For our yearly tradition of finding Easter recipes to make, I was trying to think of something that would be a traditional Pascal dish, while also still being in line with our theme and this Eastern European dessert was the perfect choice!
Traditionally made for Easter (as well as other holidays), baklava is a sweet, buttery pastry that holds significant symbolism in its making. In Greece, most people make their Baklava with 33 layers of phyllo dough to represent the 33 years of Jesus’s life. Also, the honey, butter, and sugar represent the sweetness of God’s love, as well as a way to celebrate with ingredients that many fast from during Lent.
Speaking of which, it is still Lent as of the time of this recording, so it’s a bit early, but thankfully, this dessert is a good one to make ahead and in fact it tastes even better after letting the flavors of the sugar and honey marinate and it allows the nuts to soften even more for a few days. You can also store it in the fridge for a few days to bake it the day of. Or if you want to make it way in advance, you can freeze it by first layering it and then wrapping it in some plastic wrap and aluminum foil to keep it from getting freezer burn. Then, when you’re ready to bake it, you can just bake it from frozen at the same temperature. And for any leftovers, you can store them for a few weeks in the fridge, if you can resist eating them for that long.
But regardless of if you make it fresh or if you make it ahead, this sweet, buttery dessert will be a great way to celebrate the Easter season with a traditional recipe with much symbolic meaning, or it’s even just a great dessert for any other celebration.
Ingredients:
- One 16-ounce box of phyllo dough (you can find this usually in the frozen foods section near the frozen pies)
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 1 lb of walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts and/or other favorite nuts
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- Honey syrup
- 1 lemon’s worth of juice and some of its zest
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup honey
- 1-2 whole cinnamon sticks (optional)
Special Equipment:
- One 9×13 Baking Pan
Step 1: Prepare Phyllo Dough & Nut Mixture & Melt Butter
First, before you want to make your baklava, make sure to defrost your phyllo dough by putting it in the fridge overnight.
Then, when you’re ready to make it, carefully remove and unroll it from the packaging and place a damp towel over it to keep it from drying out, while we layer the baklava.
Next, for your nuts, give these a chop or grind them in a food processor into small, rough pieces and then mix these with the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves until evenly distributed, setting aside some for garnishing the finished baklava later, if desired.
Also, during this time, melt your butter so you can brush or spray it onto the dough.
Step 2: Layer Phyllo Dough & Nut Mixture
When your ingredients are ready, preheat your oven to 350°F and while we wait, we’ll layer the baklava.
So, start by buttering the bottom of your pan or on top of your parchment paper lining and then top this with your first layer of phyllo dough. If you need to, you may fold the phyllo dough in half to fit it in your pan.
Then, carefully brush this layer with some more butter and top it with another layer of phyllo dough. You might be having some difficulty at first, but as you add more layers, they should be easier to smooth out and have the layers be less wrinkly. But in either case, repeat this until you have layered 4-8 pieces of phyllo dough on top of one another and then top this with some of your ground nut mixture.
Next, layer this with another layer of phyllo dough, adding more butter on top again and then layer another sheet of phyllo dough until you have another 2-4 sheets layered again. Then, top this with some nuts again and continue to repeat this until you run out of nuts or when you have about 4-8 sheets left to add to the top.
Then, layer the top with butter in between each layer as before. And finally, on the last layer, brush the top with the last of the butter. You may layer the dough and nuts however you wish, you can even layer it in the traditional method with the nuts between each layer of dough, but that’s a lot of work, so I recommend skipping a few if you want to save some time.
But in either case, I recommend at least buttering each layer to achieve the max amount of flakiness between each layer, which you can save even more time by using a spray bottle if you have one to spare.
Then, once your baklava layering is done, using a sharp knife, cut your baklava into 24-36 sections down to the bottom layer to make the individual servings.
Step 3: Bake Baklava at 350°F; Prepare Honey Syrup During This Time as Well
Then, when your baklava is ready, place it into your oven and bake this for 30-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
While this is baking, we’ll prepare the honey syrup, so in a small saucepan on medium heat, add in your lemon zest and juice, 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup honey, and your cinnamon stick and mix this until your sugar and honey dissolve.
Then, bring this mixture to a boil and then let this simmer for 5-10 minutes. Then, once your honey syrup is ready, remove the cinnamon stick and let it cool while we wait for our baklava to finish baking.
Step 4: Remove Baklava from Oven & Immediately Pour Cooled Syrup on; Garnish w/ Chopped Nuts & Enjoy!
Once your baklava has a golden brown top, remove it from the oven and immediately pour the cooled syrup evenly onto it. It should sizzle when the syrup hits the baklava, instantly crystallizing the sugar onto the baklava, making it crispy.
Then, let the baklava cool completely for about an hour or so up to 8 hours to allow the syrup to fully penetrate and soften the layers. Garnish with your leftover chopped nuts, if desired, and with that, your Baklava is ready to eat.