HOW TO MAKE GRANDMA’S AUTHENTIC GREEK BAKLAVA

Baklava is one of the most loved and well known Greek pastries, with its aromatic spices, sweet flaky dough and rich nut filling. My kitchen always smells so amazing when this starts to bake. Most people really enjoy eating baklava, but are just too intimidated to try their hand at making it. I hope this video, like my other videos, has shown you how very simple it is to put together this delicious and impressive dessert! Grandma taught me how to make many tasty Greek delicacies, and I am anxious to share them with you! Happy Baking!
Pamela

GRANDMA’S AUTHENTIC GREEK BAKLAVA
2 pounds walnuts, chopped fine in food processor
1 cup granulated sugar
2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves (approximately ¼ teaspoon)
1 box frozen phyllo- thawed according to directions on package
1 cup unsalted butter- (2 sticks, melted)
Whole cloves- approximately 50 for decoration

SYRUP
3 cups sugar
1 ½ cups water
Juice of half a lemon
2 cinnamon sticks
Several whole cloves- approximately 12
¼ cup honey

To make syrup: In a large saucepan, combine sugar, water, lemon half (after you have removed and added the juice), cinnamon sticks, (broken in half) whole cloves and honey. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat to cool completely. This can be done the night before.

Chop walnuts very fine in a food processor in batches, if necessary. Combine chopped walnuts, 1 cup sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon and ground cloves in a large bowl.

Melt unsalted butter on low heat. Open thawed phyllo and lay flat on the plastic it came rolled in. Cover with a slightly damp dish towel to prevent dough from drying out. Trim phyllo to fit 9 x 13 metal pan if necessary. With a pastry brush, brush bottom of pan with melted butter. Lay down a sheet of phyllo and brush with melted butter. Layer in this fashion until you have 8 sheets of phyllo and butter for a bottom crust. Continue layering, but now add 2 handfuls of nut mixture on top of buttered phyllo. Spread nuts in a thin layer, and once you have 3 layers, start lightly pressing down on each layer after adding nuts. Keep layering phyllo, butter and nut mixture until you are about halfway up the side of the pan.

 Finish by making 8 more layers of only phyllo and butter, ending with a good coating of butter on top.
Put pan in the refrigerator for an hour or more to harden butter before cutting. Once butter is firm, use a sharp knife and cut into small diamonds or triangles. In video, I cut into 2 ¼ inch squares then cut squares in half, making triangles. Poke a whole clove into each cut piece. Bake in a 350 degree oven, on the middle rack, for approximately 45 minutes or until nicely golden brown.

Remove from oven, place on a cooling rack, and immediately pour cooled syrup over hot baklava. Do not cover pan until baklava is completely cooled. Let pan sit overnight to allow syrup to soak into each piece. In the morning, remove 2 or 3 pieces from one corner of the pan. Prop the pan at an angle so the extra syrup drains to the empty space. Throughout the day, with a tablespoon, remove excess syrup from pan and discard. This will keep the pieces of baklava from being overly sticky and saturated. Now your baklava is ready to serve. I like to use a cupcake paper for each piece of baklava. This freezes really well if you wrap it sufficiently. Recipe makes anywhere from 40 to 60 servings, depending on the size that you cut.

For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.

Psalm 107:9

[mariakoufalis]

Both my parents were born and raised in Greece. They moved to Montreal when they married and started their family. Montreal has a very high percentage of Greeks, therefore many Greek restaurants and bakeries. One tip I would like to share with your viewers is regarding the syrup. Never add the honey until after all the ingredients have come to a boil. Once you turn off the burner then pour in your honey. Otherwise the heat breaks down its properties and makes it less potent and unfortunately takes away from its flavor.

[carolinema]

Thanks for honoring your husband's Greek grandmother. You are a very special lady! Thanks for sharing and giving the world a little bit of your grandmother. 🤍
Now I'm going to try to make it! 😋 🤞😍

[KristiKerrigan]

I love this recipe and refuse to use any other !!! Thank you so much …my friends and family say thank you 🥰🥰❤️❤️

[alyvon]

You are very sweet, humble and real. Thank you for sharing with me! :)

[Nicholas.Tsagkos]

Perfect presentation of the Greek version of Baklava, having one of them hot and one of them cold is a classic secret in Greece, covering the phyllo as well, important.
Yaya would be proud of you.
Filakia

[sarrs]

Best recipe ever . I love your teaching too ; very calm and not overstimulating. Thank you ❤

[ginakalish]

Thank you for sharing. I made this for a holiday and the family loved it!

[alahatzaifat]

Hi Pam... first time visiting your channel. I am of Greek descent and I commend you and Yiayia for a lovely traditional baklava. It is almost exactly like my dear departed mom used to make... the only difference is that she mixed ground walnuts and almonds in her version. The spicing is the same etc...

The only thing I think I would do differently, and it is only because of my preference... I probably would not drain the extra... hahahahaha... I love my baklava dripping in syrup....

Kudos again!! Lovely!! She would have been so proud to be there with you when you put this together.

Bravo!!! 😘

[catherinedilworth]

The whole cloves on top of each piece looks pretty.

[krannz]

I've made this recipe multiple times and it's so good!! The best syrup!! Thanks so much for sharing!!!🤩

[baldnproud]

Thank you for your recipe, I’m going to enjoy this recipe in a few days.

[n.]

I made this and it was wonderful! Will always use this recipe. Thanks

[n.]

Thank you. I might make some tomorrow but with a mix of nuts.

[plontkegurl]

best video for making baklava. I will be using yours for my first time making it. Thank you and Grandma :)

[Margaret]

You did Yiayia proud Pam! It looks just like hers! Poli Oraia! Save me a piece!

[kimberlyv]

First and I will be back again! Thank you for the great video and thank you Grandma!!

[ericmgarrison]

Loved watching this!!! Please save those dried pieces in a ziploc bag to make orange pie (portokalopita)! When my Yiayia made baklava or kourabiedes, I always love them with a cup of black unsweetened coffee because there is so much sugar in the desert. But in each of those desserts there was always the top decoration of a clove. I would save that bike for last so I could crunch into it and have the nicest breath for the rest of the day. What wonderful memories. Thank you so much!

[NicksEZPZcooking]

Thank you for sharing your recipes with us!

[tildaroberti]

I will definitely try this.thanks for sharing

[jacquelynbrickman]

My mother in law would leave out telling me about an ingredient or two when she made her recipes. I laughed when you mentioned that. Fortunately my sister in laws would fill in the gaps. There wasn't U Tube in the 80s.and nothing was written down. So watching someone actually do it was important.Thank you for sharing. You did a great job.