Cheesecake Baklava

"Long instructions because of the detail, but it's really easy to do and a spectacular presentation. Creamy cheesecake filling held by a crisp, buttery, phyllo crust and topped with a baklava layer - fantastic! This must be made 2 days before serving."
 
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photo by Jessica K photo by Jessica K
photo by Jessica K
photo by Jessica K photo by Jessica K
Ready In:
2hrs 10mins
Ingredients:
17
Serves:
12-16
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ingredients

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directions

  • Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 350°F.
  • Beat cream cheese in large bowl of mixer until light and fluffy; gradually mix in honey, lemon juice and vanilla; on low speed, add eggs, one at a time, beating until each has been incorporated before adding next.
  • Brush 10 inch springform pan generously with melted butter.
  • Take 1 sheet of phyllo pastry with long end facing you (cover the remainder with a sheet of wax paper and a dampened kitchen towel) and brush half of sheet with melted butter; fold over unbuttered half to turn the rectangle into a square shape; brush top of phyllo with butter and place in springform pan, buttered side up, leaving a 5 inch overhang on one end; cover pan with a dampened towel; repeat with phyllo 4 more times (using 5 sheets); wrap remaining phyllo in plastic and refrigerate; stir through cheesecake filling and pour into crust; cover filling with pastry overhang; bake until pastry is light brown and cake is firm to the touch, about 50 minutes; let cool for 20 minutes and carefully remove pan sides and cool completely; refrigerate 2 days to mellow flavours (keep cake covered after the first day).
  • For Topping: Preheat oven to 350F; cover baking sheet with 2 sheets of parchment; coarsely grind nuts with 1 tblsp sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon.
  • Stack 10 reserved phyllo pastry sheets on work surface; set rim of 10 inch springform pan atop pastry; cut around outside of rim through entire stack of phyllo, making 10 pastry rounds; cover with damp towel; set pan rim on prepared baking sheet; brush parchment and inside of pan rim with butter; place 1 pastry round in pan rim and brush with butter; repeat with 4 more rounds; spread nut mixture evenly over pastry; top with remaining 5 rounds, brushing each with butter; cut pastry into 16 wedges with sharp knife (this is important as phyllo bakes up very crisp and would shatter if you tried to cut it fully baked); sprinkle lightly with water; bake until crisp and golden, about 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, heat 1/3 cup sugar, water and lemon juice in heavy small saucepan over low heat, swirling pan occasionally until sugar dissolves; add cinnamon stick, increase heat and boil until syrupy, about 4 minutes; remove from heat; when bubbles subside, stir in brandy.
  • Set baked pastry on cake, using a large spatula; recut wedges gently; replace pan rim on cake; pour hot syrup over; cool 1 hour; refrigerate for 1-6 hours; let cake stand at room temperature atleast 20 minutes before serving.
  • Enjoy the fruit of your labours!

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Reviews

  1. Different storkes, I guess. This just wasn't much of a hit. The cheesecake just didn't taste "right" to us, for some reason. The "baklava" part was great, though, and the directions, are easy to follow because they are so detailed. My family recipe for baklava uses orange blossom water or rose water instead of brandy, so that was the only substitution that I made.
     
  2. I made this for the Zaar World Tour II. This was an outstanding recipe. It takes a lot of time and some work but it is well worth it. I do say make sure that you keep an eye on the topping that you are baking, mine got a little 'crisp' and dark. I am very happy with the way it turned out otherwise. I am going to have to make this again sometime!! This is a definate keeper!! KUDOS!!!
     
  3. this is soo good! my hubby doesn't eat desserts and he loved this!! the cinnamon is a nice touch, not too sweet and the phyllo makes a wonderful crust! i hope i did it right, was i supposed to wrap it? oh well, it tasted good with what i did with it!! very nice dessert!
     
  4. I just have to say "I love this dessert". It was so good. I did have to refer back and forth to the directions and look at some of the other reviews to answer some questions but it came out wonderful. I also do not like to work with phyllo but it was well worth the time. I believe I will take it to my craft club next week.
     
  5. This recipe was a hit at the Greek luncheon I just hosted. I had one woman say "ohh" and "ahh" after every bite. This recipe was not hard at all to make with the exception of working with the phyllo dough, but I always find phyllo a pain to work with. Note, not all pre-made phyllo doughs make a perfect square when folded in half. When I folded mine in half, it made a rectangle that did not cover the whole spring form pan. I kind of made a patch-work quilt of phyllo dough for the crust and it still turned out great. One more thing that I didn't quite understand was cutting the baked baklava a second time. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to cut all the way through the cake, or just separate the baked baklava with the spatula? I cut through the whole cake and then spread the syrup on. Seemed to work out fine. One more note, be sure to cut into 16 pieces. I almost cut it into just 8, at last minute; I decided to cut into 16. So glad I did, otherwise the servings would have been too huge. It is too rich to eat a lot at once. Thank you for an outstanding recipe! Definitely a masterpiece!
     
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Tweaks

  1. Different storkes, I guess. This just wasn't much of a hit. The cheesecake just didn't taste "right" to us, for some reason. The "baklava" part was great, though, and the directions, are easy to follow because they are so detailed. My family recipe for baklava uses orange blossom water or rose water instead of brandy, so that was the only substitution that I made.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

<style>body { background: url("http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3512121819_f2f1aaf050.jpg?v=0"); background-repeat: repeat-y; }</style> OK, here goes. I live in Athens, Greece. I moved out here many, many years ago from Ottawa, Canada - so I am blessed in having two wonderful heritages! I suffer from compulsive obsessive behaviour with regard to food and my psychiatrist thought it would be a good idea to find a 'society' where many have the same problem and try to find a cure. So far, I've copied a couple of thousand recipes from this site and my psychiatrist has thrown the towel in and refuses to answer the phone when I call. What did I do wrong? Got 3 kids that keep me on the go - 10 and under at this point (2008) - I may not get round to updating this for a few years, so you'll have to do your own maths. I teach English full-time and Greek Cookery part-time. I would like to make the cooking part of it full-time and the English Grammar part of it part-time. That's all for now.
 
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