporter of Baklava. In Turkey, Gaziantep is very famous for its Baklava.
[Source: Grecian Delight, New World Encyclopedia]
Baklava - Pictorial
- Assemble all the ingredients and the equipment before you start. Wet the muslin cloth and wring it. The towel should be just damp and not soaking wet. This towel will be used to cover the phyllo dough sheets when you are working with the baklava layers.
2. Gently unroll the phyllo dough without breaking the sheets. You can unroll it on the same plastic sheet it comes rolled in.
3. Cover the phyllo sheets with the dampened towel. You have to keep the phyllo dough covered with this towel while you are working with the layers. This prevents the sheets from drying up.
4. Line your baking tray with Aluminium foil. Set the baking tray on the counter with the longer side facing you.
5. Place a phyllo dough sheet on it as shown.
6. Place another phyllo dough sheet adjacent to the one on the baking tray (with a slight overlap).This forms one layer of the baklava.
7. After each layer (2 sheets; side-by-side) you place on the baking tray, gently but quickly apply ghee or melted butter on the phyllo dough sheets using a pastry brush.
8. Repeat the above three steps and make 5 more layers of phyllo dough applying ghee/butter between each layer. At the end of this step, you will have 6 phyllo dough layers.
9. On top of the 6th layer, after applying ghee/butter, sprinkle about quarter of the nut mixture.
10. Make sure the whole layer is covered evenly with the nuts.
11. Top the nut mixture with two layers of phyllo dough. Apply butter after each phyllo dough layer.
12. Repeat the previous three more times - the pattern you would follow is : Nut mixture, phyllo layer, ghee/butter, phyllo layer, ghee/butter. You will repeat these steps till you have about 10 sheets of unused phyllo sheets remain.
13. Now place the remaining to create 5 more layers of phyllo dough sheets; applying butter between each layer.
14. Trim the edges using a sharp knife.
15. Cut the baklava all the way down to the pan into about 50 squares (or more) using a sharp knife.
16. Bake for about 50-55 minutes.
17. Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately pour the cool sugar syrup on the pieces and into the gaps, making sure all the pieces are drenched.
18. Cool uncovered to room temperature. Refrigerate for 5-6 hours before serving. This gives the pieces enough time to soak up all the syrup.
19. Serve cold or at room temperature.
can i make baklava using puff pastry sheets?
One of the common question we get about making baklava is whether puff pastry sheets can be substituted for phyllo dough sheets. Unfortunately, the answer is no. Puff pastry sheets are different from phyllo dough sheets. It is the paper thin phyllo dough sheets that makes it flaky and crisp and makes it so delicious!
the phyllo sheets keep breaking apart when i make baklva? What can i do?
Yes, that happens with me too. They phyllo sheets are paper thin, delicate pastry sheets. They tend to break. And dry out! Try these following steps if the phyllo sheets break/dry out.
- Make sure the sheets are thawed and not frozen.
- Assemble everything you need for the recipe before you open the phyllo sheets from their package.
- Work quickly. This comes with practice. I used to over an hour to assemble for the first few tries, but every time I made it, it got better. If you can get another friend or family me member to help out. :).
- Cover the phyllo sheets with a damp cloth (not wet; just damp) too prevent them from drying and breaking apart.
- Use up the broken sheets for the inside layers; taking extra care to get good ones for the top layers.
- Bakalava will still be absolutely delicious even if some of the phyllo sheets break!
Baklava
Ingredients
Syrup
- 1.25 cup Granulated Sugar
- ¾ cup Honey
- 1 tsp Vanilla Essence
- 1.25 cup Water
Bakalava
- 16 oz 1 Package Phyllo Dough
- 1 lb Pecans
- ¼ cup loosely packed Brown sugar
- ½ tsp Cinnamon Powder
- 1 cup Ghee or Butter
Required Equipment
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Measuring spoons and cups
- Sharp Knife
- Muslin cloth
- 9 x13 Baking Tray See Recipe Notes
- Small Sauce Pan
- Cling Film/Aluminum Foil
Instructions
Prepare the syrup
- Combine water and sugar in a sauce pan and bring to boil.
- Once the sugar has dissolved completely, mix in the honey and simmer for 20 minutes.
- Remove from heat and add the vanilla essence.
- Stir to mix well and refrigerate the syrup (See recipe notes).
Prepare Baklava
- Preheat the oven to 350 degree Farenheit or 180 degree Celcius.
- Using a food processor or Indian style mixer grinder, finely chop the nuts (See Recipe Notes).
- In a mixing bowl combine the chopped nuts with cinnamon and brown sugar.
- Assemble all the ingredients and the equipments before you start. Wet the muslin cloth and wring it. The towel should be just damp and not soaking wet. This towel will be used to cover the phyllo dough sheets when you are working with the baklava layers.
- Gently unroll the phyllo dough without breaking the sheets. You can unroll it on the same plastic sheet it comes rolled in.
- Cover with the dampened towel. You have to keep the phyllo dough covered with this towel while you are working with the layers. This prevents the sheets from drying up.
- Line your baking tray with Aluminium foil. Set the baking tray on the counter with the longer side facing you.
- Place a phyllo dough sheet on it as shown. (Please refer the detailed pictorial)
- Place another phyllo dough sheet adjacent to the one on the baking tray (with a slight overlap).This forms one layer of the baklava.
- After each layer (2 sheets) you place on the baking tray, gently but quickly apply ghee or melted butter on the phyllo dough sheets using a pastry brush.
- Repeat the above three steps (8,9,10) and make 5 more layers of phyllo dough (10 sheets) applying ghee/butter between each layer. At the end of this step, you wil have 6 phyllo dough layers.
- On top of the 6th layer, after applying ghee/butter, sprinkle about quarter of the nut mixture.
- Make sure the whole layer is covered evenly.
- Top the nut mixture with two layers of phyllo dough. Apply butter after each phyllo dough layer.
- Repeat the steps 12, 13 and 14 three more times - the pattern you would follow is : Nut mixture, phyllo layer, ghee/butter, phyllo layer, ghee/butter.
- Top this with 5- more layers of phyllo dough sheets; applying butter between each layer.
- Trim the edges using a sharp knife.
- Remove the excess phyllo dough from the edges to make it neat (See Recipe Notes).
- Cut the baklava all the way down to the pan into about 50 squares (or more) using a sharp knife.
- Bake for about 50-55 minutes.
- Remove the baklava from the oven and pour the cool sugar syrup on the pieces and into the gaps, making sure all the pieces are drenched.
- Cool uncovered to room temperature. Refrigerate for 5-6 hours before serving. This gives the pieces enough time to soak up all the syrup.
- Serve cold or at room temperature.
Notes
Loved Baklava? More Baking Recipes to Try
- This is one of the most delicious butter cake I have ever tried - Saffron Butter Cake.
- This should satisfy the chocolate lover in your life - Rigo Jancsi
- Easy semi-homemade palmiers, a fun project you can try with kids.
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Till we meet again, have a great week.
Deliciously Your’s.
Meena Kumar says
The first time I planned to make baklava I was lil scared but the small tricks and tips go a long way if followed correctly like the cool syrup on hot baklava one. That video of urs looks like done in some bakery perfect I should say. U are tempting me to make some soon now.
Framed Recipes says
Aww kind of you Meena to say that. I have been making this very often now. Like you said, it is little scary at time because of the delicate nature of the phyllo sheet, but once you get the hang of it, it will be a breeze.
Sonal says
I love Baklava Sree and this is such a labor of love.. Wonderfully explained. Whenever I try it, I know where to find it! ❤️
Framed Recipes says
Thanks Sonal.
Divine Spice Box says
OMG ! I am such a fan of Baklava.. Somehow never made it yet.. but now that the recipe is here, i am going to make it ! 🙂 Thank u
Framed Recipes says
Of course Prachi.
Deepti Anand says
"No one can eat just one"...just as a famous ad says :)...i was so lucky to have this for the first time directly from the master chef's kitchen :)...loved it!!!
Framed Recipes says
:). Thanks so much Deepti.
vijayalakshmy payyakkil says
Really i love at first sight and first bite
Framed Recipes says
🙂