Homemade Cashew Baklava

Ingredients

• One package of phyllo (filo) pastry sheets
• Ghee or butter (melted)
• For the filling:
• Oven-roasted cashews, finely chopped
• Sugar – quantity to taste
• Orange blossom water
• Rose water to taste (optional)
• Syrup (Ater or Shira):
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon orange blossom water or rose water, to taste

Method

1. Melt the ghee or butter and lay out the filo pastry sheets one by one.
2. Brush each filo sheet with the melted ghee using a pastry brush, then place the second and third sheets in the same way.
3. Place the cashew filling and roll it like a log, using a wooden skewer to shape the baklava pieces to the size you want.
4. Grease a baking pan with ghee and arrange the baklava pieces, brushing them well with ghee.
5. Place the baklava tray in the preheated oven on the middle rack and bake with heat from the bottom only.
6. When the baklava pieces turn golden, turn on the top heat for a few minutes, then remove them and pour syrup over them.
7. Brush the syrup over the baklava with a pastry brush to prevent the pieces from sticking together.
8. Let them cool, then serve as a delicious homemade dessert.
9. Syrup method:
10. Half a cup of water
11. 1¼ cups sugar
12. 1 teaspoon lemon juice
13. 1 teaspoon orange blossom water or rose water, as desired
14. Mix the ingredients and cook them over the heat for 5 minutes or slightly longer, then set aside.
    Timers: 5 min
15. Rina Abdullah
16. For more desserts from Rina: Hala Al-Sofuf