Dr. John R. Willey
ENC1101 MW 10:30
13 November 2012
The Process of Baking Baklava Have you ever been at a Greek restaurant and eaten one of those deliciously flaky Baklava desserts? Do you wish you were able to make it at home for yourself or to bring to a potluck? I know that Baklava seems as if it should be an extremely difficult dish to prepare, but believe it or not it is surprisingly simple and easy. After reading this you should be confident and capable of preparing, baking, and serving the most delicate and savory dessert that will ever come from your oven. To begin, make sure you have all of the necessary ingredients: one pound of pecans, one teaspoon of cinnamon, a food processor, one 16oz thawed package of Phyllo dough, one can of aerosol butter spray, wet paper towels, a sharp knife, a 9x13 casserole dish, a medium size saucepan, one cup of water, one cup of white sugar, half a cup of honey, a teaspoon of vanilla, and a package of cupcake liners. Secondary, clean off the counters in the kitchen so there will be a sanitary and clutter free area to work on. Preheat the oven to 350* with the oven rack placed in the middle. Once you have prepared your kitchen you can get started on the recipe. First pour a pound of whole pecans and a teaspoon of cinnamon into the food processor and grind them to a fine chop. If you do not own a food processor you can purchase finely chopped pecans and hand mix the cinnamon into them; however, I do recommend the food processor method because you can chop the pecans to a nearly dust-like consistency. Set the cinnamon pecan blend aside while you start to prepare your dough. Keep in mind that this dough is the most delicate part of the recipe, but if handled quickly and carefully there should be no problems. After completely thawing a 16oz package of Phyllo dough, in the fridge overnight, open and unroll one of the two packages. If it does begin to dry out and break easily don’t fret; simply cover