Azeri Baklava (Azərbaycan Paxlavası)

Published on by decorxfood

Baklava (Pakhlava)

  • Servings: 16-18
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Print

Ingredients: 

For the baklava:

  • 1 Filo dough package (16 oz) thawed
  • 0.5 lb walnuts
  • 0.5 lb pecans
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1 tsp ground cloves
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 cup butter (melted) + more for greasing
  • 1 egg yolk

For the syrup:

  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup honey

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (175 °C)
  2. Generously butter a 9×13 inch pan
  3. In a food processor, ground the walnuts and pecans until they are finely chopped, but still have a few larger pieces to add some crunch
  4. In a large bowl, mix the ground nuts with the sugar and spices
  5. Place 1 fillo sheet in the pan, and using a pastry brush generously cover it with the melted butter
    • Making sure than each sheet is generously covered in butter, place 3 filo sheets on the base of the baklava
  6. Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of the filling onto the filo sheets
  7. For every layer above the base use 2 filo sheets, making sure to cover each of them in butter
  8. Repeat steps 6-8 until you reach the top of the pan
  9. For the final layer, use 3 filo sheets, similar to the base but do not spread butter on the final sheet
  10. Using a pastry brush, spread the egg yolk on the final sheet to help with the browning in the oven
  11. Grease a very sharp knife on both sides, and carefully cut in a diagonal crosshatch pattern
  12. Take whole pecans and place them on each diamond shape
  13. Bake baklava in the oven for about 50 minutes, or until golden and crispy
  14. In the meantime in a medium saucepan over medium heat dissolve the sugar and water in a low simmer
  15. Add in the honey and melt it completely
  16. Remove from the stove and add in the vanilla extract
  17. In the last 15 minutes of baking, take the baklava out of the oven and go over the pattern with a sharp knife, and pour the remaining melted butter over the cuts
  18. Once the baklava is ready take it out of the oven and pour the syrup over it while it is still hot
  19. Leave it to cool down before taking them out of the pan, and serve with a cup of black tea

Enjoy!