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Cranberry Orange Baklava

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 2 reviews
  • Author: Lily Ernst
  • Prep Time: 30 min
  • Cook Time: 45 min
  • Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Yield: about 28-30 pieces
  • Category: dessert
  • Method: bake
  • Cuisine: Middle-Eastern

Description

This holiday-inspired baklava is made with crispy delicate layers of phyllo pastry and finely chopped nuts and cranberries. It’s flavoured with cinnamon spice and orange zest, and soaked in a sweet honey-lemon syrup.


Ingredients

Baklava

  • 1 pkg (16oz/454g) phyllo pastry, thawed and trimmed to fit a 9×13″ pan
  • 2 cups (8oz) finely chopped pistachios plus more for garnish
  • 2 cups (8oz) finely chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup (4oz) finely chopped dried cranberries
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • zest of 1 large orange
  • 1 cup (114g) unsalted butter, melted

Syrup

  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup honey
  • 3/4 cup water
  • juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

  1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, honey, water, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over med-high heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer for 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat to cool while preparing the baklava.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together the chopped pistachios, walnuts, cranberries, orange zest, and ground cinnamon.
  3. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9×13 pan with the melted butter.
  4. Lay 8-10 sheets of phyllo pastry, brushing each one with butter.
  5. Sprinkle 1/5 (about 1 cup) of the nut mixture on top. Lay another 4-5 sheets of phyllo, brushing each one with butter. Repeat 3 more times.
  6. Finish with the remaining nut mixture and phyllo sheets. Cut 4 lines horizontally and 8-10 lines diagonal to make diamond shapes.
  7. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and immediately spoon the syrup evenly on top of the hot baklava. Reserve some of the syrup for drizzling before serving if desired.
  8. Let stand for 4-6 hours or preferably overnight at room temperature uncovered before serving.

Notes

  • Chopping the nuts – You can finely chop the nuts by hand or use a food processor and just pulse it a few times.
  • Working with phyllo pastry – It’s best to thaw it overnight in the fridge and take it out 1 hour before you start assembling to bring it to room temperature. If you need to trim or cut your phyllo pastry to fit your pan, use sharp scissors to cut it. Also, cover the phyllo with a slightly damp towel while you are working with it to prevent it from drying out.
  • Layering – Each brand of phyllo comes in different sizes and a different number of sheets, so you’ll have to size it to fit your pan and calculate your layers. Most will work out to be about 30-40 sheets. And basically, you want 6 layers of phyllo sheets with the top and bottom layer a bit thicker. For example, mine worked out to be 32 sheets when cut in half, so the number of sheets in each of my 6 layers was 8, 4, 4, 4, 4, 8. I’ve seen other recipes use 40 sheets and the breakdown was 10, 5, 5, 5, 5, 10.
  • Cutting – Use a sharp knife and gently saw to cut through once, then run the knife smoothly through the same cut.
  • Adding the syrup – Spoon the syrup over the baklava as soon as you take it out of the oven. You will hear it sizzle. The cooled syrup against the hot pastry will help it absorb while remaining crispy.
  • Storing – Loosely cover and store at room temperature for up to a week. Do not cover too tightly or it will get soggy. It can keep up to two weeks in the fridge but the moisture in the fridge will make it a bit chewy.

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