Bakalawa bil Jibna
Baklava with Sweet Cheese
My daughter loves baklava - though I'm not a fan, personally -, so when I came across this recipe for cream cheese baklava I knew I had to make it. While I'm not sad I did, it was a good experience, I can't say I was in love with the results.
First, the filling. While it's a cream cheese filling, the cream cheese is mixed with so much milk and cream that any cream cheese flavor completely disappears. The cream cheese does add more solidity to the custard mixture, so I guess it's good in this regard, but as someone who loves cream cheese I was sad that I couldn't taste it. Indeed, it's so lightly sweetened that it doesn't taste like anything much before you add the rosewater. If you do, it will taste of rosewater.
I didn't add it. I'm not a huge fan of rosewater, and I knew that if I did I'd just hate this dish. However, it is rosewater which characterizes the Libyan version so if you are going for 100% authenticity, you should. Instead of the tablespoon of rosewater it called for, I added a teaspoon of orange blossom water. That was enough to flavor it, and I'm glad I didn't add anymore or it would be overwhelming. Still, while I mind orange blossom water less than rosewater, I can't say I was super impressed by the flavor either.
The original recipe calls for kashta, which is a thick cream used in the Arab world. While I saw that my local Indian store carried it, after looking at a recipe of how to make it at home (which basically consists of mixing heavy cream with milk and cornstarch), I figured heavy cream alone would work well enough in this recipe, I just cooked the custard until it had the firm, spreadable consistency I needed.
Working with the phyllo dough was much harder than I anticipated. While I've done it before, when making bastilla, I used the Safeway brand this time and the sheets kept breaking. It was definitely impossible to lay them down flat enough so that I could easily cut diamond shapes onto the top - and these diamond shapes definitely didn't show up in the baked product.
I used half of the syrup recommended in the original recipe, as I didn't want it to be too sweet and that was the right call. The recipe below reflects that.
In all, I wasn't fond of the finished product but my husband and daughter liked it well enough. Still, she continues preferring the original kind.
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Baklava with Sweet Cheese
Ingredients
For the baklava
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 3 1/2 cups milk, divided
- 3 Tbsp sugar
- 16 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 kashta or heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp rose water or 1 tsp orange blossom water
- 1/2 cup melted butter
- 1 package phyllo dough, defrosted
For the syrup
- 2 cups water
- 1 cups sugar
- 1 lemon slice
- 2 tsp honey
- 1 tsp rosewater
Directions
Heat oven to 400°F.
In a small bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 1 cup of milk. Set aside.
Heat remaining milk over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Add the sugar and bring to a boil. Turn heat to medium-low. Whisk in the dissolved cornstarch and continue cooking, whisking briskly, until it thickens. Continue cooking for five minutes. Add the cream cheese and mix until dissolved. Mix in the cream and rose water. Set aside.
Grease a 13" x 9" baking dish with the melted butter.
Divide the phyllo dough into two and keep one half covered so it doesn't dry out. Place a sheet of phyllo dough on the baking pan and brush with the melted butter Repeat with the rest of the first half of the phyllo dough, one sheet at the time.
Pour the custard on top of the prepared phyllo dough and smooth with a knife. Carefully place a sheet from the remaining phyllo dough half on top of the custard and brush with the melted butter. Repeat with the rest of the phyllo dough, one sheet at the time.
Score the baklava into diamond shapes, being careful not to cut through the bottom phyllo sheets. Place in the oven and bake until golden brown, around 15 to 20 minutes. Let baklava cool
Meanwhile, prepare the syrup
Place water, sugar and lemon slice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and continue cooking for 5 more minutes. Add the honey and rosewater and turn off the heat.
Once the baklava is cooled, pour the syrup on the baklava. Allow to rest for 8 hours before serving.
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Adapted from a recipe at libyan food
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