Baklava cheesecake
Baklava cheesecake is one of the most fantastic desserts I have ever tasted. Everything comes together here – crispy thin filo pastry, a whole load of freshly roasted nuts and a wonderfully creamy filling. This is the ultimate cake fusion!
Baklava meets cheesecake
Baklava is a very tricky subject for me. I am extremely spoiled when it comes to quality. For me, baklava has to be crispy and nutty, and the syrup must not dominate. I don’t want the whole thing to be a runny, sticky affair. That’s why I was initially a little skeptical about the idea of making a mixture of baklava and cheesecake. But pondering doesn’t help, you just have to try it!
How to make cheesecake with a Levant touch
The base of the cake consists of several layers of buttered filo pastry. After a few layers have been created, the freshly roasted and chopped nuts are added on top (lots of them!) before the fun of layering can continue.
I did this directly in a springform pan and let the dough overlap on the sides of the pan. This way, you don’t have to cut anything directly and the baklva cheesecake ends up looking like a beautiful, crispy crown.
As soon as the baklava base is ready, the cream of cream cheese, quark and cream is added. And to give this part the taste of the Levant, a few drops of rose water should also be added to the cheese cream. Then it’s off to the oven!
If you thought the nuts in the base were enough, then you were so wrong – of course we throw a whole load of pistachios and walnuts on top of the finished baklava cheesecake!
And then I would like to see if you dare to cut this beauty. I had my inhibitions, but it works well with a sharp knife.
I hope you enjoy baking the crispy cheesecake and, of course, bon appétit.
You can also follow me on Instagram for even more inspiration about Levante cuisine.
Recipe for baklava cheesecake
Equipment
Ingredients
For the Baklava Cheesecake
- 80 g Walnuts
- 80 g Cashews
- 600 g Cream cheese
- 230 g Low-fat curd cheese
- 150 ml Cream
- 1 Egg
- 200 g Sugar
- 3 TBSP. Cornstarch
- 5 TBSP Lemon juice
- 1 TSP Vanilla extract
- 1 TSP Rose water
- 50 g Butter
- 9 Leaves Filo/Yufka dough
For garnishing
- 30 g Pistachios
- 20 g Walnuts
Zubereitung
- Preheat the oven to 160 °C top/bottom heat. Fill a heatproof bowl with water and place on the bottom of the oven. Grease the springform pan. Bring all ingredients to room temperature.
- Toast nuts in a pan without fat until they begin to smell. Chop nuts and set aside.
- Mix cream cheese, low-fat curd, cream, egg and sugar in a large bowl with a hand mixer.
- Fold in cornstarch, lemon juice, vanilla extract and rose water. Set aside.
- Carefully place a layer of filo pastry in the greased springform pan and brush with butter. Repeat this process 2x, so that you have a total of 3 filo layers.
- Sprinkle nuts on top, cover with two sheets of filo pastry, brush with butter and repeat this process 2x more times so you have a total of 3 layers of nuts.
- Carefully pour the cream cheese onto the dough. If too much dough peeks out, cut off the edges so that you can easily remove the cheesecake from the mold later.
- Bake Baklava Cheesecake in preheated oven for about 60 minutes until it has a golden top and no longer seems runny in the center.
- Turn oven off and let cheesecake cool in oven for 30 minutes with oven door open.
- Take out cheesecake, carefully remove ring and let cool completely at room temperature. It is best to let it cool well overnight in the refrigerator.
- To garnish, chop pistachios and walnuts and spread on the surface of the cheesecake. You can of course also use other nuts or decoration.
Notes
Nährwerte
Try the date cake, Knefeh, the apple cake or the cinnamon buns with pistachios.
