Baklava (Greek)

Crispy, nutty and extra syrupy. Baklava is a delicious traditional Greek dessert made of layers of crispy golden brown phyllo, filled with chopped nuts and garnished with a lemon scented syrup. The traditional Greek Baklava (or baclava) recipe has its roots in ancient Greece, where they made the 'gastrin', a sweet very similar to the current baklava. Baklava is an extra syrupy Greek dessert which falls under the category of 'Siropiasta'. Syrupy Greek desserts (Siropiasta) are very popular among Greek cuisine and with good reason. From extra syrupy cakes like portokalopita, karidopita or giaourtopita to traditional Greek pastry desserts, like kataifi or galaktoboureko and of course this famous traditional Greek baklava dessert. One thing all these Greek desserts have in common is of course the moistness of scented syrup, which makes each one just irresistible. The key for the most flavourful Baklava is to use a good quality fresh butter to butter the phyllo sheets. The authentic Greek Baklava recipe calls for 'galaktos' butter made from a mix of sheep’s and goat’s milk, but if you can’t handle its very strong flavour, then you can substitute with good quality fresh butter.

Baklava:
25-30 sheets of phyllo dough
(17 oz) walnuts, chopped or a mix of walnuts, pistachios and almonds (500 g)
2 tsp. cinnamon powder
2 tsp. ground clove
10 oz butter, melted (300 g)

Syrup:
20 oz sugar (600 g)
14 oz water (400 g)
2.8 oz pure honey (80 g)
1 lemon or orange, freshly zested
1 stick cinnamon

Garnish:
whole cloves

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Place an oven rack in the lower portion of the oven.

To prepare this baklava recipe, start by melting the butter in a saucepan over low heat, being careful not to burn it. Using a cooking brush butter the bottom and sides of a baking pan. (For this baklava recipe you will need a large baking pan approx. 40x30 cm). Begin by layering the sheets of phyllo on the bottom of the baking dish to form the base of the baklava. Layer the sheets one at a time, making sure to sprinkle each one with melted butter. Use about 10-12 layers on the bottom side of the Baklava.

In a large bowl, mix the chopped nuts, the cinnamon and grounded clove. Sprinkle the nut mixture over the phyllo base and continue forming the top of the baklava. Top the nuts with the rest phyllo sheets (10 of them), sprinkling each one with melted butter and brush the top of the baklava with enough butter. You could also try layering the Baklava, adding a couple of sheets in between layers of filling if you’d like your baklava with extra nuts.

Place the baklava in the fridge for 15 minutes to make it easier to cut into pieces. Remove the baklava from the fridge and using a sharp knife cut the cut the pastry all the way down into pieces. If you fancy the taste of clove, place one whole clove berry into the middle of each baklava piece and sprinkle the top with some cold water.

Place the baklava in the preheated oven and bake for about 1½-2 hours, until all the phyllo layers are crisp and golden.

Prepare the syrup for the baklava. Into a small pot mix all the ingredients for the syrup and bring to the boil. Boil for about 2 minutes until the sugar is dissolved. Take it off the heat and let it cool down. As soon as the baklava is ready, ladle slowly the cold syrup over the hot baklava, until it is fully absorbed.

Let the baklava cool down completely and serve after the syrup has soaked throughput.

Makes 15.