Baklava

Here's another recipe that calls for phyllo dough! Although we live in different states now, my sister Wardah and I both decided to use phyllo dough to create yummy pastries on the same day. While she made spanakopita, I chose to make baklava: the popular sweet, crispy pastry made with buttered sheets of dough layered with nuts and lightly sweetened with a honey syrup.

While baklava does take some time to prepare, it isn't as difficult to make as most people believe. Try it for yourself! This addictive pastry will be gone in no time.

Baklava

• Filling:

• 2 cups (8 oz) finely chopped almonds

• 1 cup (4 oz) finely chopped walnuts

• 1/4 cup (2 oz ) caster (superfine) sugar

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1/8 tsp ground cloves
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• Syrup:
• 2 cups (1 lb) sugar

• 2 cups (16 fl oz) water

• 1 stick cinnamon

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 tbsp honey

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• You'll also need:

• 12 oz packet phyllo dough (375g)

• 1 cup melted butter, unsalted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Using a pastry brush, lightly coat a 9x13 inch baking dish with butter. Spread one sheet of phyllo dough in pan. Brush the sheet with butter, and layer another sheet on top of the first sheet. Repeat layering sheets with butter until you have six sheets.

2. Mix together the filling ingredients. Spread half of this nut mixture over the phyllo dough in the baking dish and flatten it out evenly.

3. Now begin layering sheets again, spreading each one with butter, until you have another stack of six sheets.

4. Top the dough with the remaining nut mixture.

5. Layer the remaining phyllo sheets on top of the nut mixture until you run out of sheets.

6. Cut the prepared baklava in desired shapes before baking.

7. Bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes or until the baklava is golden-brown. While the baklava is baking, pour all the syrup ingredients except for the lemon juice in a saucepan. Once the syrup reaches a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice.

8. Remove baklava from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. 

9. Pour syrup evenly over baklava while still in pan. Let soak for an hour.

10. And your baklava is ready for consumption! Remember to share this delicious pastry with others (so you don't end up eating all of it yourself) and comment below to let us know how your baklava turned out!