Homemade Baklava with Yufka
Crisp, buttery layers of ready-made baklava filo, a generous walnut filling and cold lemon syrup poured over hot pastry — home baklava the way Turkish aunties make it.
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Ingredients
480g ready-made baklava filo pastry (about 20-24 thin sheets), thawed
250g unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
300g walnut kernels, finely chopped
50g pistachio kernels, ground, for sprinkling on top
1 tsp ground cinnamon, for the filling (optional)
400g granulated sugar (2 cups), for the syrup
300ml water, for the syrup
Juice of half a lemon
Clotted cream, to serve (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Make the syrup first: boil the sugar and water for 10 minutes, stir in the lemon juice, boil 2 more minutes, then set aside to cool completely.
- 2
Preheat the oven to 170C fan (190C conventional) and brush a roughly 25x35cm baking tray generously with melted butter.
- 3
Mix the chopped walnuts with the cinnamon; lay half of the filo sheets in the tray one by one, brushing every sheet lightly with melted butter and letting edges overhang slightly.
- 4
Spread the walnut filling in an even layer, then continue layering the remaining sheets, buttering each one, and finish by tucking in the edges and brushing the top thickly with the last of the butter.
- 5
With a sharp knife, cut the baklava all the way through into diamonds or squares before it goes anywhere near the oven.
- 6
Bake for 40-45 minutes until deeply golden and crisp; if the top browns too fast, cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes.
- 7
Pour the completely cold syrup evenly over the hot baklava the moment it leaves the oven — it should sizzle — then leave it to absorb for at least 2 hours, ideally overnight.
- 8
Sprinkle the ground pistachios over the centre of each diamond and serve at room temperature, with clotted cream for the lucky ones.
You do not need to roll paper-thin dough with a metre-long oklava to make proper baklava at home. Turkish home cooks have been using ready-made baklava filo (baklavalik yufka) for generations, and the results are gloriously crisp. What actually separates good baklava from soggy baklava is technique: real butter on every layer, a sharp knife before baking, and the golden rule of syrup.
That rule is simple: hot baklava, cold syrup — or cold baklava, hot syrup. Never both hot, or the pastry collapses into a sweet mush. Make the syrup first so it has time to cool completely, and add a squeeze of lemon to keep it clear and stop it crystallising.
Walnuts are the traditional home filling and this recipe uses them generously, but you can swap in ground pistachios for a Gaziantep-style tray, or mix the two. Cut the finished baklava into classic diamonds and serve with Turkish coffee. Ready-rolled baklava filo, walnut kernels and Vakfikebir butter are all available at Turkish Online Market.
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