Baklava Cheesecake

I was talking about baklava with a friend and he suggested I make a baklava cheesecake. It sounded fabulous, but I didn’t know where to start. I started looking online and ended up with a recipe that was a mix of a couple I’d found. The crust is where the baklava comes in, with layers of buttered phyllo dough and nuts. After the cheesecake filling is baked, it is finished with a  traditional honey syrup. Decadent and actually fun to create.

Since a dear friend’s birthday was coming up, I decided to  make it for her birthday party. So I made it. And I was happy with how it looked. Fingers crossed, they’d like the taste, too. It was a huge success. I was worried about how it would slice. I had placed a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of the springform pan and I was worried it would tear and end up in the slices I was serving. It worked fine, although a small amount of the crust stuck to the parchment. the parchment did not get into the pieces I served. I think the next time I make one I’ll either leave the parchment out and grease the pan or grease the parchment.

The layering of the phyllo was also pretty easy. Once you get your rhythm it goes pretty fast. The goal is to get the sheets evenly distributed in the pan with the extra brought up around the cheesecake after the filling is added. I hope I described it clearly in the directions. This is clearly a dessert for special occasions and for the special people in our lives. Well worth the effort.

So here is the recipe. Happy birthday to Liz.  Special thanks to David for the inspiration and helping me serve it.

Baklava Cheesecake

Crust:

20 phyllo sheets

1 c. (2 sticks) melted butter

1 c. pistachios finely chopped or ground

1 c. almonds finely chopped or ground

½ c. brown sugar

2 t. cinnamon

 Filling

1 lb. cream cheese, room temp

1 c. sugar

½ t salt

1 T. vanilla

½ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt, room temp

1 T. lemon juice

zest of a lemon

two large eggs, room temperature

Honey Syrup

½ cup sugar

¼ cup water

¼ cup honey

Pinch of salt

1 t. lemon juice

Topping

2 T. chopped pistachios

Preheat oven to 325 F. Prep a 9 or 10- inch springform pan by lining it with a sheet of parchment paper. You can also lightly spray the pan (bottom only) or spray the  parchment with cooking spray for easier release. I had some issues with a little of the bottom crust sticking to the parchment. Most of the crust came out just fine, but I might not use parchment the next time. Mix together the brown sugar, cinnamon and ground nuts and set them aside. In a bowl, beat together the sugar, vanilla, salt and cream cheese until smooth. Add the sour cream and lemon juice and zest and beat until smooth. Add the eggs and mix in to just combine. Set aside. Make the crust. Melt the butter. Get your prepared pan. Then begin layering the first ten sheets of phyllo: place the first sheet so it mostly covers the bottom of the pan but also comes up and folds over the side of the pan. Brush with butter all over then place the second sheet so it also covers the bottom but only partially covers the top part, covering the first sheet only halfway. Do this with ten sheets for the bottom layer, arranging each a bit over the sheet before covering the whole pan as evenly as possible.  After you have the tenth sheet down, brush with butter and sprinkle on half the nut mixture. Layer 5 more sheet of phyllo on top like you did with the first 10 sheets still brushing each layer with butter and layered a bit over each time to cover the whole pan evenly. Sprinkle remaining nut mixture then repeat the process with another 5 sheets of phyllo. Pour the prepared cheesecake filling into the center of the unbaked phyllo crust. Bring up the sides of the phyllo that were laying over the edge into a ruffled shape If it tears, it’s fine. Don’t cover the whole cheesecake. Just around the edges. You want to see the filling in the middle. .

Bake the cheesecake on a sheet pan to capture potential spills. Mine didn’t leak, but play it safe. Bake until the cheesecake only jiggles a bit in the center, for about 60-70 minutes. While the cheesecake is baking, make the syrup: in a small pot set the water, sugar and honey (and a pinch of salt if you are like me and can’t help yourself) to cook on medium low heat. Stir so the sugar dissolves then cook it for about 5-7 minutes, until it is slightly thickened (but still pourable). Off the heat, add  lemon juice. On a personal note here, for some reason I used the smallest sauce pan I own and the syrup boiled over. I had just cleaned the stove top to make it more upsetting. Don’t be like me. Use a small saucepan, but at least a 1 quart capacity.  When the cheesecake comes out of the oven, pour the syrup over the cheesecake around the sides rather than the center of the cheesecake. Add the chopped pistachios to the top of the pie. Let cool and then chill in the fridge overnight. Store in the fridge, serve cold. Serves 10 easily.

Sliced baklava cheesecake

layering the crust

ready to bake

right out of the oven