How to Make Baklava Part 2/2

So we, butter the first layer I'm going to take it off and I will replace it into the pan just like that. See, it’s just on the bottom of the pan. Do the same thing with the other butter, it’s really repetitive. And you can move at a quick pace, you can move at a slower pace. Just make sure butter the next layer just like that. We just want to layer them into the pan.

So I did 10 layers, I'm going to sprinkle half of the walnut mixture. I'm going to show you how to make the walnut when you can use the pecans, you can use the pine nuts, and you can use whatever you want. Unfortunately, we don’t have that much time because I’m only allowed 10-minute videos on You Tube. So I’m going to show you what this looks like, see just like that. I just spread out half of the mixture just like that. Now I am going to put another four layers in between the two layers and then I'm going to put two layers on the top because it does get really flakey, so you do not want to end up with too much of a flakey pastry on the top which is won't be too appealing. I’m going to put four layers and then I'm going to layer another layer of the walnuts.

So I'm going to put this layer on and then I’m going to add another layer. I’m going to put the rest of the walnuts, just spread them on top this again even they’re on the pan. Your guest are going to be so impressed that you made baklava, every baking is i8t’s so hard to make. It’s not really not that hard to make. Just have to learn how to work with the phyllo dough. And so spread it around and may add the last two layers. Butter them up real quick. Okay so here is our last layer. Just use your thumb or fingers to just to make sure all the ends are tucked in just like that and this is not something if you're on a diet because Baklava is not a fat free food. They use a lot of butter.

I'm going to cut it up now because you want to cut it up before you place it into the oven so that it doesn’t break. Otherwise, it will break. I'm going to cut it just into, I say one inch squares, you’d be very careful and use a serrated knife when you're cutting it. And make sure it’s cut all the way through. So, I finished kind this into one inch in squares just like that, that’s a little bit difficult. You want to be very careful while you’re doing it. Another way to make Baklava is when you butter the layers, you can definitely do two layers of phyllo dough butter and sprinkle some of the nut mixture and them roll it up and then cut it in just put them stock on lines in your pan and just cook in the same way. Brush them with the butter on top and you can cook it.

That’s definitely an easier way of making it; sometimes it is a little bit difficult to cut. So I've cut it up, I want to put in the oven for 350 degrees for about 10, I'm sorry 30 to 45 minutes until it’s like the brown on top. You want to check on it after about 30 minutes and see how brown it is. If it is already brown, you want to take it out, if it’s not brown yet, leave it in there for a couple more minutes and then take it out and then I’ll show you what we do after that.

I left the baklava cooking in the oven for about 30 minutes. And as you can see it’s a nice, beautiful brown color, see it’s just a golden brown. Not a dark brown, not a burnt brown. You also always want to check on it, to check the color because phyllo dough can burn really fast. I also made some small fingers with the pecan filling and those, I only cooked for about 20 minutes because I used much less phyllo dough in them and you always want to check in again to see how brown they are. Now after you cook it, you want them to sit for about 10 minutes and then you want to drown them in the simple syrup.

Now you can check on my other video and I have already prepared that. I prepared this ahead of time. And you’re going to put, I’ll say about a cup to a cup and a half of these and you want to make sure you get it on all of that. What is going to happen is the phyllo dough is going to absorb the simple syrup. For these, I only used about a half of cup of the simple syrup, see that’s why we didn’t add too much sugar to the filling because the simple syrup is really sweet. I cover them with the simple syrup; it’s going to absorb a lot of it so you want to let them sit for about 30 minutes until they're all absorbed. But then you want to maybe let it rest for an extra 30 minutes until it’s completely cooled before plating it.

So you can whenever you make this in advance, a couple of days if you’re going to have a party or something, you do it in advance. Store it in the refrigerator; just take it out about an hour before serving. There you go, plate them. You want it also decorate the baklava with a little bit of ground pistachios. What I do is just drizzle it down in the middle of the fingers so all the fingers gets a little bit of it. And then for the squares, I just put it in the center like each squares just a little bit, just a dab of it. If you want you can use whole pistachios or have pistachios and put some on top. It’s a really cute decoration, we use this lot in lot of the Mediterranean desserts add a decoration. So it turns up just like that. It’s beautiful in color, beautiful in contrast, it’s a great dessert.

Your friends are going to be so impressed when you tell them that you made baklava. And when they taste it, don’t tell them before you hand them, tell them after. After they taste it and say this is great where did you get it from, you are going to say well guess what I made it and I got the recipes from DeDe’s Mediterranean Kitchen. Thanks for joining me and I’ll see you again.