Walnut baklava
For the walnut baklava, first prepare the clarified butter in a saucepan. Melt the butter over low heat, stirring constantly. When a white foam forms on top, skim it off and boil the butter until it turns a light caramel color and has a slightly sweet smell. Then strain it into a bowl and set aside to cool.
While the clarified butter is cooling a bit, start preparing the filling. Pour the walnuts, cinnamon, and powdered sugar into a bowl and mix thoroughly.
Now that everything is ready, we can start assembling the baklava. First, grease the bottom of a 20 x 30 cm baking pan with a little butter, then place the first sheet of strudel on top, which we also grease with butter and then the next sheet can be placed on top – repeat this step eight times.
Spread half of the filling on the eighth sheet, drizzle a little clarified butter on top, then layer the strudel sheets and butter again, with the only difference being that now we spread a little filling on every two sheets. Cover the top with two strudel sheets, and when we reach the last sheet, spread generously with the remaining butter.
Carefully cut off the protruding pieces of pastry and cut the cookies into the desired shape before baking, then bake in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 30 minutes.
While the baklava is baking, prepare the syrup. Boil all the ingredients except the honey together in a saucepan for 15 minutes. When it has reduced by about half, add the honey. Mix the honey and syrup, then turn off the heat and let it cool a little.
Pour the room temperature syrup over the baked, still warm baklava and let it rest for 2 hours before eating.
