Syrian Walnut Baklava Recipes

SYRIAN WALNUT BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Chop walnuts by hand into small pieces. (A food processor will bruise and pulverize the walnuts, creating a powdery effect.) Transfer to a bowl and mix with confectioners' sugar and orange blossom water.
• Cover phyllo pastry with a clean, lightly damp kitchen towel. Layer a pastry sheet into a 13-by-18-inch pan, securing it in a few places with dabs of clarified butter in the bottom of the pan. Brush sheet lightly with butter before layering on the next sheet. Continue layering butter and sheets; once half the sheets have been used, scatter the walnut mixture evenly over the top, being careful not to rip the pastry or leave any spots uncovered.
• Layer the remaining sheets, brushing each lightly with butter, including the top one. If your sheets are larger than the pan, trim the stack all at once so the edges are flush with the pan. Cut baklava into 3-inch squares, and pour any remaining butter around the edges. Bake for 40 minutes, or until top is a light golden brown.
• Meanwhile, prepare simple syrup: Boil granulated sugar and 3/4 cup/180 milliliters water together in a small pot over medium-high heat, stirring to combine. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Stir, set aside and let cool to lukewarm.
• If there is excess butter in the baklava pan, carefully tip it over the sink to drain. While baklava is still hot, drizzle over the lukewarm syrup, being sure to get it in the gaps between pieces. Once completely cool, the baklava is best stored covered at room temperature and eaten within a few days.

WALNUT BAKLAVA

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon; set aside. Grease a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish with some of the melted butter. Unroll phyllo dough sheets (keep dough covered with plastic wrap while assembling). , Place one sheet of phyllo in baking dish; brush with butter. Top with a second sheet; brush with butter. Fold long ends under to fit the dish. Sprinkle with about 1/4 cup nut mixture. Repeat 18 times, layering two sheets, brushing with butter and sprinkling with nut mixture. Top with remaining dough; brush with butter. Cut into 2-in. diamonds with a sharp knife. , Bake at 350° for 45-55 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, combine the syrup ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Pour over warm baklava. Cool on a wire rack.

BAKLAWA - SYRIAN VERSION OF BAKLAVA

Steps:

• Butter baking pans thoroughly.
• Place 1 lb.
• of dough in pan, brushing butter between each sheet.
• Do not butter top sheet.
• Combine ingredients for nut filling and spread evenly on last layer.
• Place the other 1 lb.
• dough over nut filling, brushing each layer with butter between each sheet.
• Cut in diamond shapes.
• Pour remaining butter over top.
• Bake in a preheated oven@ 400 degrees for 15 minutes.
• ,then reduce heat to 325 degrees for 45 minutes.
• *NOTE:Keep dough covered with damp cloth or plastic while using to prevent dough from drying out.
• SYRUP:.
• Mix sugar and water and boil over medium hear for 15-20 minutes Add lemon juice and rose water before removing from heat.
• Let syrup stand for 10 minutes before pouring over cold Baklawa.

SYRIAN CREAM-FILLED BAKLAVA (BAKLAVA MUHALABIYYA)

Steps:

• Make syrup:
• Place sugar, water, and flower water in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring so that the syrup dissolves. Let boil until it is a slightly thick syrup, then set aside and let cool completely.
• Make filling:
• Place homogenized milk, sugar, spices, and sea salt in a sauce pan. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring so that the sugar dissolves.
• Add the semolina in a slow stream, stirring to combine.
• Simmer the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened and the semolina is soft, about 10 minutes.
• Set aside to cool completely before using.
• Putting it all together:.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F
• Have your melted butter and pastry brush ready. Get two cloths or dish towels, moisten them, then wring them out as much as possible. Unroll your phyllo on your work surface and cover it with plastic wrap then cover with the damp cloths.
• Brush a 9X13 inch baking dish all over with some of the melted butter.
• Brush one sheet of phyllo lightly with the butter, then place in the baking dish, letting any extra come up the sides. Repeat, brushing a phyllo sheet with butter and layering it in the baking dish, keeping the remaining phyllo covered, until you've used half the phyllo.
• Evenly put the filling into the dish on the phyllo that was last brushed with butter.
• Continue brushing phyllo with butter, then layering it on top of the filling, allowing the edges of phyllo to hang over the sides of the pan. When you have layered all but 2 sheets of the phyllo, take all the pieces of phyllo that are hanging over the sides and fold them back into the pan, (some of the edges may be dry, snap them off and discard them), Brush the fold overs with butter. Brush the final 2 sheets of phyllo with butter and place them over the pan, tucking the edges down into the side of the pan. Brush the top with melted butter.
• Score the top layer of the pie to form diamonds (it looks prettier than squares, but do what you can) then run your knife through the scores again, cutting all the way through to the bottom the pan. Place in the oven and bake until crisp and golden watch at 40 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and immediately pour the cool syrup slowly over the baklava. Set aside to absorb for several hours before serving.
• Helpful Tips:.
• When working with phyllo, it's important to work quickly to keep the dough from drying out. In order to do so, make sure you have all your ingredients and tools ready, and know what you are going to do. Read through the recipe several times to familiarize yourself with the process, this will help prevent you from constantly stopping to check the recipe, which will slow you down.
• Never leave phyllo uncovered for more than a minute.
• Brush each phyllo sheet lightly with butter, beginning at the corners and working inward. You want to brush it with enough butter to prevent dryness, but you don't want to saturate it so that it's heavy or soggy.
• Make sure your syrup is cooled before you use it. Cool syrup + hot phyllo = crispy baklava.