Grandma Olga's Baklava
Great Grandma Olga was Greek, and she gave this recipe to my mom, who had this to say about it: "What I can say about the baklava is that Grandma was very particular when she made it, like there was an art to it, especially when and how it was cut into the diagonal or diamond shapes. Then she would place each piece in a cupcake cup for serving. I never made it myself, and looking back I think I was probably intimidated by it, thinking I could never have the skill or touch to do it right. That feeling was my own though. My Grandma never made me feel that way! She adored me (and my children)."
Equipment
- I bought a pastry brush to place melted butter in between layers
Ingredients
Day 1
- 3 cups sugar
- 2 cup water
- ½ cup honey
Day 2
- 1-1½ lbs ground walnuts
- 5-6 sticks unsalted butter, melted Hillandale (Marc's)
- 1 large fillo pastry dough John George's
Instructions
Day 1 - Syrup
- Combine water, sugar, honey, orange slices, and cinnamon sticks in a heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring and watching the syrup carefully. Reduce heat to simmer for an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside and let cool completely.
Day 2 - Baklava
- In your baklava pan (baking sheet) place 7 layers of fillo dough--place butter in between each layer
- The next 7-8 layers of fillo dough will have butter & walnuts (ground) in between each layer
- Last 7 layers of fillo dough will only have butter in between them
- Refrigerate for 15 minutes then cut pieces diagonally
- Bake at 350° for 50 minutes to 1 hour. It will look nice and brown
- After removing from the oven, let stand 5 minutes, the immediately ladle the cooled syrup from the day before over the top
- Additional hints from the internet: Be sure to cover each piece generously with the syrup and let baklava stand for several hours or overnight before serving
Notes
Featured image by martin miranda from Pixabay
