Baklava

I make baklava for my husband to take to his office at Christmas. I take the end bits that are not as pretty to my office to share with my co-workers. Good thing they aren't picky about how their food looks, only about how it tastes !

1 pkg phyllo pastry dough
1-2 sticks butter
2 cups finely chopped walnuts
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves

Syrup:
2 cups sugar
1 cups honey
2 c water
1 lemon peel

Bring all syrup ingredients to a boil and simmer 10 minutes, then let cool. Remove and discard lemon peel.

Combine the walnuts, sugar and spices. Melt the butter. Open the phyllo, place on a cookie sheet and cover with a damp towel so the phyllo does not dry out before being layered.
Layer one sheet of phyllo at a time, buttering each sheet with a pastry brush dipped in butter. Remember to butter the bottom of the cookie sheet pan before putting the phyllo in the pan.
Layer phyllo, after about 1/3 of the sheets have been layered, sprinkle a layer of walnut mixture, then continue layering phyllo. Layer another 1/3 of and then sprinkle the other half of the walnut mixture. Finish with the remaining phyllo, brushing butter between each layer.
Slice the baklava into diamonds before baking. I use a ruler to get the lines straight.

Bake at 350 for 45 min to 1 hour until golden brown. Remove from oven and pour the cool syrup over the hot baklava. The baklava should be consumed in 2-3 days or it will get soggy from the syrup. If you have hungry co-workers, this is rarely a problem.