Baklava Cheesecake

5 from 6 votes

This Baklava Cheesecake recipe has it all - creamy, crunchy, sweet, salty... all bound together with honey, cardamom, & orange blossom water!

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 10

Total Time1 40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern

Diet: Vegetarian

Servings: Servings

Calories: 717kcal

Author: Marie Porter

Equipment

6" Springform pan

Ingredients

Syrup:

⅓ cup Water
½ cup Granulated Sugar
⅓ cup Honey
1 tablespoon Orange blossom water
¼ teaspoon Ground cardamom

Crust:

12 Phyllo sheets
¼ cup Unsalted butter melted
1 ¼ cups Shelled pistachios
½ teaspoon Ground cardamom
Pinch Salt

Filling:

1 lb Cream Cheese room temperature
⅓ cup Honey
¼ cup Granulated sugar
2 tablespoon Sour cream
2 Large eggs room temperature & lightly beaten
2 teaspoon Orange blossom water
½ teaspoon Lemon juice

Instructions

Syrup:

In a small/medium saucepan, combine water, sugar, and honey. Bring to a boil, then simmer on medium-low for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in the orange blossom water and cardamom.
Let cool to room temperature.

Crust

Remove the collar / sides of a 6" Springform pan from the base.
Set a piece of parchment paper over the bottom of the pan, then re-attach the collar, trapping the parchment between the two pan pieces.
Generously grease the inside of the pan with softened butter or pan spray, set aside.
Toast nuts in a dry, nonstick pan, just until fragrant. Remove from heat, allow to cool slightly, then finely chop - by hand or with a food processor.
Add 1-2 tablespoon of the syrup to the nuts - just enough to moisten it a bit and make them sticky.
Season with the cardamom and pinch of salt, stir well to combine.
Preheat oven to 325 F, carefully unroll phyllo dough.
Count out the 12 sheets, and use a knife to slice the whole stack in half to make two stacks of 9 x 13″ sheets.
Cover with a damp cloth to prevent phyllo from drying out as you work – it’s finicky, fragile stuff!
Lay two sheets of phyllo in bottom of prepared pan, centering it with the excess up the sides.
Use a pastry brush to apply a thorough coating of melted butter across the bottom and up the sides of the pastry.
Layer with two more sheets, slightly offset from the first two. Repeat twice more, for a total of 8 sheets.
Sprinkle 2 tablespoon of the nuts evenly across the top. Layer with two more sheets (offsetting them from previous layer), butter, and another 2 tablespoon of the nuts
Continue this pattern of two sheets, butter, nuts until you have 4 sheets left, and are - ideally - out of nuts.
Layer two sheets, spread entire surface with butter, and top with a final two sheets.
Trim the excess phyllo if desired, then ruffle / flute it if you like. Brush edging with butter, set it in the fridge while you make your filling:

Filling and Baking:

Cream the cream cheese, honey, and sugar together until smooth.
Add sour cream, eggs, orange blossom water, and lemon juice, beat just until smooth. DO NOT over beat!
Pour cheesecake batter into the prepared crust, and place the cheesecake on a rimmed baking sheet.
Carefully transfer the whole thing to the 325 F oven.
Bake for 65 minutes, or until the center is mostly set - it’ll wiggle a little if shaken, but shouldn’t be liquid.
Once the cake is fully cooked, remove from the oven.
Pour the cooled syrup over the cheesecake, mostly around the outer edge - you want the crust to soak it up.
Once most of the syrup has been poured and soaked up, gently loosen the collar of the springform pan and remove it. Brush remaining syrup on the sides of the crust, focusing on lower areas that didn’t get any of the poured syrip.
Allow cheesecake to cool to room temperature, then transfer to fridge, chill for at least 6 hours - ideally overnight.

Video

Notes

1. See post for flavour variation information.

2. For really “clean” slices, chill the cheesecake thoroughly before cutting - ideally overnight. Use a very sharp knife - run it under hot water, then wipe it dry before cutting.

Nutrition