This honey baklava is a rich, crisp and mouth watering dessert.

Ingredients

• 500gms chopped mixed nuts
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough
• 1 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

How to prepare

Prep : 30 mins cook: 50 mins

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F or 175 degrees C. Butter a rectangular baking dish and keep it ready.
   You can make phyllo dough from scratch at home or buy it from the market. Thaw the phyllo dough according to the package instructions.
2. Honey sauce:
   In a medium sized saucepan, combine honey, sugar, water and lemon zest according to the given quantity.
   Bring it to boil while continuously stirring it until the sugar dissolves completely, simmer it for 4 minutes without stirring. Set aside to cool till we prepare baklava.
3. Preparing baklava:
   Mix together cinnamon and nuts.
   Take the phyllo and cut the stack to fit the dish. Cover it with a damp cloth while assembling the baklava, to keep it from drying out.
4. Place two sheets of phyllo in the bottom of the prepared dish. Brush the sheet generously with butter. Sprinkle 2 to 3 tablespoons of the nut mixture on top. Repeat layers until all ingredients are used, ending with about 6 sheets of phyllo. Using a sharp knife, cut baklava into diamond shape pieces by cutting diagonally through the pastry till the bottom of the dish.
5. Bake in preheated oven 50 minutes, until golden and crisp.
6. Remove the baklava from the oven and immediately spoon the syrup over it so that it remains crisp and don’t get soggy. Let it cool completely before serving and store uncovered at room temperature.