Cyser Baklava Recipes

GREEK BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.
• Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets deep.
• Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.
• Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
• Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

CYSER BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Syrup:.
• Use a heavy saucepan and dissolve the sugar in the cyser over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add lemon juice.
• When all the sugar has dissolved, reduce heat to a gentle boil. Do not stir often.
• Add honey once the syrup thickens. If you use a candy thermometer (I never have) it should register 230°F A drop of syrup on a cold plate will not spread.
• It takes about 20-25 minutes. Set aside to cool (but not to get cold).
• Baklava:.
• Preheat oven to 325 f.
• Finely chop the nuts. You want them as close to a meal as you can. I use the blender or food processor.
• Combine with sugar and spices. (Not the whole cloves).
• Place 6 phyllo sheets in a well buttered 13x9 inch baking pan. I think glass works best. Butter the top sheet generously.
• Sprinkle a thin layer of the nut mixture over the phyllo. You want it even and no dough showing, but not thicker than about 1/8 inch.
• Cover with 4 more phyllo sheets and generously butter the top sheet.
• Continue alternating nut mixture and phyllo until you run out of nuts. Top with 8 phyllo sheets and generously butter the top.
• If your sheets are too big for the pan, you may trim them or fold them over.
• Score into squares or diamonds. Place a whole clove in the center of each slice. Pieces are traditionally quite small as it is a very sweet dessert.
• Bake for 30 minutes, then lower the oven to 300 and bake for another 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Pour the warm syrup over the hot baklava. Let stand several hours, at least.
• Freezes well.

BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Remove phyllo dough package from freezer and place in the fridge for 24 hours to thaw. Remove from fridge 1 hour before using.
• When working with the phyllo dough, only remove the sheets you immediately need, keeping the other sheets covered in plastic wrap, then a damp cloth.
• Toss together the chopped walnuts and cinnamon. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Thoroughly butter a rectangular baking pan. Make sure the sheets of phyllo will generally fit the pan (if they're a little bigger, that's okay.) If they're much bigger, just trim them with a sharp knife.
• Butter the top sheet of phyllo with melted butter, then grab it and the unbuttered sheet below it. Set the two sheets in the pan, buttered sheet face down. Press lightly into the pan. Repeat this twice more, so that you have six sheets of phyllo in the pan, three of the sheets buttered.
• Sprinkle on enough walnuts to make a single layer. Butter two sheets of phyllo and place them on top of the walnuts. Add more walnuts, then two more buttered phyllo sheets. Repeat this a couple more times, or until you're out of walnuts. Top with 4 more buttered phyllo sheets, ending with a buttered top. Cut a diagonal diamond pattern in the baklava using a very sharp knife.
• Bake for 45 minutes, or until the baklava is very golden brown.
• While the baklava is baking, combine 1 stick of the butter, honey, water, sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.
• When you remove the baklava from the oven, drizzle half the saucepan evenly all over the top. Allow it to sit and absorb for a minute, then drizzle on a little more until you think it's thoroughly moistened. You'll likely have some of the honey mixture leftover, which you can drink with a straw. Just kidding.
• Allow the baklava to cool, uncovered, for several hours. Once cool and sticky and divine, carefully remove them from the pan and serve with coffee (or give as gifts!)

MOM'S BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the honey-citrus simple syrup: Whisk together the sugar, honey, water and lemon juice in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to low, add the orange peel and continue to boil without stirring, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat to cool while you assemble the baklava. The syrup will thicken as it cools.
• For the nut filling: Add the pistachios and walnuts to the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment and pulse until coarsely chopped. Transfer the nuts to a large bowl along with the graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon and salt and mix until combined. Set aside.
• To assemble: Brush a 9-by-13-inch pan with some of the melted butter. Unroll the whole package of phyllo and cut it in half to fit the pan or trim to fit flat. (As you work, cover the unused phyllo sheets with wax paper underneath a damp clean kitchen towel.) Lay 1 sheet of phyllo in the bottom of the pan. Brush with butter, covering the entire surface, then lay another sheet of phyllo on top. Repeat this process until you have 10 layers of phyllo, with butter brushed on top. Add half of the nut mixture, spreading it evenly over the buttered surface, then gently press in with your hands. Begin layering the phyllo and melted butter until you have 10 more layers of phyllo, with butter brushed on top. Add the remaining nut mixture, then layer 10 more sheets of phyllo, brushing with butter in between layers. Brush the top with melted butter, then score the phyllo dough into diamonds, cutting about 1/4-inch deep. (Cut 4 strips lengthwise, then diagonal cuts for a diamond shape).
• Bake until puffed and golden brown on top, about 1 hour. Ladle the cooled syrup over the top, allowing it to absorb in between pours. Allow the baklava to sit until the syrup is completely absorbed, at least 30 minutes. Separate into bars and serve. The baklava freezes very well.