Baklava With Nutella Glaze Recipe

Keys to Success

Phyllo dough dries out quickly. Keep your stack of sheets covered with a slightly-damp towel if not using for more than a couple of minutes. For example, I cover mine each time I add a nut layer.

Phyllo dough is also quite delicate. You are likely to have some torn sheets or tear them in the process of buttering. Do not fear; you won’t notice any issues in the finished product.

Be generous with the butter.

Cutting the dessert halfway through baking and then again when complete will make your life so much happier and improve the outcome.

Ingredients

For the baklava:
1 pound phyllo dough
18 ounces assorted nuts
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 sticks butter, clarified and melted

For the syrup:
1 1/4 cup honey
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup water
1 cinnamon stick
Peel of one orange
2 teaspoons rose water (optional)

For the glaze:
1/2 cup Nutella
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
4 tablespoons milk

Directions

For the baklava:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Place nuts, spice and sugar in a food processor. Grind until nuts are size of small gravel. Set aside.

Clarify butter over medium heat. To do so, melt the butter over low heat. Let simmer until white foam rises to the top of the melted butter. Remove from heat and spoon off as much of the white foam as you can. Strain the butter through a mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth or paper towels to remove any milk solids left in the butter. You now have clarified butter!

Using a pastry brush, butter the sides and bottom of baking pan. Lay one sheet of phyllo in the bottom of the dish and brush it with butter. Add another layer of phyllo and butter. Continue until you have 9 layers on the bottom.

Spread a third of the nut mixture evenly over the buttered phyllo.

Begin adding more phyllo / brushed butter layers until you have six. Add another layer of nut mixture. Add another 6 layers of phyllo and brushed butter. Add another layer of nut mixture. Add the final layers of butter brushed phyllo, but increase to nine layers as you did at the bottom.

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven. Cut into squares or diamonds. Return to oven for another 25 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 2-3 hours. After cooling, cut again on over already formed cuts. Begin the syrup.

For the syrup:
Place all ingredients except rose water in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil over medium heat. Turn heat to medium high and boil for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in rose water, if using. Immediately pour syrup evenly over cooled baklava. Let it rest for at least 8 hours at room temperature to cool and set. Serve with a drizzle of Nutella Glaze.

For the Nutella glaze:
Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix together well on low speed for 30 seconds. Beat on medium high speed until smooth and creamy, about 3 more minutes. Drizzle glaze over pieces of baklava. Allow to set.