Baklava

Recipe

Preparation

Make the filling: Simply mix the nuts, sugar, spices in a bowl and set aside.
Make the pastry part: Melt the butter or margarine over low heat in a small saucepan and keep handy, with a pastry brush at hand. **Personally, I prefer to just skip this whole process and spray the sheets of dough with Pam instead. It works just as well. But if you want to do it up right the first time, read on.
Remove the phyllo dough from its inner lining. Unfold it so it lies flat and keep it covered with a moistened kitchen towel while you work with the pastry. Dip your pastry brush in the butter/oil and coat the bottom and sides of a 10 x 15 x 1" jelly roll pan (or a 9 x 13 x 2 cake pan in a pinch--the important thing is that it be deep enough to accept all the sugar syrup you're going to pour into it).Trim the sheets of phyllo so they fit the pan. (You'll probably have enough for another dish, such as wrapped chicken or spana- kopita (8-9).)
Layer one sheet of phyllo in the pan, brush it with butter/oil or spray it, and cover it with another sheet. Repeat. After 5 sheets, sprinkle some of the nut mixture onto the sheets, covering them pretty completely. Repeat the above every 3 sheets of dough until you have no more nuts left, then top with 5 more sheets of dough. (Tip from personal experience: At least the first time, yes you gotta butter each sheet of phyllo. The pastry is very dry without it. That's why I like to use PAM instead) Don't forget to cover the remaining dough each time you retrieve a sheet of it from the pile.
Score the pastry by cutting into diamond shapes with a sharp knife. The book says to cut only partway through, but I always cut all the way through. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. The pastry should be golden on top.
While the baklava is in the oven, prepare the syrup: Combine the sugar, water, citrus peel and 1/2 c honey in a medium saucepan. Slowly heat the mixture over medium heat, swirling the pan, until the sugar dissolves; then simmer, uncovered and undistrubed, until the mixture reaches 212 on a candy thermo- meter (about 10 minutes). Remove the syrup from the heat and now add the remaining honey and the lemon juice. Cool completely.
To complete the pastry, when it is done take it from the oven and IMMEDIATELY pour the syrup over the top of the entire hot pan. If you can stand it, let the baklava sit for at least 4 hours or overnight. This recipe freezes; or you can store it at room temperature; or, you can bring it to my house and not worry about storage. :)
*to make the Hawaiian baklava, I replaced the walnuts with macadamia nuts, the lemon and orange peel with pineapple juice, and tossed in some dried pineapple chunks and coconut into the nut mix. Spices could be replaced by ginger, but I think that is gilding the lily.
To make choclava, the last layer of nuts before putting the "lid" on the pastry can also contain a layer of chocolate chips. I like to put the choco- late chips near the top rather than the bottom so as not to scorch the chips. The Hawaiian baklava got a layer of white chocolate chips.

Ingredients

Filling
4 c chopped nuts (usually walnuts)*
1/4 c sugar
2 tsp ground cinnamon*
1/4 tsp ground allspice*
1/4 tsp ground cloves*
Dough
10 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine**
1 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil**
2 tsp warm water**
1 pound phyllo dough
Syrup
2 c sugar
1 c cold water
Shredded peel from a medium orange
Shredded peel from a medium lemon*
1/2 c + 2 tbsp honey
Juice of a medium lemon
chocolate chips (optional for "choclava")

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