Baklava!

Salam to All!

mmmmmmm, i just love this dessert! the mixture of the nuts, with the syrup,

 and the buttery phyllo sheets just does it for me.. And the best part is that it doesnt take more than 20 mins to make!

 You'll end up with a dessert that looks so professional, your friends will think u spent hours on it!

Ok, enough chitchat and lets get started!

Ingredients:

baking sheet

1 box of  thawed phyllo dough sheets*

(source)

4 cups of walnuts, chopped

2 cups almond, chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup coconut flakes (optional)

3/4 cups of unsalted butter

pastry brush

Syrup:

2 cups sugar

1.5 cup water

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp  honey

* ( the ones in the grocery stores will do, but they are a bit smaller.. i get mine from the arabic grocery because it fits my baking tray perfectly. It would be best if the sheets fit the tray, u can cut them if they are too big as well..)

Directions:

If you dont have any  cooled syrup ready on hand, make some first. (i make a big batch and keep in a glass jar in the fridge til i need it)

Boil the water and sugar for 5 mins, then add the lemon juice and honey and let simmer for another 15 mins, til thick syrupy consistency.

Baklava:

1. unfold the pastry sheets and cover them with a damp towel or pillowcase to prevent from drying quickly.

2. mix the nuts, spices, coconut and sugar together in a seperate bowl.

3. melt the butter

4. start by  lightly buttering the baking sheet using the pastry brush.

5. Add one sheet of phyllo and butter it, repeat til u have 5 layered sheets total. (was in a rush so i didnt get that many photos)

oh yeah, dont forget to keep covering the unused phyllo sheets with the damp cloth til you use or it will dry!

Add one thin layer of mixed nuts (about 1/4 of the mixture), try to cover the whole tray, but lightly.. we still need another 3 layers of nuts..

Add 2 more phyllo sheets, buttering each one seperately.

then add one more layer of nuts, followed by 2 buttered phyllo sheets.. repeat twice until you have 4 layers of nuts.

once the nuts are done, go ahead and add another 5 phyllo sheets, buttering each one seperately.

So the layers should be something like :

5 phyllo

nuts

2 phyllo

nuts

2 phyllo

nuts

2 phyllo

nuts

5 phyllo

If you like it thicker you can add another layer of nuts and 2 phyllo sheets.. and if you forget to count them, it doesnt affect much..

once your done start cutting it like this:

first vertically

                                                                     then diagonally:

add a bit more butter on the lines you cut so they will stay in place better.

bake at 350 till sides are  golden brown (between 20-25 mins or more if u need it)

then broil for just a couple minutes for the top as well.. ( dont leave it, it will burn quickly!!! learned it the hard way..)

then once its done, pour cool syrup slowly on it, try not to add too much or it will get soggy later on.

YUM, serve warm or eat cold.. its great both ways!!

hope you enjoyed!