Photography & Story By GEORGE CLONDAS
Growing up in my household during the holidays meant one thing—food and lots of it. Being from a Greek and Italian family, that should come as no surprise. Both nationalities know how to party and eat.
A week before Christmas the cooking would start and work its way into a frenzy by December 25. I can still remember the smells of my childhood: artichokes, cabbage stuffed with pork and rice, and the turkey. What really takes my memory back are the desserts. As all the relatives showed up so would their epicurean specialties.
One of the pastries that always seemed to disappear the quickest was my mother’s baklava. Everyone would rave over it. On more than one occasion fights would even break out over the last pieces. My Yiayia even liked my mother’s baklava better than her own, which was really funny because my mother is Italian.
Not wanting to fight my siblings anymore for the last scraps to take home, I asked Mom to teach me her secret recipe. So at the risk of being disowned from my family, if you promise not to let the cat out of the bag, like I’m doing, I’ll share it with you now.
Mom likes to tinker in the kitchen. She’ll find a recipe in a book, on television, or even from a friend, and instantly start trying to make it better. Most of the time things go splendidly but there was that one “cheesy chicken” recipe back in the ’80s we never let her live down. Sorry, Mom, I couldn’t resist.
So without any more rambling, here it is.
Ingredients to make baklava
Yiayia’s Baklava Recipe
36 servings
1/2 box fillo dough (1 roll)
1 lb or 4 cups walnuts
2 cups or 1/2 package (Stella D’oro Almond Toast)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
2 TBSP granulated sugar
1 lb salted butter
Mix together the nuts, almond toast crumbs, sugar, cinnamon & clove.
Start by making the nut mixture. In a food processor coarsely chop the walnuts by pulsing a few times, being very careful to not obliterate the nuts into dust. Remove nuts from food processor. Now finely chop the almond toast (finer than the walnuts). This is used as a filler to help with the absorption of the simple syrup later and doesn’t really add much in the way of flavor. (Originally my mother’s
Melt one pound of butter, being careful not to overheat and separate the fats.
recipe called for zwieback toast; however, the company that produced it has since discontinued its production. In the beginning I tried a few alternatives from plain white breadcrumbs to biscotti, but finally settled on the almond toasts. They have a similar taste and texture to the zwieback.) Combine the chopped walnuts, chopped almond toast, sugar, ground cinnamon and ground cloves in a medium-size mixing bowl and set aside.
In a saucepan, melt one pound of butter (yes, one pound—there is nothing light about this recipe) over medium heat and set this aside as well. Be careful not to overheat the butter to the point of separating the fats. It is the fats between the layers of fillo dough that cause it to puff up while baking.
Prepare your work area so you can work fairly quickly.
Prepare your work area. You will need to work fairly quickly so the fillo dough does not dry out and start to break apart as you work with it. To buy yourself a little more time with the fillo, cover it with a slightly damp paper towel. Another helpful hint when it comes to working with fillo dough is to not defrost it in the refrigerator, but instead defrost on the counter. I have found when you let the dough defrost in the
When working with fillo dough, cover with a slightly damp paper towel to prevent it from drying out too quickly.
refrigerator it causes condensation to build up and the dough sticks together more, making it tougher to get apart and resulting in more breakage.
Begin by brushing the bottom of the pan with a little butter. Now start layering in the fillo dough, brushing each layer with the melted butter. Repeat this process six to 10 times to build up the base of the baklava.
Start building your layers of fillo dough and butter.
Once the base of the baklava is built, layer in half of the nut mixture to form the first level of nuts.
Continue layering the fillo dough and butter until another six to 10 layers are completed. Now add the remaining mixture to form the second nut layer.
Once you have six to 10 layers, add the first half of the nut mixture.
Finish by layering in the remainder of the fillo, buttering between each course. At this point your fillo dough could start getting a bit dry, causing it to start breaking up on you. Don’t worry as this is normal and, thankfully, fillo is very
If your fillo starts to get a bit dry and break, do not worry; the fillo is very forgiving. Just overlap the edges.
forgiving. As long as you keep overlapping the seams while layering, you will never know once it is cut and baked.
Baklava needs to be cut before baking. Using a very sharp knife, cut your baklava into as many pieces
Continue layering the fillo to build up another 6 to 10 layers and add the second layer half of the nut mixture.
as you desire. I find for a 10 x 13-inch pan 36 pieces makes for a good portion and fits nicely into a standard paper pastry cup. Once cut, brush lightly with a little more butter and bake in a 350˚F pre-heated oven for 30 to 40 minuets or until golden brown—whichever comes first. Depending on your oven, the time could be less.
Let the baklava cool completely before pouring on the syrup.
Before baking, with a very sharp knife, cut the baklava onto as many desired pieces.
Simple Syrup
Make the simple syrup by combining the sugar, water and cinnamon sticks and boil until clear.
4 cups granulated sugar
2 cups water
2 cinnamon sticks
Once the baklava has cooled, carefully pour the simple syrup over until it is just about completely covered.
After the baklava comes out of the oven and is cooling, make the simple syrup by combining 4 cups of granulated sugar, 2 cups of water and 2 cinnamon sticks. Boil ingredients until sugar dissolves clear and takes on a light golden color from the cinnamon sticks.
Now the tough part… waiting. You will be tempted to dig in; don’t! It needs to rest about four hours for the simple syrup to absorb into the baklava.
There is a secret to getting the simple syrup to absorb into the baklava. Make sure the baklava is completely cooled before pouring on the hot liquid. Pour slowly and only until the baklava is just about covered. Once the simple syrup has been poured, you will be tempted to dig in, but DON’T; it needs to rest for about four hours. Trust me, it is worth the wait. This will give you a finished product that is both chewy and gooey on the bottom but light and flaky on top.
I hope I’ve inspired you to give making baklava a try. It makes an impressive dessert to bring to a dinner party. Food always makes a great personal gift, too. Find yourself a few holiday tins or boxes and add it to a gift basket, or just share it with friends this holiday season.