Eugenie's Baklava
Submitted by dlbrown55
Eugenie’s baklava layers crisp, buttery phyllo with a spiced walnut filling and soaks it in a honey-lemon syrup, complete with a cook’s secret for shatteringly crisp, never-soggy layers. A Mediterranean classic.
YIELD
24 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
30 minREADY
1 hrsCrisp, buttery, and dripping with honey, baklava is the showpiece of Mediterranean desserts, and this version comes with a few hard-won secrets. Layer upon layer of phyllo, each brushed with ghee, sandwiches a fragrant filling of chopped walnuts spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove.
After baking to golden and crisp, it’s drenched in a warm honey-lemon syrup that seeps into every flaky layer.
Here’s the secret the recipe’s cook learned from a Lebanese friend: for baklava that stays shatteringly crisp instead of soggy, pour hot syrup over cooled pastry, or cold syrup over hot pastry. The temperature contrast is everything.
Two more tips worth heeding: brush every single sheet of phyllo with butter for that signature flake, and cut the diamonds before baking, down to but not through the bottom, so they’re easy to lift out later. Walnuts are the cook’s pick here, though pistachios are the more traditional choice.
Chef Tips
- Brush every phyllo sheet with butter or ghee; that’s what makes the layers crisp and flaky.
- Keep the phyllo covered with a damp towel as you work so it doesn’t dry out and crack.
- Don’t over-boil the syrup; a minute is plenty, and it thickens as it soaks in.
- Use the temperature trick, hot syrup on cool baklava or cold syrup on hot, for maximum crispness.
Variations
- Swap walnuts for pistachios, almonds, or a mix.
- Add a little orange blossom or rose water to the syrup for a floral note.
- Stud each diamond with a clove or a piece of nut before baking.
Ingredients
Directions
Combine last 4 ingredients.
Butter bottom of 16×10×2 pan generously.
Lay half of Phyllo dough in pan, brushing each sheet with butter.
Mix nuts and spices with sugar and sprinkle evenly over dough.
Lay on rest of Phyllo dough, buttering each layer.
Brush top layer with butter. All butter should be used. If not, drizzle rest of butter over top too.
Cut into diamond shaped pieces without cutting through bottkom.
Bake in a preheated 350℉ (180℃). oven on a shelf a little above center until lightly golden, finish cutting and allow to cool.
Pour warm honey-lemon syrup over baked Baklava.
Serve warm or cold.
Syrup: Combine and bring to a boil and simmer one minute.
This is a great recipe.
Don’t think that you have to boil the syrup more than one minute.
It will be thin. Another secret that a Lebanese friend told me is to either put hot syrup over cold pastry or cold syrup over hot pastry. You might try other nuts, but I think Walnuts are the best. Pistachios were probably the original nut, but everyone around here uses Walnuts.
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