Is there anyone who hasn’t heard about baklava? It is a well known Middle East dessert around the world and it has varieties. It is either filled with crumbled pistachio or crumbled walnuts. Although pastry shops sell both types, it’s a tradition in Turkey to make it at home to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr. I don’t know why but homemade baklava is always much more tasty than the most pricy one in the industry. It’s absolutely more valuable to serve your guests the baklava you make during Eid. I feel like this tradition will die unless young women learn how to make it. I accept it is not very easy to make it at home, but you are encouraged enough if you have your mother or grandmother with you.
Layers of good baklava must be very thin, as thin as parchment paper which makes it a challenging dessert to make. Several dough layers are put together and rolled out together. Instead of flour, corn starch is used to prevent them from sticking to one another.
I highly recommend you to have a look at Ozlem’s wonderful post including steps and tips of making baklava with the pictures taken in her culinary tour in Istanbul: Baklava 101 from the Masters&Tips to Make the Real Thing at Home.
I find it interesting, but Stuffed Grape Leaves are served on the same plate with homemade baklava in Eid in central Anatolia. I guess by serving these two laborious foods, you want to show your guests how valuable they are for you. You must watch how much you eat during Eid otherwise you might easily get bored of baklava after eating it at every home you visit.
Did you know there is a special way to eat baklava recommended by masters of it? Grab it with two fingers, turn it upside down and eat it that way. Masters from Gaziantep say that you must first feel the sweetness of this dessert on your palate. The bottom layer is the sweetest part of it, the top layer is left crispy. That’s why you turn it upside down when eating. We don’t always eat it that way though.
No, I am not the one who made this mouthwatering baklava for this Eid. It is more than difficult for me with my little prince, right? I’d love to try it one day though when mom is with me and when Göktürk grows older.
This crispy and irresistibly tasty baklava is made by a very sweet neighbor. When we visited her this Eid, she gave us a small box of her baklava as a gift! What a neighbor! She even gave the recipe and I wrote it down for you.
Yields 25
Irresistible homemade baklava stuffed with walnuts.
1 hrPrep Time
50 minCook Time
1 hr, 50 Total Time
Save Recipe
Ingredients
- Dough:
- 4 cups flour
- 1 egg
- ½ cup lukewarm milk
- ½ cup juicy yogurt
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- ½ cup corn oil
- For rolling out:
- 500g corn starch
- Filling:
- 1 and ½ cup walnut, crumbled
- topping:
- 150g butter
- Syrup:
- 5 cups sugar
- 3 and ½ cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients for dough and combine well. It will not be a too soft dough. Wait it for 20 min.
- Divide it into three and make 16 small balls from each, so you will have 3 groups of balls, each with 16 balls.
- Sprinkle corn starch over them.
- Take one of the balls and roll it out a little using corn starch. Sprinkle corn starch over it and put it aside.
- Roll out 15 balls in the same way and put them on the first one sprinkling starch between layers and they overlap.
- Repeat the same for the other two groups.
- Preheat oven to 190C.
- Brush a round oven tray with a little oil.
- Now take the first rolled group and roll all of them together as big as thin as you can. Use starch when needed.
- Place these layers into the tray and add half of the walnuts on it.
- Roll out the second group of 16 layers in the same way and place them right over the walnuts.
- Sprinkle the rest of walnuts on it.
- Roll out the third group and place it over the second walnut layer.
- Cut it into slices with a thin and sharp knife.
- Melt butter and pour it hot over it.
- Bake it at 190C until golden, about 50 min.
- Let it cool.
- Mix sugar and water in a pot and bring it to boil.
- Let it boil for 15 min.
- Add in 1 tbsp lemon juice, boil for 2 more minutes.
- Pour the warm syrup over cold baklava and let it absorb the syrup well.
- Serve at least after 4 hours.
I was wondering why you thought it was difficult to make until I realized the dough was made from scratch! I can’t even imagine doing that, although I supposed I’ll have to get around to at least trying it once at some point. Knowing that makes this one twice as beautiful! Of course, my grandmother grew up making it from scratch, but by the time I was in the picture, Phyllo was readily available in all the markets. Glad to see someone is keeping with tradition. 🙂
Thank you so much for this recipe!
I’m going to try it some time no matter how time consuming it seems.
My parents best friend is originally from Gaziantep, so guess what my favourite turkish treat is.
Is it possible to substitute the butter an yoghurt to make it dairy free? I have some family members that are highly sensitve to dairy products.
I have a question regarding above recipe (Baklava) “Can we use corn flour instead of CornStarch”??
Please reply I wait.
Well, you need a kind of starch for rolling the dough so that you can roll several layers of dough at the same time. Starch prevents them from sticking one another. You can use either corn starch or wheat starch but we never use corn flour when rolling, it doesn’t have the same effect. Also, corn flour will probably change the taste of your baklava, so I don’t recommend it.
Dear Ma’am Zerrin,
I really thankful to you u that u have replied me for my confusion I’ll now definitely try Baklawa because its my favorite sweet. Sorry for my late reply I was much busy with my office work. Once again thank you for your concern and your professional recommendation.
Regards,
Ammarah Nawaz