Paklava features flaky, buttery layers of phyllo dough, a filling of cinnamon-spiced chopped walnuts, and an utterly addictive clove-infused syrup. It differs from Greek baklava in how it is sweetened, and is a constant on the Armenian Christmas dessert table.
1pound(454 grams) phyllo (fillo) dough (approximately 14-by-18-inch; preferably #4 thickness) defrosted in the refrigerator overnight
6ounces(1 ½ sticks / 170 grams) unsalted butter,melted and clarified
Filling:
4ounces(113 grams) walnuts, finely chopped(1 cup chopped)
1 ½tablespoonsgranulated sugar
¾teaspoonground cinnamon
Syrup:
2cups(400 grams) granulated sugar
¾cupwater
1tablespoonlemon juice
5whole cloves
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch pan (see Notes below if doubling recipe).
Prepare the filling by mixing together the walnuts, sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
Open the package of phyllo dough and lay it out on the table or a clean work surface. Cover with a clean cloth when not using it so it doesn't dry out. Take one sheet of phyllo and fold it to fit the inside of the pan (it may not be folded exactly in half in order to fit). Lightly brush/blot with melted clarified butter.
Repeat with another sheet of phyllo, but this time place the folded sheet facing the other way so you alternate directions of where the dough is folded. Again, blot with butter and continue like this until half the dough is arranged in the pan. The box will tell you approximately how many sheets it contains, but feel free to count it to be more exact on when to stop.
Spread the filling evenly over the dough. Continue folding and arranging the phyllo as above until you reach the last layer. For the last layer while the sheet is still on your work surface brush the dough lightly with clarified butter before folding it (so there is butter in the middle), then carefully flip it over and place it in the pan so the top is a smooth sheet of dough and the uneven folded part is hidden underneath.
Cut diamonds with a very sharp knife by cutting lengthwise into 1 ½ inch wide strips, and then start at one corner with 45° diagonals spaced about 2 inches apart until you make diamond shapes with the whole pan.
Spoon the remaining hot clarified butter evenly over the top, using the back of the spoon to gently spread the butter, if needed, without disturbing the top layer of phyllo.
Bake for about 45 to 55 minutes until golden brown. Cool completely before moving on.
Prepare the syrup by dissolving the sugar in the water over high heat. Bring to a boil then add the lemon juice and cloves, lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and rest for about 17 or 18 minutes until the syrup is warm, but not too hot (about 160 to 165°F).
Discard the cloves and ladle the very warm syrup over the pan of paklava and let it soak until mostly absorbed, about 1 hour. There may still be some syrup left in the pan, but most of it should soak into the dough. Use a sharp knife and go over all the previous cuts, making sure the paklava is cut all the way through before serving. Store at room temperature.
Notes
You can easily double this recipe to use 2 pounds of phyllo dough. Use a half sheet pan (about 12-by-17-inches), arrange 1 pound of dough in the pan (only folding over excess rather than folding sheets in half-ish) doing 2 sheets at a time before brushing/blotting with butter. Then add the filling and finish with the 2nd pound of dough. For the last 4 or 5 sheets instead of brushing with butter every 2 sheets, brush between every single sheet to make sure the top few layers are nicely adhered together by butter. The edges in a half sheet pan may seem short but they are tall enough for the height of the paklava. We double this recipe often and always use a half sheet pan.
If you are a bit too generous with the clarified butter while assembling the paklava and don't have enough left to spoon over the top, clarify another ½ stick of butter to ensure you have enough for the top. It's very important that the top is thoroughly covered in clarified butter.
Blot the clarified butter with a pastry brush rather than brushing it. This will still ensure even coverage without overdoing it and will also be a gentler way to apply the butter to the dough without the risk of tearing it.
If you use store-bought ghee (clarified butter), reduce the amount of butter in the recipe to about 4 ½ ounces (by weight) ghee/clarified butter to make up for the evaporation of water and skimming of milk solids of clarifying it yourself.
If you're not good at cutting in a straight line (guilty as charged), use a ruler to guide your knife to cut the rows evenly.
It is very important that the paklava and syrup are 2 different temperatures. Some people pour cold syrup over hot paklava but we always do the opposite with cooled paklava and hot syrup. If both are hot, the result will be mushy. If they are both cold, the syrup won't soak into the paklava at all.