Turkish Baklava

Preparation: Start with the syrup for your Turkish baklava. Put the four tea cups of sugar in a pot and add one liter of water. Put it on the stove and once it boils, lower the temperature and let it simmer 5 minutes, then add the tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice and the vanilla. Stir and remove from the stove. In a larger bowl put the eggs, add the fresh milk and the oil. Stir and add 1 tea cup of flour. Mix and add the vinegar and the salt. Add the baking powder to the remaining flour and knead a dough. The dough turns out soft and greasy; divide it into 30 roughly equal pieces. Shape each piece into a nice ball.

Rolling out the sheets for the Turkish baklava: Pour the corn starch into a convenient large bowl. Take one ball and dip both its sides in the starch. Roll it out to 15 cm diameter, move it aside and dust it with starch. Roll out the next ball the same way and at approximately the same diameter. Place it over the first and dust evenly with starch. This way you make 10 small sheets one on top of another. Take all 10 sheets and, with the help of a little starch, roll them out as one whole large sheet. The pan I used is 36 cm in diameter. The sheet must be the same diameter. Transfer the sheet into the pan and sprinkle with half of the ground walnuts. Then roll out the next 10 balls the same way as the first ten. Place this sheet over the walnuts and sprinkle with the second half of the ground walnuts. Roll out the last 10 balls the same way and place the sheet over the rest.

Cutting your Turkish baklava: Take a convenient, well-cutting knife. First cut it into two equal halves and then into another 2 equal halves — to form a cross cut. Each quarter is cut through the middle, after which cuts are made as shown in the third and fourth photo.

The butter is melted (it should liquefy but not start to boil) and with half of the butter the cut baklava is evenly poured over.

Put your Turkish baklava to bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees, on a middle rack without fan. Once the baklava reddens slightly, take it out of the oven and again pour evenly with the remaining butter. Return it to the oven and bake at 150 degrees until it takes on a nice golden-brown tan.

Pour the baked baklava with the syrup immediately after taking it out of the oven. Leave it like that for 2–3 hours and then cover with aluminum or stretch foil. Leave the tasty and aromatic Turkish baklava like that for one night. Serve the next day. I want to tell you that it is not as complicated and labor-intensive as it looks. Be sure to make this Turkish baklava and enjoy its taste.