The MAX AC Channel #139: Baklava

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Max AC Channel. For this month’s theme, I thought it would be fun to take our third journey around the world to try to make some more new and exciting recipes. So, for this month of April, we will be celebrating Adventurous April for a third time, where we will be making four more dishes representing different cuisines from around the world. For our second stop, we will be traveling to Eastern Europe to make some Baklava.

In the comments below, let me know how it went if you decide to make it and let me know if there’s anything you want to make next. Like the video, share it with your friends and family, and subscribe to this channel for more episodes of the MAX AC Channel.

And remember, if you want to stay cool in the kitchen, turn your AC to the max and watch the MAX AC Channel.

(And check out SirRank0Productions.com for full recipe!)
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BAKLAVA (24-36 Servings)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
- 1 lb of walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts and/or other favorite nuts
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- Honey syrup
- 1 lemon’s worth of juice and some of its zest
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup honey
- 1-2 whole cinnamon sticks (optional)

Instructions:
1. First, before you want to make your baklava, make sure to defrost your phyllo dough by putting it in the fridge overnight. Then, when you’re ready to make it, carefully remove and unroll it from the packaging and place a damp towel over it to keep it from drying out, while we layer the baklava. Next, for your nuts, give these a chop or grind them in a food processor into small, rough pieces and then mix these with the brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves until evenly distributed, setting aside some for garnishing the finished baklava later, if desired. Also, during this time, melt your butter so you can brush or spray it onto the dough.
2. When your ingredients are ready, preheat your oven to 350°F and while we wait, we’ll layer the baklava. So, start by buttering the bottom of your pan or on top of your parchment paper lining and then top this with your first layer of phyllo dough. If you need to, you may fold the phyllo dough in half to fit it in your pan. Then, carefully brush this layer with some more butter and top it with another layer of phyllo dough. You might be having some difficulty at first, but as you add more layers, they should be easier to smooth out and have the layers be less wrinkly. But in either case, repeat this until you have layered 4-8 pieces of phyllo dough on top of one another and then top this with some of your ground nut mixture. Next, layer this with another layer of phyllo dough, adding more butter on top again and then layer another sheet of phyllo dough until you have another 2-4 sheets layered again. Then, top this with some nuts again and continue to repeat this until you run out of nuts or when you have about 4-8 sheets left to add to the top. Then, layer the top with butter in between each layer as before. And finally, on the last layer, brush the top with the last of the butter. You may layer the dough and nuts however you wish, you can even layer it in the traditional method with the nuts between each layer of dough, but that’s a lot of work, so I recommend skipping a few if you want to save some time. But in either case, I recommend at least buttering each layer to achieve the max amount of flakiness between each layer, which you can save even more time by using a spray bottle if you have one to spare. Then, once your baklava layering is done, using a sharp knife, cut your baklava into 24-36 sections down to the bottom layer to make the individual servings.
3. Then, when your baklava is ready, place it into your oven and bake this for 30-45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. While this is baking, we’ll prepare the honey syrup, so in a small saucepan on medium heat, add in your lemon zest and juice, 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup honey, and your cinnamon stick and mix this until your sugar and honey dissolve. Then, bring this mixture to a boil and then let this simmer for 5-10 minutes. Then, once your honey syrup is ready, remove the cinnamon stick and let it cool while we wait for our baklava to finish baking.
4. Once your baklava has a golden brown top, remove it from the oven and immediately pour the cooled syrup evenly onto it. It should sizzle when the syrup hits the baklava, instantly crystallizing the sugar onto the baklava, making it crispy. Then, let the baklava cool completely for about an hour or so up to 8 hours to allow the syrup to fully penetrate and soften the layers. Garnish with your leftover chopped nuts, if desired, and with that, your Baklava is ready to eat.