Bourbon Pecan Baklava Recipe 455

PECAN BOURBON BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Make Baklava:
• Preheat oven to 375 ̊F with rack in the middle. Lightly brush a 13 by 9-inch baking pan with melted butter.
• Pulse pecans, sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor until finely chopped.
• Cut phyllo sheets in half crosswise, forming 18 (12 by 8 1/2-inch) sheets, then arrange in 1 stack and cover with plastic wrap.
• Keeping remaining phyllo covered and working quickly, place 1 sheet on a work surface and gently brush with butter. Top with another sheet and brush with butter. Continue layering until you have a stack of 6 buttered sheets. Transfer stack to the baking dish and sprinkle with one-third of the pecan mixture. Build a second stack of 3 phyllo sheets, buttering between each layer. Transfer to a baking dish sprinkle with half of remaining pecan mixture. Repeat with another stack of 3 buttered sheets and sprinkle with remaining pecan mixture. Top with a stack of 6 buttered sheets.
• Score pastry with a sharp knife in quarters lengthwise, then score on a diagonal making 6 cuts about 2 inches apart to create a diamond pattern.
• Bake baklava 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 ̊F until top is golden, 40-45 minutes more.
• Make syrup while baklava bakes:
• Bring honey, sugar, water, cloves, zest, and 1/4 cup bourbon to a simmer in a small pot, stirring until sugar and honey have dissolved. Remove from heat and let stand while baklava finishes baking.
• When baklava has finished baking, transfer in pan to a rack. Boil syrup until reduced to 1 1/2 cups, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 2 Tbsp bourbon. Discard zest and cloves and pour hot syrup to be absorbed and flavors to develop. Cut into diamonds by cutting lengthwise into fourths, then diagonally across.

PECAN-ORANGE BAKLAVA PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Bring honey, cinnamon sticks, 1 cup sugar, and 1 cup water to a boil in medium heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium and continue to boil until syrup is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups, 15-18 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl, stir in bourbon, and let cool.
• Meanwhile, spread pecans on large rimmed baking sheet and toast until golden brown, 13-15 minutes. Let cool. Transfer nuts to a food processor. Add ground cinnamon, 1 tsp. orange zest, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar and pulse until coarsely chopped.
• Place stack of phyllo sheets on a work surface. Keep any phyllo you're not currently working with covered under a layer of plastic wrap topped with a slightly damp kitchen towel. Using base of springform pan as a guide, and starting at edge of phyllo, carefully cut out 20 (9") circles, leaving as much phyllo remaining as possible. Cover phyllo circles. Using base of pan as a guide, cut remaining phyllo into 20 (4 1/2") half-circles.
• Insert base into pan and secure the latch. Brush base with butter. Place 1 phyllo circle in pan and brush generously with butter. Top with 2 half-circles to create a full circle, brush with butter. Top with full circle, brush again. Top with 2 more half-circles at a 90° angle from the first half-circle layer, brush with butter. Top with a full circle, and brush again. You should have 5 layers of pastry (full circle - half-circles - full circle - half circles - full circle), with butter spread between each layer. Spread one-fifth of nut mixture over phyllo. Repeat layering 4 more times. Top with the 5 remaining phyllo circles; brush top with butter.
• Using a sharp knife, score the top layer (do not cut through to bottom of pan) to divide into 4 quadrants. Working with 1 quadrant at a time, make 1 straight cut to divide the quadrant into 2 even wedges. Make 4 more straight cuts (2 each on either side of, and parallel to the quadrant division line), spacing evenly apart. Now working within each wedge, make 2 evenly-spaced cuts parallel to the outside edge of the quadrant, connecting at points with the previous cuts to form a diamond pattern. Repeat with the remaining quadrants to create a starburst pattern. Transfer pan to a rimmed baking sheet and bake until phyllo is golden brown, about 45 minutes.
• Spoon cooled syrup over hot baklava in 4 additions. Place orange curls on top. Let cool completely in pan. Remove springform ring and cut baklava along the scored lines.
• Do Ahead
• Syrup can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill. Baklava can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and store at room temperature.

BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 390 degrees F then reduce heat to 300 degrees F before adding the baklava.
• Combine walnuts, cinnamon, ground cloves, sugar and bread crumbs together in a large bowl.
• Grease a baking pan with the melted butter. It should be the same size as the sheets of pastry. Trim the pastry to fit, if needed.
• Brush 1 sheet of pastry with melted butter and place in the bottom of the pan. Repeat this until you have a layer about 5 or 6 sheets deep. Cover with some of the nut filling. Place 2 more buttered pastry sheets on top and cover with more of the nut filling. Continue the layers until all of the filling is used. Use the last 4 or 5 of the buttered pastry sheets as the top layer.
• Using a small sharp knife cut a diamond shaped pattern into the baklava, cutting through the layers to the bottom of the pan. Stud the top of the baklava with the whole cloves.
• Bake in the center of the pre-heated oven for 1 1/2 hours. For fan-forced ovens it may be necessary to cover the baklava with aluminum foil to prevent it becoming too dark.
• When baked through remove and cool to room temperature.
• To make the syrup:
• Place the sugar, honey, water, cloves, butter and cinnamon in a saucepan and stir to combine. Boil for 7 to 10 minutes, then remove the cloves and cinnamon, with a slotted spoon and add the lemon juice.
• Pour the boiling syrup over the room temperature baklava. Allow to cool to the touch and serve.

BOURBON PECAN BAKLAVA RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine sugar, bourbon, 1 cup water, vanilla bean, and reserved seeds. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook until mixture registers 225° on a deep-frying/candy thermometer. Remove from heat, and stir in honey. Strain mixture, discarding vanilla bean. Let cool completely. In a large bowl, combine pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Line a 17x12-inch rimmed baking sheet with 1 sheet of phyllo dough, letting edges of dough extend over sides of pan, if necessary. Brush with melted butter. Continue layering pan with phyllo dough, covering bottom of pan only, to make 8 layers. Brush between layers with melted butter. (To prevent phyllo from drying when not in use, cover with a moist towel.) Sprinkle 3/4 cup pecan mixture evenly over top layer of phyllo. Cover pecan layer with 1 layer phyllo; brush with melted butter. Repeat procedure with remaining pecan mixture for 8 more layers. Top the last layer of nuts with 9 layers of phyllo, brushing all but the top sheet with butter. (Trim edges of phyllo if they overhang.) Preheat oven to 300°. Cut layers diagonally into 3/4- to 1-inch diamonds. In a small saucepan, heat remaining butter over medium heat until butter has a nutty aroma and is dark brown in color. Pour butter evenly over baklava. Bake for 1 hour. Let cool completely. Pour bourbon mixture evenly over baklava. Let sit for at least 24 hours before removing from pan. Store at room temperature for up to 1 week.

GREEK PECAN BAKLAVA

Steps:

• In a saucepan combine 2 cups sugar, 1 cup water, liquid honey, brandy, lemon juice and cinnamon stick; bring to a boil over medium heat stirring constantly, boil for about 1 minute (or until the sugar is completely dissolved) then remove from heat; cool syrup COMPLETELY.
• In another bowl toss the chopped pecans with 1 cup sugar, cinnamon and cloves.
• Brush 2 (13 x 9-inch) baking pans with melted butter.
• Place 8 phyllo sheets in 1 pan, brushing EACH sheet with melted butter, then top with 2 cups pecan mixture.
• Place 3 phyllo sheets over the pecan mixture, brushing each sheet with melted butter, then top with 2 cups of pecan mixture.
• Repeat with 3 more phyllo sheets and then 2 cups pecan mixture.
• Top with 6 phyllo sheets, brushing all but the top sheet with melted butter.
• Repeat the procedure with remaining phyllo sheets and the pecan mixture for the second pan.
• Using a sharp knife cut layers diagonally into 3/4-inch diamonds; gently brush with remaining butter.
• Insert a clove in the center of each diamond.
• Bake in a 300°F oven for 1 hour.
• Remove from the oven and pour the prepared reserved syrup evenly over the baked baklava.
• Cool completely in the pans on wire racks.
• When cooled cut again diagonally; remove from pans and store in airtight containers at room temperature.

BACON PECAN BOURBON BAKLAVA

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9- by 13-inch baking pan. 2. In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the figs and 2 tablespoons bourbon. Let stand until the bourbons soaks into the figs. Meanwhile, cook the bacon as directed until very well browned. Drain on paper towels, then crumble very finely. Very finely chop the pecans. Stir the bacon, pecans, and ½ cup sugar into the fig mixture. 3. Lay a sheet of phyllo into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Lightly brush with melted butter. Repeat with 4 more phyllo sheets and butter. Spread one-third of the filling evenly over the phyllo. On a clean work surface, lightly brush 1 phyllo sheet with butter. Top with another phyllo sheet and lightly butter. Repeat with 3 more phyllo sheets and butter, then press the stack on top of the filling. Spread half of the remaining filling evenly on top. Repeat this layering of 5 phyllo sheets and bacon filling one more time. Top with 5 buttered and stacked phyllo sheets, buttering the top well. 4. With a small, sharp serrated knife, cut the baklava into 48 diamonds. Bake the baklava until dark golden brown, about 1 hour. 5. While the baklava bakes, bring the maple syrup, water, remaining ½ cup sugar, and remaining 3 tablespoons bourbon to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 5 minutes. As soon as the baklava comes out of the oven, pour the syrup evenly on top. Let stand for at least 3 hours and up to overnight.

BAKLAVA, EASY & REDUCED SUGAR RECIPE RECIPE - (4.5/5)

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Place the almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and sugar into the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely chopped, but not pasty or powdery, approximately 15 quick pulses. Set aside. Trim the sheets of phyllo to fit the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch metal pan. Brush the bottom and sides of the pan with butter; lay down a sheet of phyllo and brush with butter. Repeat this step 4 more times for a total of 5 sheets of phyllo. Top with 1/3 of the nut mixture and spread thinly. Layer 5 more sheets of phyllo with butter in between each of them. Repeat with another 5 sheets of phyllo, butter, and remaining nuts. Top with 5-8 sheets of phyllo brushing with butter in between each sheet. Brush the top generously with butter. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and cut into 28 squares. Return pan to the oven and continue to bake for another 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove pan from the oven, pour the cooled syrup evenly over the top of the baklava, allowing it to run into the cuts and around the edges of the pan. Make the syrup while the baklava is baking in the oven. Combine the honey, water, sugar, and cinnamon in a 4-quart saucepan and set over high heat. Stir occasionally until the sugar has dissolved. Once boiling, boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let cool. Allow the pan to sit, uncovered until completely cool. Cover and store at room temperature for at least 8 hours and up to overnight before serving. Store, covered, at room temperature for up to 5 days. Optional: dust some powdered sugar for decoration before serving.