Homemade Baklava – Pareve version

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Wrapping Dough

1. 1
   Thaw the phyllo dough in the fridge overnight, until pliable but still cold.

   Refrigerator

   💡Work with store-bought dough while it's cold: warm puff pastry gets sticky and won't puff in the oven, and phyllo sheets dry out fast, so keep the waiting sheets covered with a damp towel.

For the Sugar Syrup

1. 2
   Bring the sugar, water and honey to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer 10 minutes, until the sugar melts and the syrup thickens slightly.

   ⚙ SimmeringStove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
2. 3
   Add the lemon juice and rose water.

   💡The lemon keeps the sugar from crystallizing again.
3. 4
   Cool completely.

   💡Cold syrup on a hot pastry soaks in evenly.

To assemble

1. 5
   Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F) and butter the pan (25 x25 cm).

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 6
   Mix the walnuts, pistachios, almonds, cinnamon and cardamom.
3. 7
   Line the pan with 10 layers of phyllo and brush butter between each layer.

   Baking panPastry brush
4. 8
   Spread all of the nut mixture in an even layer.
5. 9
   Finish with 10 layers of phyllo with butter between each layer and cut into diamonds before baking.

   Knife

   💡Cut before baking: baked phyllo crumbles under the knife. The cuts also give the syrup a way down to the bottom.
6. 10
   Bake 35–40 minutes, until the baklava is golden, and immediately pour the cold syrup over it. Let it soak at least 4 hours.

   ⚙ BakingOvenBaking pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.