BAKLAVA

1.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9×13 inch pan. Mix chopped nuts with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place one sheet of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 – 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 – 8 sheets deep. Don’t forget to butter the top layer! Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

2.   Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add honey and lemon juice. Simmer for about 20 minutes. If using add rose water or orange blossom water now. Remove baklava from oven and pour syrup over as evenly as possible. Let cool. In Middle Eastern bakeries they will serve each individual piece of baklava in a cupcake liner.