The One and Only Recipe post you need for perfect Baklava Recipe. Here I have shared step by step guide with pictures and video to make the perfect authentic baklava from scratch. Starting from homemade phyllo pastry, this recipe is all you need to make perfect baklava every time.
Baklava
Baklava may seem time consuming dessert to make. But it is actually very easy to make. This baklava is made with minimum ingredients like phyllo pastry, nuts, sugar.
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About Baklava Recipe
Baklava is one of the addictive and rich sweet made with phyllo sheets, pistachios. The dish is baked till crispy and soaked in sugar syrup. This baklava is popular around lebanese, greek places.
Baklava is made with phyllo pastry which is layered with sugary nuts mixture and baked till crispy. The baklava is soaked with sugar syrup and allowed to set.
The first step in baklava making is to get the phyllo pastry. Sadly that is not available in my place. So i was looking for a perfect recipe to make that. Finally i got this recipe and it works like a charm. The key for perfect phyllo pastry is to roll it as thin as possible.
You can use them in baklava, vegan borek shred the pastry to make walnut kunafa rolls and my authentic kunafa.
Video for Baklava Recipe
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Homemade Phyllo Pastry
Suryakala
Making baklava using store bought filo pastry can be so easy, but making everything from scratch is what you call homemade. Baklava is buttery, flaky and nutty and sugary, everything you need in one bite. Since ramadan is around the corner, make this middle eastern dessert and wow your family.
Baklava is just filo pastry brushed with butter all over it and layered between lots of sugary nuts and the whole thing is baked to perfection and soaked in a sugar syrup.
The recipe which I shared is a basic pistachio baklava which is my favorite. But you can do variations in this recipe. You can use a mixture of nuts like walnuts, cashews, almonds and pistachios.
To flavour the nuts, you can use ground cinnamon with crushed nuts and use cinnamon flavoured sugar syrup to soak baklava.
Also some recipes uses honey in the syrup. You can add ½ cup honey with 1 cup sugar to make simple sugar syrup to soak baklava. Make sure you use 2 teaspoon lemon juice when making syrup. It is totally to your preference.
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Ingredients
- Phyllo Pastry – Phyllo pastry is made with flour, vinegar, olive oil and water. I used my homemade phyllo dough. The key is to roll the dough as thin as possible.
- Nuts – I like to use pistachios. But any nuts can be used in the baklava recipe.
- Ghee – I used ghee to brush inbetween layers. You can use melted butter or clarified butter as well.
- Sugar – Sugar is used in making Sugar syrup and also added to pistachios when blending.
- Rose Water – the syrup can be flavoured with any ingredients you like. I used rose water alone. you can use orange blossom water, vanilla, orange peel, lemon peel, cardamom, cinnamon. You can use half sugar and half honey in the syrup.
Step by Step Pictures
Phyllo Pastry Dough
1)We will start making phyllo pastry dough. Take plain flour in a bowl.
2)Add salt. Don’t add too much, lightly is enough. Some people don’t add salt at all, but I like to season the pastry lightly.
3)Now add in olive oil. I am using extra virgin, you can use regular oil as well.
4)Add in vinegar. This vinegar helps the pastry turns crispy when it is baked.
5)Pour in warm water little at a time and knead to a soft dough.
6)Knead well using your hands to form a soft dough. You can add more water as needed.
7)Wrap in plastic wrap and set aside for 30 mins to 1 hour.
Portioning dough
8)Now lets roll the phyllo pastry. Unwrap the dough.
9)Divide the dough into 3 portions and roll it into three rope like.
10)Cut each rope into equal balls. Make sure it is small.
11)Take all the portions in a bowl and Dust with cornstarch so they don’t stick to each other.
First stack and roll
12)Now take five portions of the ball from the bowl. Keep the bowl covered at all times so the dough doesn’t dry out.
13)Dust generously with cornstarch and roll it using a rolling pin.
14) I rolled it till it is in the size of my palm. Once the five balls are rolled.
15)Dust it with cornstarch generously and stack over each other.
16)stack them. Make sure you dust them generously with cornstarch.
17)Now Roll it gently without giving much pressure. You have to roll it slightly bigger. But don’t give too much pressure.
18)Once it is rolled a bit, i like to peel each layer carefully.
Second stack and roll
19)This step is important. Because we have to roll it even bigger. So peel it once and dust with cornstarch again, stack and roll. This way the sheets doesn’t stick at all.
20)gently dust some more cornstarch over the sheets. Stack them again and roll even more till thin.
21)You shouldn’t give too much pressure. Try to roll it as thin as possible.
22)Once the sheets are rolled almost the size of the pan which you are going to bake. Gently peel each layers separately.
23)Look how thin the sheets are. Thats it, your phyllo pastry is ready. You have dust off any excess cornstarch, keep them covered in a cloth until use.
24))This is your homemade phyllo pastry. We are going to make baklava using these. Instead of making it, You can buy store bought phyllo pastry as well.
25)Preheat oven to 190 degree C.Take a square baking pan and brush it generously with ghee and set aside.
Grinding nuts (pistachios)
26)Take pistachios, sugar in a blender or food processor.
27)Crush them coarse and set aside. This is your filling. You can use combination of any nuts in this like cashews, almonds, walnuts. I like only pistachios in my baklava.
Layering Baklava (Bottom | Base Layer)
28)Now take your baking pan in which you applied ghee before. Take one sheet of your homemade phyllo, Spread phyllo sheet in the greased pan. Brush top with ghee so you get crispy texture.
Tip: If you are using store bought phyllo, use two sheets as one sheet will be too delicate to handle.
29)For bottom layer of the baklava, you need to spread 8 to 10 layers of phyllo sheets. You have to layer them on top of each other.
30)apply ghee or melted butter generously all over each layer, which is very important.
31)Now from the crushed pistachios, spread ½ of the pistachio mix evenly over the phyllo pastry. be generous with this step. Spread it evenly, you can even press it lightly once pressed.
32)Take some ghee and drizzle over the pistachios. This is to add flavour and also helps the pistachios toast better.
Second Layer (Middle Layer)
33)Now we are going to repeat the process. Place Another 8 to 10 sheets of phyllo pastry, Make sure to apply ghee between each layers.
34)Now sprinkle the remaining half of the pistachio mixture and drizzle ghee over it.
Top layer
35)top with another 10 layer of phyllo pastry. Make sure you grease each layer with ghee.
Pre cutting and baking baklava
36)Now use a sharp knife to cut it into small pieces. You can cut them into any shapes you like. I sliced them in diamonds. Brush top generously with ghee. Place this into the oven, Bake this in 190 degree C (374 degree F) preheated oven for 1 hour. Bake it in the middle rack.
Sugar Syrup
37)While the baklava is baking. Let’s make the sugar syrup. Take granulated sugar in a pan.
38)Add in water and lemon juice. Boil this for 8 to 10 mins till syrupy. It shouldn’t get too thick but should be one string consistency. It should have a syrup like texture.
39)Finally take it off the heat and add some rose water or orange blossom water. If you don’t have or don’t prefer the flavour. You can add vanilla extract or simply leave the extracts.
40)Remove the baklava from oven. It should looks crispy and golden brown.
Soaking Baklava in Syrup
41)Now comes the last step. Pour the syrup all over it while the baklava is still hot.
42)The baklava will absorb the syrup. Set this aside for atleast 1 hour so the baklava can settle.
43)Sprinkle crushed pistachios on top. Slice and serve warm as it is or with vanilla ice cream or custard.
Expert Tips
About Phyllo Pastry – Store bought or homemade phyllo sheets can be trimmed according to the baking pan size. Always cover the phyllo sheets with damp cloth so it doesn’t dry out. If you are using store bought phyllo dough. Thaw the dough according to package instructions before using.
Swapping – Traditionally pistachios is used in making baklava. You can use mixture of cashews, almonds and walnuts. Flavourings like cardamom, orange zest, saffron, cinnamon can be used in the sugar syrup. Clarified butter or melted butter can be used in between layers.
Baking time – If you are using store bought phyllo sheets then the baking timing may vary. Homemade phyllo needs more baking time. Also store bought phyllo is super thin, so you need upto 10 sheets for each layer. Homemade is slightly thick, so I did 8 to 10 layers.
Serving and Storage – Bakalva taste great when served warm, fresh with ice cream, custard or whipped cream. Leftover baklava can be stored at room temperature for 2 days. You can keep them in fridge upto a week.
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How to Make Baklava using Homemade Phyllo Pastry
The One and Only Recipe post you need for perfect Baklava Recipe. Here I have shared step by step guide with pictures and video to make the perfect authentic baklava from scratch. Starting from homemade phyllo pastry, this recipe is all you need to make perfect baklava every time.
Equipment
Rolling Pin, Pastry brush
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
How to Make Baklava using Homemade Phyllo Pastry
Amount per Serving
% Daily Value*
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
If you have any questions not covered in this post and if you need help, leave me a comment or mail me @aarthi198689@gmail.com and I’ll help as soon as I can.
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