Between 1820 and 1920 some 360,000 Greeks immigrated to the United States, bringing the Greek restaurant to these shores. Greeks also became candy-kitchen operators, displaying taffy pulling in candy-shop windows, the exhaust fans blowing out the enticing sweet smells into streets. Among the most famous of Greek sweets, not a candy but a near confection, is baklava, made with layers of thin strudel pastry, honey, and ground nuts.
1 package (1 pound) phyllo leaves.
THE FILLING
4 cups almonds or walnuts;
3⁄4 cup sugar;
1 teaspoon ground cloves;
1 teaspoon cinnamon;
Grated peel of 1 lemon;
1 cup butter, melted;
36 whole cloves.
THE SYRUP
1⁄2 cup sugar;
1⁄2 cup water;
11⁄2 cups honey.
Thaw frozen phyllo leaves in refrigerator. Preheat oven to 300°F.
Spread almonds or walnuts on cookie sheet and toast for 10 minutes. Place nuts in food processor with steel blade. Process until the nuts are pulverized. Mix in 3⁄4 cup sugar, ground cloves, cinnamon, and lemon rind. With a pastry brush, spread some of the melted butter in the bottom of a 9-by-l3-inch baking pan.
Unroll the phyllo and cover with a sheet of wax paper and a damp cloth to prevent its drying out while assembling the baklava.
Arrange 1 sheet of phyllo dough over the bottom of the baking pan, letting it hang over the edges of the pan an inch or two. Brush with melted butter and top with a sheet of dough. Brush that sheet and repeat until you have layered 8 sheets in the pan.
Brush the top sheet with melted butter, and sprinkle about onequarter of the nut mixture over it. Fold over the top sheet of the overlapping sides, enclosing the nut layer. Leave the other 7 sheets hanging over the edge of the pan for now.
Reserve 5 sheets of the phyllo dough for the top layer. The rest of the sheets will be divided into 3 layers, which will be alternated with 3 more layers of the nut mixture. With these 3 layers of phyllo, cut or tear all but the top sheet of each to fit the size of the pan. Remember to brush each individual sheet with melted butter and to fold the top (larger) sheet of each layer in to enclose the nut layers. Pieces of phyllo left over from trimming other sheets to fit should also be buttered and layered in with the phyllo layer.
Proceed, alternating the 3 phyllo and nut layers.
Preheat oven to 250 F.
Fold the overhanging 7 sheets of dough (from the bottom layer) over the top. Add the last 5 sheets of phyllo (all cut to fit the pan) as the top layer, brushing each with melted butter. Cut diagonally across the pan as deep as the first nut layer, making diamonds about 1 inch wide and 1 1⁄4 inches long. Stick a whole clove in the center of each diamond. Bake for 2 hours.
While baklava bakes, combine 1⁄2 cup sugar and the water, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring. Add the honey and cool. When baklava has finished baking, cut through diagonal pieces completely with a sharp knife. Pour the honey syrup over the hot baklava. Let cool for a while before serving (although very edible earlier, it is easier to cut after cooling 3 to 4 hours).
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