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Homemade Baklava

Homemade Baklava

Crisp filo pastry layered with pistachios and walnuts, baked until golden and finished with a fragrant lemon and orange blossom syrup.

90 mins total for first methodServes 12Oven
Ingredients ↓Method ↓

Ingredients

Method

30 mins prep45 mins cook90 mins total

  1. Heat the oven to 180°C fan and brush a 23cm square baking tin with some of the melted butter.

  2. Mix the pistachios, walnuts, cinnamon and cardamom. Lay a sheet of filo in the tin, brush with butter, and repeat with several more sheets.

  3. Spread half of the nut mixture over the pastry, add another buttered layer of filo, then repeat with the remaining nuts and finish with the last sheets of pastry.

  4. Cut the baklava into diamonds before baking, then bake for 40–45 minutes until the pastry is crisp and evenly golden.

  5. While it bakes, simmer the sugar and water for 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and orange blossom water, then cool the syrup slightly.

  6. Pour the syrup over the hot baklava and leave it to cool completely before cutting through the slices and serving.

Notes

Keep the filo covered with a damp tea towel while assembling. Pour the cooled syrup over the hot baklava so it can soak through the layers without softening the pastry too much.
About this recipe

Layer delicate filo pastry with buttery pistachios, walnuts and warm spices, then bake until crisp and deeply golden.

A lemon and orange blossom syrup soaks into the layers as the baklava cools, giving each diamond-shaped piece a fragrant, sticky finish.

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