Baklava - classic recipe

To prepare the pastry for baklava according to the classic recipe, soften the butter: either at room temperature or in the microwave on low power (300-450) for 30 seconds. Add a small egg or just the egg yolk, sour cream, and mix well.

Combine the obtained mass with flour, optionally adding a baking powder. The amount of flour may vary due to differences in its properties among different manufacturers, as well as depending on the softness of the softened butter. If you don't like the light color of the finished pastry, you can make it brown by adding sugar syrup, but in this case, the pastry will be even sweeter and higher in calories.

Knead the soft layered dough by hand or using household appliances and refrigerate it while preparing the filling.

The nuts for the filling can be almost any. For a more budget-friendly but still very tasty option, add peanuts to expensive nuts such as walnuts or hazelnuts, for example, in a 1:1, 1:2 ratio or to your taste.

Set aside some walnut quarters (whole almond or hazelnut kernels) in the required amount (for example, 24 pieces), and chop the rest of the nuts.

For the filling, combine the chopped nuts obtained from rolling with a rolling pin, using a meat grinder or a blender, with finely ground sugar and ground spices to taste (vanilla, cardamom, cinnamon).

Divide the chilled dough into several parts, the number of which will depend on the desired height of the finished dessert and the size of your mold. For example, for my 20x30 rectangular mold, I divided the dough into just 4 pieces. The baklava will be low, but that's how my family prefers it.

Roll out each portion of the dough into a thin layer according to the size of the mold.

The filling requires three portions, so divide it into 3 equal parts. Place a layer of dough in an oiled mold, evenly distribute the nut-sugar filling. Repeat two more times, finishing with a layer of dough. The layers should be as follows: dough\nuts\dough\nuts\dough\nuts\dough.

Mark the top layer of dough for future individual portions. First, cut a few parallel lines with a knife, without cutting through the bottom layer of dough! Then make cuts to create diamonds. Do not cut through the bottom layer of dough, otherwise all the filling will leak to the bottom of the mold, the bottom dough will burn and then become excessively moist, and the top layers will not soak as desired.

Brush the surface with an egg yolk mixed with 1 tbsp of cold water for shine. Place a nut in the middle of each diamond.

Place the pan with the phyllo dough in a preheated oven (200 degrees). After fifteen minutes, take it out and use a knife to make cuts without cutting through the bottom layer of the dough. Don't forget to score along the sides of the pan. Make the first syrup - butter syrup. Evenly pour melted butter over the surface. Put the pan with the dough back in the oven for another 30-45 minutes, depending on the oven and the height of the phyllo dough.

While the phyllo dough is baking, cook the sweet syrup for the second syrup: bring water with sugar (white or brown) to a boil and simmer on medium heat until slightly thickened. Ideally, saffron is also added to the sweet syrup... When the syrup cools down, mix it with a portion of honey.

Completely baked phyllo dough needs to be soaked with the second syrup - honey syrup. Again, make cuts on the three layers of dough. First, pour two teaspoons of syrup onto each diamond shape, and then drizzle the cuts with syrup. After completely cooled, cut the phyllo dough according to the classic recipe, cutting through to the bottom layer of the dough. Arrange the diamond portions on a serving dish, preferably lined with parchment paper or foil.