Ingredients
Pastry
- 500 gfilo pastry, thawed, or 30 hand-rolled sheets
- 250 gclarified butter, melted and kept warm
Walnut filling
- 500 gshelled walnuts, coarsely chopped, not ground to powder
- 100 gcaster sugar
- 2 tspground cinnamon
- ½ tspground clove
- ¼ tspground cardamom
Honey syrup
- 300 ggranulated sugar
- 250 mlwater
- 200 gArmenian honey, preferably thyme or wildflower
- 1 tbsplemon juice
- 1short strip of lemon peel
Directions
- Boil the sugar and water for 8 minutes to a light syrup, take it off the heat, stir in the honey, lemon juice and peel, and cool it completely; hot syrup on hot pastry gives soggy pakhlava.
- Toss the walnuts with the sugar, cinnamon, clove and cardamom, keeping the pieces the size of lentils so the filling stays crunchy rather than pasty.
- Brush a 30 x 22 cm metal tray with butter and lay in 10 filo sheets, buttering every single one right to the corners; a dry sheet will not shatter properly.
- Spread half the walnut mixture evenly, cover with 8 buttered sheets, spread the rest of the walnuts, then finish with 10 more buttered sheets, pressing the stack down flat with your palms.
- Cut all the way through to the tray in parallel lines 4 cm apart, then diagonally, to make diamonds; cutting before baking is what stops the top layers curling off.
- Pour the remaining warm butter over the surface and let it seep into the cuts for 10 minutes.
- Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 25 minutes, then drop to 160°C (325°F) for a further 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is deep gold and the tray sounds crisp when you tap a diamond.
- Pour the cold syrup over the hot pakhlava in a slow spiral; it should hiss and fizz. Leave uncovered at room temperature for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, before lifting the pieces out.
Technique
- Cold syrup onto hot pastry, or hot syrup onto cold pastry: never hot onto hot. The temperature gap is what lets the layers drink the syrup and stay crisp.
- Armenian pakhlava is walnut-led and honey-scented, where Turkish baklava leans on pistachio and sugar syrup and Greek versions add more clove. Gyumri bakers cut theirs thicker and use fewer, heavier hand-rolled sheets.
- Never refrigerate it. Cold turns the butter waxy and the pastry leathery; it keeps a week at room temperature under a cloth.
Substitutions
- No clarified butter: melt butter, skim the foam and pour off the clear fat, leaving the milk solids behind, or the pastry will brown unevenly.
- Half the walnuts can be swapped for almonds, which is common in Vayots Dzor; pistachio makes it Turkish rather than Armenian.
Variations
- Gyumri pakhlava uses a thicker, home-rolled dough enriched with egg and is baked in a round tray.
- Some Yerevan bakeries scent the syrup with rosewater instead of lemon.
History
The Azerbaijani version is diamond-cut with hazelnut or walnut filling and glazed with saffron water for Novruz.
Frequently asked questions
What is Pakhlava?
Pakhlava is a dessert from Armenia: armenian baklava layered with walnuts and honey syrup. The Azerbaijani version is diamond-cut with hazelnut or walnut filling and glazed with saffron water for Novruz.
How long does Pakhlava take to make?
Pakhlava takes 45 min of preparation and 50 min baking plus 4 hr soaking of cooking. The recipe makes 24 diamonds. It is rated medium to make.
What can I substitute in Pakhlava?
Yes, within limits. No clarified butter: melt butter, skim the foam and pour off the clear fat, leaving the milk solids behind, or the pastry will brown unevenly. Half the walnuts can be swapped for almonds, which is common in Vayots Dzor; pistachio makes it Turkish rather than Armenian.
What is the most important thing to get right in Pakhlava?
Toss the walnuts with the sugar, cinnamon, clove and cardamom, keeping the pieces the size of lentils so the filling stays crunchy rather than pasty.
