Editor's note:This recipe was created by chef Einat Admony for an Israeli Passover menu.
This is one of those desserts that magically improves as it sits — you could serve it after one day, but it's even better on the third day, as the matzoh soaks up the lemony syrup. To avoid a cloying rose flavor, be sure to use rose water (available at Middle Eastern markets andadrianascaravan.com), not rose syrup.
Ingredients
Makes 8 to 10 servings
For syrup
For assembly
Step 1
Briefly pass each sheet of matzoh under cold running water until wet on all sides. Layer sheets between damp paper towels and let stand until somewhat pliable but not soggy or falling apart, about 2 hours.
While matzoh is softening, make syrup
Step 2
In small saucepan over moderately high heat, stir together 1 cup water and sugar. Bring to boil, then lower heat to moderate and cook, uncovered, until syrupy and thick, about 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in lemon juice, honey, and rose water and simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool, then chill until ready to use.
Assemble dessert
Step 3
Preheat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir together walnuts, pistachios, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom. Separate out 1/6 of nut mixture and reserve for topping cooked baklava.
Step 4
Transfer 1 sheet matzoh to counter. Press rolling pin once over sheet from one end to other to flatten. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat. Transfer to 8-inch-square pan and brush with melted margarine. Sprinkle with 1/5 of unreserved nut mixture.
Step 5
Roll out second sheet of matzoh and transfer to pan. Brush with margarine and sprinkle with nut mixture. Repeat with remaining matzoh sheets and remaining nut mixture, ending with matzoh sheet brushed with margarine on top.
Step 6
Bake until golden, about 25 minutes. Transfer to rack and immediately pour chilled syrup over. Sprinkle with reserved nut mixture. Let cool, then cover and let stand at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. (Do not chill.) Cut into small squares or diamonds and serve.
Leave a Review
Reviews (12)
Back to TopThis actually turned out really well, but I wanted to add some notes for myself and others. I was surprised at that the matzoh didn't expand really at all on rolling out. I did not like the lemon juice taste at all and you can't really tell the rose water is in the syrup. Next time I will not use any lemon juice, and I will not put the rose water in the syrup until it's nearly cool. I used all pistachios purely out of personal preference. 2 cups of chopped nuts was way more than I needed for this recipe, and I added 50% to the ingredients otherwise, and baked it in an 8x13 pan. I also used all honey and did not make a sugar based syrup; I used 1 cup of honey. I prefer honey to sugar, and it takes less time and energy.
Squeedle
Santa Clara, CA
4/20/2011
I'm so glad I found this recipe again. I did this about 8 years ago from a recipe in Canadian Living Magazine. I accidentally tossed the magazine. My family absolutely adores this recipe. They look forward to Passover so we can have this.
verodaly
Stouffville
3/18/2010
I'm surprised that the syrup for this baklava uses so much sugar and so little honey. As far as I know, real baklava is generally soaked in a honey-lemon syrup, not a sugar-based one.
Anonymous
flushing, NY
3/8/2010
Though it sounded delicious, the recipe didn't quite meet my expectations. Even after storing the baklava in tupperware for two days after it had been baked, it still remained mostly crunchy and not moist. I wouldn't recommend this recipe. But for other delicious kosher for passover recipes you can visit my blog http://hartleyconfections.com.
hartleyconfections
NY, NY
4/12/2009
Despite my initial skepticism, this was absolutely fantastic! I made it twice for last year's Passover, and my uncle kept eating it piece after piece while telling my husband how lucky he was to have been married to someone who makes such yummy desserts :) It's a bit time consuming, but totally worth it!
lenuka
4/7/2009
Made it again for the last seder, and this time I used the suggested rose water - it was much better, not with such an overpowering flavor. My family just LOVED it and devoured it in minutes. One person ate 4 pieces (would've eaten even more, if his wife didn't hide the platter from him :).
lenuka
4/30/2008
这第二个逾越节家宴和真的是good - everybody loved it. I even got away with half-the-amount of butter! But what I was wondering about was that nobody mentioned just how tiny the baklava is (the size of a matzo sheet). That's when it hit me that it was probably meant for a bigger sheet of matzo that's made in Izrael and distributed through sinagogues). Oh, and I substituted orange blossom water for rose water and combined walnuts, pistachios, and almonds. It's really yummy - reminded me of the balkava (pahlava) from Azerbaijan that's made with home-made dough sheets, not with filo.
lenuka
Detroit, MI
4/21/2008
I made this for Passover and it was unbelievable. I let it sit for two days prior to serving so the syrup was absorbed into the baklava. I have given this recipe to others as well. My only suggestion would be to increase the syrup ingredients to about 1.5 x what is provided here. This way as time progresses the baklava is denser and wet vs being dense and dry.
weismanm
W Caldwell, NJ
4/23/2007
This was a great hit.I made it according to the directions without modifications.We ate it after 8 hrs and after 3 days .It does age well.I served it as a side to my main dessert in small pieces. as you would with Baklava ,because it really is decadent.What wasn't eaten for dessert disappeared with morning coffee
Anonymous
Quebec Canada
4/19/2007
I served this as dessert for the first seder. It was terrific! I made some modifications worth noting--I eliminated the rose water and I only used walnuts (2 cups to make up for not using pistachios). I didn't have the 2 hours of time to let the matzoh set; instead, I waited about 30 minutes. It still worked fine. It was a big hit!
Anonymous
Boca Raton, Florida
4/10/2007
This was awful!! I know you can't always expect gourmet food for Passover, but I couldn't even eat this! It was way too sweet!
Anonymous
California
4/5/2007
This was wonderful, the texture is not quite as good as baklava using fillo dough but the taste using matzo was just as good. I used a different recipe for the syrup though because this one seemed very high in sugar and low in honey.
Anonymous
Burlington, VT
4/4/2007
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