Baklava
Layers of crispy phyllo, crushed pistachios, and fragrant syrup — the king of Turkish desserts.
Date Night
Family Friendly
Ingredients
- 500g phyllo dough (about 20-24 sheets)
- 250g butter, melted
- 300g pistachios or walnuts, finely chopped
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- For the syrup:
- 300g sugar
- 200ml water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp rose water or orange blossom water
- 1 strip lemon peel
Instructions
- 1 Make syrup first (it must be cold when poured): boil sugar, water, lemon juice, and lemon peel for 8 minutes until slightly thickened. Remove peel, stir in rose water. Refrigerate.
- 2 Preheat oven to 170°C (340°F). Brush a 23x33cm baking dish with melted butter.
- 3 Mix chopped nuts with cinnamon.
- 4 Layer 8 sheets of phyllo in the dish, brushing each generously with melted butter.
- 5 Spread one-third of the nut mixture evenly over the phyllo.
- 6 Layer 4 more sheets, buttering each. Add another third of the nuts. Repeat.
- 7 Finish with 8 sheets of phyllo on top, buttering every single one.
- 8 Using a sharp knife, cut into diamond or square shapes all the way through to the bottom before baking.
- 9 Bake for 45-50 minutes until deep golden and crispy.
- 10 Remove from oven. Immediately pour cold syrup evenly over the hot baklava. It will sizzle.
- 11 Let cool completely — at least 4 hours, ideally overnight — before serving. The syrup needs time to absorb.
About This Recipe
Baklava is the crown jewel of Turkish pastry-making. Dozens of paper-thin phyllo sheets are layered with melted butter and crushed nuts (pistachios in Turkey, walnuts in other regions), baked until shatteringly crisp, then drenched in a fragrant syrup scented with lemon and rose water.
The result is a dessert that somehow manages to be impossibly flaky, nutty, and syrupy all at once. The golden rule: hot baklava, cold syrup — or cold baklava, hot syrup. Never both hot, or it becomes soggy.
