Pistachio Baklava

One of the most favorite desserts in the Middle East is the classic Pistachio Baklava. We made it even more delicious by adding Pistachio Butter between the crispy layers of Phyllo, a modern twist inspired by our most popular Ferrero Baklava.

Modern-style baklava may not be for everyone, especially for those who love traditions, but if you already tried baklava you gonna love it with anything. With full respect to traditions, I am a curious baker and sometimes I like to experiment with flavors. Last time I made Baklava with chocolate spread inspired by Ferrero Rocher, using hazelnuts and blending the overall dessert with baklava ingredients and it was so great. This made me think, how to make classic Pistachio Baklava even better?! Pistachio butter is a very popular ingredient in Arabic desserts, so why not enjoy this creamy nutty goodness in baklava?

PISTACHIO BUTTER

The best part of the recipe is PISTACHIO BUTTER. I posted a recipe for homemade Pistachio Butter and I was surprised by how many didn’t know, how easy is to make it at home. The main reason why I decided to make homemade Pistachio Butter was that it wasn't easily available in regular stores and also it’s a bit pricey! Check this HOMEMADE PISTACHIO BUTTER recipe here.

ASSEMBLING BAKLAVA

Let's break down the recipe! We're going to start the recipe with phyllo pastry. Phyllo pastry is easily available in Asian/Arab stores and also at supermarkets like Tesco. Phyllo pastry is a very delicate pastry and tends to break easily. I prefer to cover the pastry with a wet cloth while working on the recipe. First, cut the pastry according to the size of your pan. Do not worry if the remaining pastry is shorter than your pan. You can still use smaller sheets in the bottom layers and leave the pan-size sheets on top.

Melt unsalted butter in a microwave oven for a minute, I'm using regular butter. Butter will separate in the bowl from lactose, so make sure you use only pure butter and leave lactose at the bottom of the bowl. You can also use Ghee or make your homemade purified butter, but I found this is the easiest way. This is because baklava sheets need to be brushed only with pure butter, otherwise, sheets get wet and soggy, or butter may burn in the oven and it will smell terrible.

Place a phyllo sheet on the bottom of your pan and start brushing with butter each time. Repeat 10 layers & butter until you are done.

Next spread a generous amount of your freshly made Pistachio Butter and sprinkle this layer with ground pistachios evenly.

Then layer phyllo sheets again and repeat 10 times, after all, spread Pistachio butter on the top sheet and layer with ground pistachios.

Finish with another 10 layers of phyllo sheets and brush each carefully with butter.

Cut baklava before baking! This is very important, most desserts are cut after baking, but baklava needs to be cut before. You can cut into diagonal into diamonds or straightforward into squares.

BAKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven! Baklava to be crispy and golden, needs to get a good tan. I usually bake baklava first at a lower temperature and then just before the end I tend to turn on a higher temperature for a few minutes. Bake for the first 25 minutes at 150 C, and for the last 5 minutes turn on 170 C. Remove from the oven and straightforward shower with hot syrup.

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