Make Your Own Baklava

Have a sticky afternoon cooking this dessert

Here's a Baklava recipe that uses standard measurements. The trickiest part is coping with the filo dough, which can be bought frozen in many markets. A decent substitute would be frozen strudel dough. I really don't recommend making your own.

1 pound unsalted (sweet) butter, melted (It really has to be butter, not a substitute)
1 pound filo dough sheets
1.5 pounds (24 ounces) chopped blanched almonds
1 pound shelled walnuts
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground allspice or cloves

Thaw the filo before starting. Melt the butter.
Grind or chop together the walnuts and almonds, and mix together with the cinnamon, allspice or cloves, and sugar. Using a rectangular pan, preferably a 9x13x2, brush the pan with the melted butter. Separate a sheet of the thawed filo. Handling it as little as possible, lay a sheet in the bottom of the pan. Brush it with butter. Fold it over if necessary to fit in the pan. Do this until you have about 10-12 layers. Then put a layer of the nuts and spices mixture on top of the sheet of filo, cover with a other sheet of filo, paint that with butter, and continue in this manner until you've used all of your filling. Top with about an equal amount of the filo sheets as you used for the bottom. If you're a little short or a little over, don't worry about it. Too many layers can get a bit gummy, however. Be sure each sheet is brushed with butter.

Cut across the completed baklava with a sharp knife, into triangles or diamonds. Bake at 350 for about an hour, or until evenly browned on top - think a nice golden color like some of the sunsets you saw in Greece.

Pour the cooled syrup (recipe below) over it and let it sit before serving. If you can bear to.
If you are like me, by the end of this I have filo dough in my hair and nuts stuck to me with honey syrup.

Syrup
2 cups honey (did you bring back any from Greece? shame on you if you didn't!)
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 cinnamon sticks (or 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
1 teaspoon grated orange peel (or to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or to taste) (Optional)
Simmer together the syrup ingredients for ten minutes and strain. Set aside. A good time to make this is just after you've put the baklava into the oven.

Of course, the best place to get Greek baklava is in Greece!

Planning your baklava quest in Greece? Find and compare hotel rates at many locations in Greece here:
Hotels in Greece

Compare airfares to Greece here: Find Greek Airfares

You can also pre-book tours in and around Athens: Athens Tours you can Book Direct