Baklava – The original recipe to make yourself
Baklava is the absolute favorite sweet in the Levant. The pastry differs from region to region and I spent ages looking for the best baklava recipe ever. And I can tell you straight away: I’ve found it for myself!
It was supposed to be really easy, but I didn’t want to settle for just any classic recipe, I was looking for the baklava taste that I know from a small store in Aley in Lebanon. And here it is at last: my basic recipe for making your own baklava.
What is baklava?
Baklava is a crispy pastry made from many layers of buttered filo pastry, an aromatic nut filling and a sugar syrup coating.
The sweet is not only very popular in the Levant, but also in other countries on the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa and the Balkans. In Turkey, baklava with pistachios is very popular, while people in the Levant prefer baklava with walnuts.
If you would like to find out more about the origins of this crispy pastry, take a look at the article on the origins of baklava.
You need these ingredients for original baklava
Believe it or not, there really is a whole range of different types of baklava. And each variety has its own name. This baklava here is the mother of all varieties. The original baklava recipe from Lebanon.
Delicious layers of crispy filo pastry with a layer of freshly roasted nuts. It doesn’t take much to prepare a classic baklava. But every little detail counts to make it really perfect! The choice of nuts and their weighting in relation to each other. Then the amount of layers and the fat to separate these layers and make them crispy. And last but not least, the flavored syrup is added to the hot baklava.
I can tell you straight away that my baklava recipe is also sweet, but not as crazy sweet and dripping with syrup as you may have tried it before. Because that’s too much for me too.
The most important baklava ingredients are the dough, the fat and the nuts. Some people think that baklava is made with puff pastry, but this is not true. You need filo pastry to make baklava. If you like, you can also make the filo pastry yourself.
Instead of conventional butter, I opted for ghee, aka clarified butter. Ghee has a slightly different and more intense flavour than butter and really harmonizes perfectly with the nut mixture. But ghee has another advantage over butter: ghee contains very little water and this ensures that your baklava is crispy rather than flabby.
My filling consists not only of nuts, but also of seeds. I have mixed walnuts and cashews. This mixture ensures that the baklava not only tastes nice and nutty, but also melts in the mouth.
To make baklava yourself, you need the following baklava ingredients:
- For the syrup: sugar, water and rose water. Make sure the rose water is of good quality, otherwise the syrup will quickly taste artificial.
- For the baklava: filo pastry (alternatively you can use yufka pastry), cashew nuts, walnuts, chopped pistachios and ghee (alternatively butter). You should also treat yourself to the good ones when it comes to nuts and seeds, as they give the sweet pastry its flavor
One of the best moments for me is always when I pour the syrup over the hot baklava. The aroma is beguiling and the sound that unfolds is great. It sounds as if the layers are already announcing how crispy they actually are.
And for this reason, here are the step-by-step instructions to help you prepare the original baklava recipe. I hope you enjoy it.
Make your own baklava: The recipe
After the first layer comes the next layer of filo pastry, which you have to brush thoroughly with ghee again.
When you have about 8 layers ready, add the chopped nuts, which you then simply sprinkle over the last greased layer and spread.
And as soon as you have spread the nut layer, we continue with the layers of filo pastry. Of course, each layer is brushed well with ghee. If air bubbles form here, you can simply brush them out with the flat of your hand.
Once you have finished all the layers, there is a tricky part: the baklava needs to be cut. The classic pattern is diamonds, but you can of course also cut rectangles or squares. It is important that you use a sharp knife or pizza cutter and hold the dough firmly while cutting. Otherwise, the layers may shift. For diamonds, first cut diagonal strips and then straight from top to bottom. Make sure that you really cut through to the last layer.
The roughest part is done and the baklava can now go into the preheated oven at 180 °C for approx. 30 – 35 minutes.
When the baklava comes out of the oven, it is a delicious golden brown and the many layers have risen to a crisp. You should now be hit by an incredibly delicious aroma of ghee and roasted nuts. You should immediately pour the prepared and cooled syrup over the hot baklava. The sound you will hear is really good. It crackles really loudly. I poured about 8 – 10 tablespoons of syrup over the hot baklava.
Now your dessert just needs to cool and you can carefully lift it out of the mold piece by piece and serve. The top layer of filo pastry may come away and break into small, fine crumbs – that’s perfectly fine. The taste and crispiness will not change, I promise!
I hope I have aroused your curiosity and you would like to make your own baklava with the Baklava Original recipe. Please leave a comment to let me know how it turned out and give this baklava recipe a rating if you liked it.
Recipe for baklava
Equipment
- Casserole dish (25 x 20 cm)
Ingredients
For the syrup
- 100 g Sugar
- 100 ml Water
- 1/2 teaspoon Rose water
For the baklava
- 18 Leaves Filo/Yufka dough
- 100 g Cashews
- 50 g Walnuts
- 60 g Ghee (or butter)
For garnishing
- ground pistachios
Zubereitung
Preparation syrup
- Dissolve sugar in a pot of water and simmer until it becomes a syrup (about 8 – 10 minutes).
- Stir in rose water and allow to cool.
Preparation baklava
- Toast nuts in a pan without fat until they start to smell. (Please be careful that they do not get too dark!).
- Chop toasted nuts with a food processor or knife and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- Melt ghee in a saucepan.
- Unfold filo dough and cut to fit baking dish.
- Place 1 layer of filo pastry in the mold and brush with ghee. Repeat this process 7 times so that you have 8 buttered layers.
- Spread nuts on top layer.
- Now place another layer of filo pastry on top of the nuts and brush with ghee. Repeat this process 9 times so that you have 10 buttered layers.
- Cut baklava into lozenges with a sharp knife, place in oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes until crisp.
- Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately pour the syrup over it. Depending on the sweetness, you can spread more or less on the baklava. I used about 8 – 10 tablespoons for the aforementioned mold. Each piece needs to get some syrup off.
- Top with ground pistachios or nuts to taste and let cool.
Notes
Nährwerte
Your baklava will be perfect with these 5 tips
- Use the right dough. Use filo or alternatively yufka dough to make baklava – not puff pastry!
- Pay attention to the quality of the nuts, as they provide the flavor. It’s best to buy fresh ones that cost a little more. Because if you use nuts that have been in the cupboard for a long time, they can taste rancid.
- Cut the pastry before baking. If you do it afterwards, it will break quickly and you will only have crumbs.
- Be sure to pour the syrup over the hot baklava to create a nice shiny coating.
- Leave the dessert to rest for a few hours so that the syrup can soak in well.
How long does baklava keep and how do I store it properly?
- The baklava will keep for a good two weeks if well packed in a freshness box or covered with cling film.
- You can also put the baklava in the fridge to keep it for longer.
- However, take it out before eating so that it reaches room temperature. It tastes better then.
- You can also freeze the baklava and defrost it later. However, it will lose some of its flavor.
Fancy more nutty baklava fun? Then be sure to try the divine baklava cheesecake, the quick baklava rolls, the creamy filled baklava pockets or the buttery puff pastry baklava.
You can also follow me on Instagram for even more inspiration about Levante cuisine.
