Baklava

By polloazul

Ingredients

• 20 9×14 inch phyllo sheets (1 roll in a package of Athen’s phyllo)
• 5-8 Tbs of butter, melted (may need more depending on how you brush)
• 3 cups almond meal
• 1 cup pistachios
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1 Tbs cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground clove
• 2/3 cup cocoa nibs
• For the syrup (I did not use all of it but this is how much I prepared)
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• pinch of saffron

Details

Servings 24

Preparation

Step 1

Thaw the phyllo sheets according to the box instructions. Finely grind the pistachios. In a large bowl combine the almond meal, pistachio, sugar, cardamom, clove and cocoa nibs.

Preheat the oven to 350°F and generously butter a 9×14 inch tray that you are willing to cut in. Lay down the first sheet and brush it with butter. Cover it with a second sheet and repeat until you have used a quarter of your layers. Make sure you have brushed the top layer with butter and the press down a third of your filling on top of the dough. Repeat this procedure so that you have 4 layers of phyllo and three layers of filling. Do not butter the top most layer yet!

Carefully, cut your baklava into 24 squares with a sharp knife. You must do this before baking as it becomes difficult to cut later. Gently use you brush to cover the top most layer with butter making sure you get butter into all the joints where you made the cuts.

Bake it for about 15 minutes and then turn the oven down to 200°F and bake for another 15 minutes. They should be close to golden brown. Prepare the syrup while you wait. Mix the ingredients in a small pot and heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove the tray from the oven and gently brush the syrup over the tops and into the joints. Again, I don’t use a whole lot here. I only use enough for a little bit of flavor and to make the layers stick. Getting it into the cut joints is key for this!. Put the tray back in the hot oven and turn the oven off. It’s done when everything has cooled .