Baklava is one of my favourite sweet treats. It is not difficult to prepare and the end result is a delicious syrupy buttery pastry which is perfect with a mug of strong coffee. This is my version of baklava with a lemony cheesecake filling that really goes well with the crunch of the cinnamon nuts.
9 large sheets filo/phyllo pastry (about 400 g/14 oz.)
120 g/1 stick butter, melted
3–4 tablespoons runny Greek honey
pistachios, for sprinkling
FOR THE CHEESECAKE FILLING
225 g/1 cup quark/farmer cheese
150 g/⅔ cup cream cheese
1 small egg, plus 1 egg yolk
50 g/¼ cup caster/white sugar
grated zest of 1 lemon
75 g/¾ cup ground almonds
FOR THE NUT FILLING
100 g/¾ cup pistachios
50 g/¼ cup caster/white sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
a piping bag fitted with a large round nozzle/tip
a 23-cm/9-inch round springform cake pan or tarte tatin pan, greased and lined
SERVES 10
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas 4.
To prepare the cheesecake filling, whisk together the quark/farmer cheese, cream cheese, egg and egg yolk, sugar, lemon zest and almonds in a large mixing bowl until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the piping bag.
For the nut filling, blitz the pistachios with the sugar and cinnamon in a food processor until finely chopped.
Remove the filo/phyllo pastry from the packet and cut the sheets in half so that you are left with 18 smaller sheets. Cover with a damp tea towel/dish towel, which will prevent it from drying out and cracking. Lay one sheet of filo/phyllo on a clean work surface and brush with the melted butter using a pastry brush. Cover with a second sheet of filo/phyllo and brush with butter again. Sprinkle with a few tablespoons of the nut mixture so that the whole sheet is covered in a thin layer of nuts, then cover with a third sheet of filo/phyllo and brush again with butter. Pipe a line of the cheesecake filling along one of the long edges, then roll up so that the filling is in the middle of each tube.
Place the filo/phyllo tube around the edge of the prepared cake pan. Repeat with the remaining pastry until you have made 6 tubes of cheesecake pastry in total. Continue to arrange them in the pan in a spiral so that the ends of each tube touch, then brush the top of the pastry with a little more butter and bake in the preheated oven for 20–30 minutes until the top of the pastry is crisp and golden.
Heat the honey in a saucepan until it becomes thin and easily pourable then spoon over the baklava and leave to cool completely. Sprinkle with bright green pistachios and a little sugar, to serve.