Chef Dimitra
Asia Minor Ekmek Kataifi (Εκμέκ Κανταΐφι)
Asia Minor ekmek kataifi is built in three clear layers: crisp syruped kataifi, thick semolina custard, and cold kaimaki cream under pistachios.
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Northern Greek Walnut Baklava (Μπακλαβάς Βόρειας Ελλάδας)
Created by
Northern Greek baklava is a Christmas tray of thin phyllo, walnuts, cinnamon, and honeyed syrup. The pastry goes hot, the syrup goes cold, and the layers stay crisp.
Pastries & Cookies
Greek
Christmas
Celebration
Special Occasion
45 min
Active Time
1 hr 10 min cook•8 hr total
Yield24 pieces
Northern Greek baklava is a walnut pastry first: thin phyllo, warm cinnamon, a little clove, and syrup that settles through the cuts without drowning the tray. In Macedonia and Thrace, this is the sweet that appears for Christmas, name-days, and the visits where coffee turns into an afternoon.
The one rule is temperature. Make the syrup first and let it cool completely, then pour it over the baklava the moment the hot tray leaves the oven. Hot pastry pulls in cold syrup quickly, while the buttered phyllo keeps its crisp leaves. Pour warm syrup onto warm pastry and you get sweetness, yes, but not baklava as it should be.
Use fresh walnuts. That matters more than any clever hand. If they smell dusty or bitter, wait and buy better ones. Λίγα και καλά, a few things, and good ones.
This is the kind of tray I like to write down exactly because every family says, by eye, until a young cook stands in front of the phyllo and doesn't know where to begin. Your grandmother cooked by eye because she'd made it a thousand times. Here are the numbers until you have.
Baklava entered Greek cooking through the long Ottoman urban pastry tradition, with Constantinople, Thessaloniki, Ioannina, and the northern trade towns all shaping local versions. In northern Greece the Christmas tray is most often walnut and cinnamon, because walnuts kept well through winter and belonged naturally to the festive store cupboard. Other Greek regions may use almonds, pistachios, or different cuts, but in this version the walnut is the region's signature.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
thin phyllo pastry
Quantity
500g
thawed
walnuts
Quantity
450g
coarsely chopped
fine dry breadcrumbs or grated paximadi
Quantity
80g
ground cinnamon
Quantity
2 tsp
ground cloves
Quantity
1/4 tsp
unsalted butter
Quantity
280g
melted and clarified if possible
granulated sugar
Quantity
600g
water
Quantity
360ml
Greek honey
Quantity
200g
cinnamon stick
Quantity
1
whole cloves
Quantity
4
lemon peel
Quantity
1 wide strip
lemon juice
Quantity
1 tbsp
whole cloves for marking pieces (optional)
Quantity
24
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| thin phyllo pastrythawed | 500g |
| walnutscoarsely chopped | 450g |
| fine dry breadcrumbs or grated paximadi | 80g |
| ground cinnamon | 2 tsp |
| ground cloves | 1/4 tsp |
| unsalted buttermelted and clarified if possible | 280g |
| granulated sugar | 600g |
| water | 360ml |
| Greek honey | 200g |
| cinnamon stick | 1 |
| whole cloves | 4 |
| lemon peel | 1 wide strip |
| lemon juice | 1 tbsp |
| whole cloves for marking pieces (optional) | 24 |
Equipment Needed
- •rectangular metal tapsi, 30 x 40cm
- •wide pastry brush
- •small ladle for syrup
- •fine sieve for clarifying butter
Instructions
- 1
Make the syrup
Put the sugar, water, cinnamon stick, whole cloves, and lemon peel in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 8 minutes until clear and lightly thickened. Stir in the honey and lemon juice, simmer 2 minutes more, then take it off the heat. Let it cool completely. Cold syrup on hot pastry is the trick that keeps the phyllo crisp instead of soggy.
The syrup should pour easily, not drag like candy. Baklava drinks syrup; it doesn't need to be trapped under it. - 2
Mix the walnuts
Mix the chopped walnuts with the breadcrumbs, cinnamon, and ground cloves. Keep the walnuts coarse, with pieces you can feel under the knife. Powdered nuts make a heavy paste, and this tray wants layers with a little life in them.
- 3
Prepare the phyllo
Heat the oven to 160C fan, or 170C conventional. Brush a 30 x 40cm metal tapsi with melted butter. Cut the phyllo to fit the pan and keep the stack covered with a clean towel while you work. If the packet gives you more or fewer sheets, don't panic. Keep thick stacks for the bottom and top, and use the rest through the middle.
- 4
Build the layers
Lay 8 sheets of phyllo in the pan, brushing each sheet lightly with butter before the next one goes down. Scatter over one quarter of the walnut mixture. Add 3 buttered sheets, then another quarter of the walnuts, and repeat until the walnuts are used. Finish with 7 to 8 buttered sheets on top, smoothing them gently without pressing the pastry flat.
- 5
Cut and bake
With a sharp thin knife, cut the baklava into diamonds or squares all the way to the bottom of the pan. If you like the old marking, press one whole clove into the center of each piece. Brush the top with the last of the butter. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until the top is deep gold and the edges look crisp and dry.
- 6
Syrup the pastry
As soon as the baklava comes from the oven, ladle the completely cooled syrup over it slowly, especially along the cuts and edges. Leave it uncovered at room temperature for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight, so the syrup settles through the layers without trapping the top.
- 7
Serve and keep
Serve small pieces at room temperature with Greek coffee. Keep the tray loosely covered at room temperature for up to 5 days. Don't refrigerate it unless your kitchen is very hot; cold air makes the phyllo lose its clean bite.
Chef Tips
- •Buy walnuts from a shop with turnover and taste one before you begin. A stale walnut will spoil the whole tray, and no honey will rescue it.
- •Clarified butter gives the cleanest phyllo because the milk solids are removed before they can darken. If you use regular melted butter, leave the white sediment behind in the pan.
- •Baklava is better the next day. It needs time for the syrup to travel, settle, and stop being wet. This is why it belongs to celebration tables: you make it before the doorbell starts.
Advance Preparation
- •Thaw the phyllo overnight in the refrigerator, then let it sit unopened at room temperature for 1 hour before using.
- •Make the syrup up to 2 days ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator or at cool room temperature.
- •Bake the baklava the day before serving; the overnight rest is part of the recipe, not waiting around.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 95g)
Calories
375 calories
Total Fat
21 g
Saturated Fat
8 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
12 g
Cholesterol
30 mg
Sodium
90 mg
Total Carbohydrates
45 g
Dietary Fiber
2 g
Sugars
34 g
Protein
5 g
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