Pistachio & Orange Blossom Baklava
Makes 18 pieces
Ingredients
Syrup
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 cup honey
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 10 whole cloves
- zest (orange part only) of ½ orange
- 1½ tbsp orange blossom water
Filling
- 2 cups raw, shelled pistachios, chopped
- 1½ cups walnuts
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 pkg (18 sheets) phyllo dough
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted
Special Equipment
- vegetable peeler
- 9" x 9" baking dish
- pastry brush
How-to
Make Syrup
- Combine water, sugar, honey, cinnamon stick, cloves and orange zest in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow to simmer for 15 minutes
- Turn off heat and add orange blossom water. Allow the syrup to cool
- Remove and discard the zest, cloves, and cinnamon stick
Make Filling & Assemble
- Combine nuts and sugar in a food processor and pulse until the nuts are roughly-chopped (about seven 1-second pulses). Alternatively, you may chop the nuts with a knife then combine with the sugar
- Cut phyllo sheets into 9” x 9” squares. Brush a 9” x 9” pan generously, bottom and sides, with melted butter
- Place one sheet of phyllo into pan, butter the top of sheet and repeat until you have 6 sheets of phyllo as a bottom layer
- Spread half of the nut filling evenly over the phyllo. Layer and butter another 6 sheets of phyllo atop the nuts
- Spread the second half of filling over evenly. Layer again with 6 sheets of buttered phyllo
- Place the entire pan into the refrigerator and chill for 10 minutes
Slice & Bake
- Preheat oven to 350º
- Using a ruler, cut into 3” x 3” squares with a paring knife. Cut each square across diagonally, making 2 triangles
- Bake 25 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 300º and bake for another 35 minutes
- Immediately after removing from the oven, strain the syrup evenly over the entire pan. Allow to sit at room temperature 2-3 hours before serving