BAKLAVA

by David Smiecinski, Katy

Jendrzey, Ben Koch

Introduction
Baklava is a pastry made with a special dough to make the crust flaky and
light. It has a layer of nuts or occasionally figs in the center and has a sweet
sauce on top.
It originated from the Ottoman Empire but also has another variation that is
considered both Greek and Turkish because they couldnt decide which
country their version originated from.
Turkish etymologist Sevan Nianyan argues the word baklava comes from
the Mongolian root bayla- meaning to tie, wrap up, pile up.

History
There are many argued origins of baklava, and it is still not known where and
when it came from.
The first proposal stated that the current form of baklava was developed in a
kitchen in Istanbul. The Sultan gave trays of baklava to Janissaries every 15th
month of Ramadan in a ceremony called the Baklava Alayi.
The second proposal stated that baklava resembled an old Turkish dish
made of layered dough and honey called placenta. This dish is the oldest,
tracing back from 2nd century BCE.
The third proposal was made by a compiler in the Abbasid period. He
described lauzinaq, a dessert similar to baklava. Lauzinaq made out of
almond paste wrapped in thin dough then dipped in honey.

1.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the

bottoms and sides of a 9x13 inch pan.

Recipe

2.

Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo
dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a
dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place
two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until
you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 - 3 tablespoons of nut
mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts,

Ingredients:

layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 - 8 sheets

1 (16 oz) package of phyllo dough

1 pound of chopped nuts

deep.
3.

the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long

1 cup of butter

rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

1 cup of water

baklava is golden and crisp.

4.

cup of honey

Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water

until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for

1 cup of white sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all

about 20 minutes.
5.

Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce

over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well.
Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

Water

Honey

Butter

Cinnamon

Chopped Nuts

White Sugar

Phyllo Dough

Vanilla Extract

Mathematics
2.89 kcal

238 grams

32.83km

22,581.13 kcal

4184 g-km

4184 g-km

2.89 kcal

340g

30.5km

29,969.3 kcal

4184 g-km

4184 g-km

2.89 kcal

453.6g

3,358km

4,402,015.63 kcal

4184 g-km

4184 g-km

2.89 kcal

510.3g

331.5km

488,885.25 kcal

4184 g-km

4184 g-km

2.89 kcal

243.59g

228.5km

160,858.31 kcal

4184 g-km

4184 g-km

2.89 kcal

200g

255.9km

147,910.2 kcal

4184 g-km

4184 g-km

15.839 kcal

453.592g

10,289km

73,920,741.1 kcal

4184 g-km

4184 g-km

2.89 kcal

56.7g

2,174km

3156,238.16 kcal

4184 g-km

4184 g-km

5.40 kcal

7.2 kcal

1,052 kcal

116.8 kcal

38.5 kcal

35.35 kcal

17,667.48 kcal

85.1 kcal

Reflection
We chose this dish because it looked good, and most of the ingredients are made locally.
Baklava in particular has wide and unknown history and we wanted to see how in depth we
could get. Only a couple of the ingredients had to travel a long way. Not much energy goes
into making baklava while there is a lot of energy in it, making this dish great to make.