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Baklava

I was asked to come up with an alternative to wedding cake for a friends wedding. We are all in a middle eastern dance troupe and the wedding was to be at a dance festival. So we decided on baklava. I search through many recipes for a good baklava. I substituted the walnuts with the mixture I have in this recipe, since we were serving alot and so many people are allergic to walnuts. This was my first attempt at such a dessert. Come to find out, alot of people don't like baklava, but guess what? Mine was a hit. The only thing we could figure was that we used the mixture of almonds, hazelnuts and pecans instead of walnuts. I also made a chocolate version and it was a hit too. That recipe is also in this site. *** Thank you Saqra for inspiring me to make this dessert. I made 5 13x17 pans of this

List of Ingredients

2 c sugar
1 c water
1 stick cinnamon
1 T lemon juice or 1 slice lemon
1/2 c honey

1 lb filo dough
3/4 lb melted butter
2 1/2-3 c finely chopped nuts(mixture of pecans, hazelnuts, and almonds)
2 T sugar
2 T cinnamon




Recipe

1. In a sauce pan, combine the sugar, water, cinnamon stick and lemon. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 minutes. Add honey and bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Set aside.
2. Mix the nuts with the sugar and cinnamon and set aside.
3. Butter a 13x9x2 pan. Place 8 sheets filo in the bottom of the pan, spreading butter between each sheet.
4. Then sprinkle 1/4 c of the nut mixture over the dough. Cover with 2 sheets of filo, buttering between each. Contnue alternating filling and 2 sheets of dough until only 8 sheets are left. Use those sheets for the top, buttering each. Tuck down all edges and drizzle the last of the butter over the top.
5. Cut into 5 strips lengthwise, about halfway deep. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Remove from oven and immediatly pour cooled syrup over the top. Allow to cool thouroughly and cut strips diagonally to form diamond shapes.
** I use butter flavor pan spray between the sheets, it's easier, then I drizzle melted butter over the top.