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Baklava – Greek

Ingredients: 1 package (16 sheets) Phyllo dough 1 cup (2 sticks) melted butter 1 –1/4 cups sugar 4 cups chopped walnuts OR pecans Grated rind of 1 orange (optional) 1 tsp. cinnamon

Syrup: 2 cups water 3 cups sugar 1 tsp. lemon juice 1 cup honey

Instructions: Defrost phyllo dough in the fridge overnight, remove from fridge 1 hour prior to using. Mix sugar, nuts, cinnamon, and orange rind (if using) together. Brush pan well with melted butter. Place one sheet in bottom of the pan and allow ends to hang over the edges of pan. Brush well and repeat with a total of 8 sheets. Sprinkle nut mixture evenly over the 8 sheets drizzle a bit of butter over the nuts. Repeat the layering and brushing butter on the nut mixture with the remaining 8 sheets of phyllo dough. Trim excess phyllo dough with a sharp knife. Score dough into diamonds. Bake for about 30 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil to prevent over browning. Continue baking for 30 more minutes until lightly browned. While baking, prepare the syrup: in a saucepan combine water, sugar, lemon juice, and honey. Bring to boil over medium heat, simmer at low boil for 10 minutes. When baklava is done pour syrup over hot baklava.

A traditional Greek recipe loved by everyone!

“My mother would bake baklava for Christmas. It would take her all day to prepare it. Today we can buy the phyllo dough ready-made in the frozen food department, but my mother would roll each sheet by hand with a broomstick handle. She learned this method from her mother in Greece. It seems very difficult—nearly impossible to me.”—Sophia Rantis

Chrysanthe Rantis, Greece

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