Baklava

My mother’s favorite dessert

Baklava

Ingredients

For making Syrup:
12 oz Honey
18 oz Sugar
2        Cinnamon Sticks
4        Whole cloves
2        Whole lemons, squeezed
(Whole lemon cut in half and added)
1.5      Cups water

For Assembling the pastry:
5  oz   Pistachios, whole
4  oz   Almonds
1  tsp  Cinnamon
4  oz   Sugar
10 oz  unsealed butter, melted
1  lb    Phyllo Dough

Directions:
For making the syrup:

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan; simmer gently for 30 minutes or until syrupy in consistency.
2. Strain syrup while still hot to remove cinnamon stick, cloves, and lemon.

For Assembling the pastry:
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Place almonds and pistachios on baking sheet; bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until nuts just begin to color slightly, before removing from oven to cool. Reset oven to 350 degrees
3. After nuts have cooled, crush them coarsely using either a mortor and pestle or a rolling pin
4. Combine crushed nuts with cinnamon and sugar mix thoroughly
5. To assemble the baklava, first brush a shallow baking dish (approximately the same size as the phyllo sheets) with butter. Add 2 sheets buttered phyllo dough to the bottom of the dish, and sprinkle a thin layer of nut mixture onto the sheets.
6. Place another buttered phyllo sheet sheet on top of mixture repeat for about 10 layers finishing with a layer of phyllo dough no mixture on top of it.
7. Place baklava in preheated oven 350 degree oven; bake for 30 to 40 min or until surface is golden brown.
8. Remove and allow to cool completely .
9. Reheat syrup in small  saucepan for thinner consistency, and pour evenly over the surface of the baked, cooled baklava.
10. Cut baklava in desired shape and serve