Baklava
Baklava is a very nutty and very sweet cake, which is served in the form of small pieces. You can find different versions of it, e.g. in the form of rolls or as one thick layer of stuffing between two layers of dough.
I try to prepare baklava to create as many layers as possible, thoroughly lubricating each sheet of filo pastry with butter and spreading ground nuts every 3-4 sheets of dough. This complex baklava must be cut before baking, because the dough will become hard and brittle after baking. Then it will be very difficult to cut the baklava into nice, even pieces. Thanks to the fact that the dough will be cut immediately, the sugar syrup you pour over the baked baklava will penetrate thoroughly into all layers of the dough. If you do not pour syrup over the cake, the dessert will be quite dry and not sweet.
Remember that baklava is best on the third day, so it is best to prepare it in advance. This also makes it the perfect cake for large parties. You can prepare it much in advance, the cake will become tastier and you will be able to easily prepare other dishes without worrying about dessert.
Baklava is perfect for people on a vegetarian, flexitarian and pescatarian diet.
The proportions given below make 35 small pieces of baklava.
Read the step-by-step recipe on how to prepare baklava and watch the video below the recipe.
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Below you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions about baklava ⬇⬇⬇.
Baklava
Baklava Recipe
Ingredients
- 400 g phyllo pastry (1 pack)
- 500 g walnuts
- 200 g butter
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp sugar with vanilla
- salt
Syrup
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup honey
- 500 ml water
- 1 lemon
Instructions
Filling
- First prepare the stuffing. Mix ground walnuts with cinnamon, vanilla sugar and a pinch of salt.500 g walnuts, ½ tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp sugar with vanilla, salt
Cake
- Melt 200 g of butter in a pot or in the microwave. Cut the phyllo dough in half along the short edge (to fit in your baking tray). This will give you approximately 24 sheets of dough. Grease the baking tray with melted butter. Place 1 sheet of phyllo dough on the baking tray. Spread butter over the dough. Place another sheet of dough on the buttered dough, spread with butter, place another sheet of dough, spread with butter and add a layer of nuts. Then put another sheet of dough on top of the filling, butter, dough, butter, dough, butter, stuffing, dough, butter… Keep putting it on until you run out of stuffing and dough. I get 7 layers of nuts. Cut the cake into small triangles, squares or rhombuses.400 g phyllo pastry, 200 g butter
- Place the dough in the preheated oven and bake for approx. 35 minutes at 180 °C (350 °F). Remove the baked cake from the oven and immediately pour hot sugar syrup over it.
Syrup
- While the cake is in the oven, prepare the sugar syrup. Pour lemon juice, honey, sugar and water into the pot. Boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves. Pour hot syrup over the hot cake immediately after removing it from the oven. Then leave the cake to cool. Baklava is the best after three days, when the syrup penetrates the dough thoroughly and the flavors blend together.1 cup sugar, 1 cup honey, 500 ml water, 1 lemon
Video
Nutrition
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet
Is baklava gluten-free?
The filo dough used to prepare baklava is made from wheat flour, so baklava contains gluten.
What nuts to use with baklava?
Traditionally, baklava uses walnuts, but you can replace them with almonds, pecans or pistachios, or use a mixture of different nuts.
What is that green stuff on baklava?
If you see baklava with green particles, it’s probably pistachios 😉
Is baklava Turkish? Is baklava available in Croatia? Is baklava Greek?
You can eat baklava in Turkey, Greece and the Balkans. It is also a very popular dessert in Persian cuisine.
What is baklava made of?
Baklava is made of phyllo dough stuffed with nuts and covered with sugar syrup.
How to store baklava?
Baklava is best for the third day. Leave the fresh baklava in the baking tray and cover it with a cloth, for example. Don’t put the cake in the fridge. The dough will absorb the sugar syrup and the flavors will mingle.
What does filo pastry look like?
Phyllo pastry is made of very thin sheets. In the store it looks exactly like puff pastry, we can find it in the fridge rolled up and packed in foil. However, after opening, instead of one piece of cake, you will see a dozen paper-thin sheets.
Is baklava high in calories?
Unfortunately, we use a lot of butter, nuts and sugar in baklava, which makes it a very high-calorie dessert. It is also very sweet, so it is usually served in very small pieces.
Does baklava come with honey?
I prepare honey and sugar syrup for baklava. If you want, you can prepare the syrup only from honey or only from sugar. You can also prepare xylitol syrup – it will be a lower-calorie option. If you want, you can also use plant syrups, e.g. maple syrup, agave syrup, date syrup. If they are very thick, it is worth diluting them with water. Remember to pour hot syrup over the baklava immediately after removing it from the oven.
Baklava made from puff pastry?
If you want to prepare a quick version of baklava, you can use puff pastry. It has a different structure and does not need to be lubricated with butter because it consists of many layers with butter between them. All you need to do is buy 2-3 packages of puff pastry and place it between the layers of cake-nuts-cake-nuts-cake. And you will continue as in the recipe below.
What does baklava taste like?
Baklava is a very sweet and fatty dessert. I add a lot of lemon juice to the sugar syrup, which gives the baklava a sour taste, but if you want to get a traditional, very sweet baklava, add only a little bit of lemon juice or do not add it at all.
Is baklava vegan?
If you want to prepare vegetarian baklava, you can replace the butter with a flavorless vegetable oil, e.g. refined coconut oil, and make sure that the filo dough you use does not contain eggs. Prepare the sugar syrup without honey, e.g. only with sugar.
How to serve?
Baklava is very sweet and has a lot of calories, so it is usually served without any additives. You can decorate baklava with ground or whole pieces of nuts.
