Lebanese Baklawa
Recipe:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp rose water
1/2 tsp orange blossom
1 package phyllo dough or 10 sheets of phyllo dough
2 sticks or 16 tbsp of unsalted butter
2 cups pistachio or cashews, crushed finely
4 tbsp brown sugar
Directions:
Making the syrup: In a small saucepan, add sugar, water, and lemon juice. Mix slightly to incorporate the sugar and water but make sure the sides of the pan don’t have sugar. Wipe the sides if there is sugar.
Place the sauce pan on the stovetop and cook on a medium heat until the sugar is melted and it starts to slightly simmer. Turn down the heat and let it thicken for 5 minutes. Then remove from heat and add the rose water and orange blossom.
In another sauce pan, add the butter and place on a stovetop on a low temperature until it melts completely. You will notice a white layer separate from the yellow liquid. We want to remove the water layer.
Place a thick cheese cloth on a sieve, and place it on top of a bowl. Drain the melted butter through the cheesecloth and sieve into the bowl. The white part be caught into the cheesecloth. If you still see white parts in the bowl, then repeat the process. The white part of the butter cause the phyllo dough to have burnt marks so we want to clarify our butter.
Once done with the butter, set it aside with a pastry brush.
In a food processor, add the pistachio or cashews (based on your preference) and pulse it a couple of times until there are no large pieces.
Add the processed nuts into a bowl with the brown sugar and mix together then set it aside.
Place 2 layers of phyllo dough onto a clean surface, brush with the clarified butter, then sprinkle the nut mixture evenly onto the sheet and start rolling the long end of the phyllo dough until you have a tight log.
Place on a buttered baking sheet and start crunching the phyllo log to make it shorter and give it the traditional baklawa look. (View ideo below)
Repeat until ingredients are done. Then brush the phyllo dough with remaining butter generously.
Using a knife, cut the phyllo log into 1 inch pieces.
Place in the oven at 400 F for 8 minutes at the bottom rack and another 15 minutes at the middle/top rack until the baklawa is golden. Please constantly check on it because oven temperatures vary and phyllo can burn easily.
Once it is out of the oven, the immediately drizzle with the syrup you made. Let it sit until the syrup is soaked. You don’t have to use all the syrup, you can use half the amount and then add till you reach desired sweetness.
This baklawa tastes better the second day as well. Place in an airtight container for 3 days.
