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irene's baklava

(1 rating)
2bor0 avatar
Recipe by
joanna economakos
@2bor0
costa mesa, CA

When my mother-in-law was my cooking partner this was her recipe. The only thing that ever made it better was my daughter went to Greece and brought back 5 lbs of Greek honey. Wow! it was the best ever. She is a nutritionist, so I will try to find out nutrient values for everyone. BUT I don't think we really want to know. Eat sparingly.

(1 rating)
yield serving(s)
prep time 1 Hr
cook time 1 Hr 10 Min
method Bake

Ingredients For irene's baklava

  • 1 lb
    greek filo ( best if purchased fresh mpt frozen from a greek or mediterranean store
  • 1 lb
    walnuts
  • 1 lb
    sweet butter ( unsalted)
  • 2 tsp
    ground cinnamon
  • 3 tsp
    white sugar
  • 3 c
    white sugar
  • 5 c
    water
  • 1/2 c
    honey
  • 1 sm
    lemon

How To Make irene's baklava

  • 1
    A regular Baklava pan is 13"x18". Preparations: Set oven to 375o. Butter the pan. Grind walnuts. Divide Filo in half, wrap in wax paper and reserve in the refrigerator. Divide Sweet butter in half to melt i/2 Lb. at a time.
  • 2
    Syrup: You will be making a simple syrup. In a large pan put in Water, sugar. Add a cut lemon to the mixture and place on simmer. After about 45 minutes start sampling by taking a Tbsp out to cool to see if thick. When thickened add Honey. DO NOT BOIL this or it will turn to sugar. Takes a while; do not get impatient.
  • 3
    If you get someone to help you the layering will go much faster. You need a brush to butter the layers. Melt the butter and keep it on a very low heat to make sure it doesn't cool and get to thick. Filo will tear if you have an old frozen Lb. Try to get fresh or just frozen (let thaw). With 1/4 Lb. place each leaf of filo on the buttered pan. and butter with the brush. After placing 5 or 6 leaves (I usually count the leaves to see how many I can put in a layer) I butter the top of each leaf. Combine Cinnamon and sugar with the nuts then sprinkle 1/3 of the nut mixture onto the Filo, repeat the process with the next 1/4 Lb. until you have 2 layers of Filo and 1 layer of nuts in between. Take out the reserved, refrigerated Filo and repeat until you have 4 layers of Filo and three layers of nuts. The fourth layer of Filo is for the top layer. ( 5 or 6 leaves for each layer). Be sure to coat the top layer with butter and with a very sharp knife cut into diagonals by making four or five lines vertically then on a 30o angle cut across the vertical lines. Makes about 80 pieces. Place in over and bake at 375o for only 10 or 15 minutes DO NOT LET THIS GET TOO BROWN as it should be cooked slowly. Turn oven down to 325o and bake for approximately 50 minutes.If it looks like iot is browning too much place a piece of aluminum foil lightly over it. After baked re-cut the diagonals and while hot pour over COOLED Syrup. I usually make the syrup a day ahead of time. You should have about 3 cups to pour over slowly. Let settle for a few minutes before serving. Enjoy... Sparingly.
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