Baklava

Baklava 

For the Baklava and Nut Filling

·       6 oz shelled pistachios, chopped

·       6 oz walnuts, chopped

·       6 oz hazelnuts, chopped

·       1/4 cup sugar

·       2 tbsp ground cinnamon

·       ½ tsp ground cloves

·       16-oz package phyllo dough, thawed

·       2 sticks of unsalted butter, melted, use more if needed while assembling

For the Honey Syrup

·       3/4 cup sugar

·       1 cup cold water

·       1 cup Lighthouse Keeper's Raw Local Honey

·       ½ tsp orange oil or 1 tbsp orange extract (optional)

·       5-8 whole cloves

·       1 Lemon, Juiced.

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and thaw phyllo pastry completely.

In a small sauce pan, add sugar and water and heat stove-top, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves. Add the honey, orange oil/extract if using, and whole cloves; stir to mix. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and let simmer for about 25 minutes. Remove syrup from heat and let cool to lukewarm. Add lemon juice. Remove the whole cloves.

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade, coarsely chop pistachios, walnuts, and hazelnuts. Transfer nuts to a large mixing bowl and add sugar, cinnamon, and ground cloves. Mix well to combine.

Unroll the thawed phyllo pastry and place the sheets in between two clean kitchen towels. This will help keep the phyllo from breaking while you work.

Brush the interior of a 9”x 13”x 2” baking pan with melted butter. To assemble the baklava, take one sheet of phyllo and place it in the pan, folding the dough to fit the pan, then brush the top of the phyllo sheet with the melted butter.

Repeat layering phyllo dough sheets brushing each with butter until you have used 1/3 of the phyllo pastry, then add  ½ of the nut mixture evenly over the top layer of phyllo.

Continue assembling the baklava, one sheet of phyllo at a time using another 1/3 of the phyllo, brushing each layer with melted butter.  Distribute the remaining ½ of the nut mixture evenly over the top layer of phyllo.

Finish the remaining 1/3 of the phyllo pastry following the same process of buttering each layer of phyllo dough.

Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into 24 diamond shaped pieces.

Place the baking dish on the middle rack of your heated oven. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until the top of the baklava turns golden.

As soon as you remove the baklava from the oven, pour the cooled syrup all over the hot baklava.

Allow baklava to sit for a few hours before serving. Cut through the earlier marked pieces. Serve with a garnish of chopped nuts and honey, if desired.