Baklava Cheesecake Halaal Recipes

This delicious baklava cheesecake recipe is crispy and creamy at the same time, hands down the most delicious cheesecake I have ever made! Taking classic baklava one step further, this is a must-try recipe for baklava and cheesecake lovers. Lighter than traditional baklava, in the meantime more exciting flavor profile than traditional cheesecake, the best of both! Making this baklava cheesecake is super easy too, it comes together really quickly, the perfect cheesecake recipe even if you are a beginner in the kitchen.

Baklava is a layered dessert made of filopastry, filled with chopped nuts (can be walnut, pistachios, or any nut really), and sweetened with syrup or honey. It is a super popular dessert all around the world, particularly in the Middle East, Turkey, and Greece with small local adjustments. Make sure you check out my baklava recipe, it is thick!

This Baklava cheesecake recipe delivers on the key baklava and cheesecake attributes! Creamy and light cream cheese filling on top of walnut-filled filo pastry layers soaked in aromatic honey rosewater syrup. A dangerously delicious recipe for cheesecake and baklava lovers! I hear from many of my Readers that they are making it over and over again. Keep on reading!

Baklava Cheesecake Recipe — Antoniou Fillo Pastry

As explained on the Masterclass, both filo and puff pastry are super thin pastry crusts. Phyllo dough, also known as filo dough, is a paper-thin pastry dough made by rolling together layers of dough. Although the dough likely originated in Turkey, where it’s known as yuf ka, the Greek name filo (“leaf”) caught on internationally. Puff pastry, also called “pâte feuilletée” in French, is a laminated dough, famous for its paper-thin sheets of puffy, somewhat crunchy, soft-yet-crackly pastry. Puff pastry is made through repeated layering and folding of dough and cold butter.

The main differences between puff pastry and filo pastry are the fat content and preparation. Puff pastry is a laminated dough that gets its signature airy puff from layers of butter, while phyllo dough is comparatively low-fat as Phyllo dough includes only flour, water, vinegar, and a little oil. Puff pastry is typically used for croissants, Danish, tarte tatin, while filo pastry is used to bake baklava or Apple strudel.

Making this baklava cheesecake requires phyllo sheets and I do not recommend substituting it with puff pastry as puff pastry would make a much higher fat content pastry that would work less well with the cheesecake part.

Popular Phyllo Dough Recipes

First thing first, some typical mistakes. What makes the baklava sometimes unpleasantly sweet and also very soggy is the inappropriate sugar syrup quality and quantity.

Regarding quantity, the recipe below will provide enough syrup to “hold” the filo sheets together but without making the dessert overly soggy and overly sweet. Regarding sweetness, I am using a mixture of sugar, honey, water simple syrup base and offset the sweetness with some lemon juice! It does not taste lemon, but lemon balances the sweetness of the syrup.

The phyllo sheets are extremely versatile, super-thin, which need to be handled with care.Depending on whether you purchase it frozen or not, first, you will need to bring it to room temperaturebut do not open the package yet as the pastry can get dry out very quickly.Once the pack is open, place the sheets in between very lightly wet tea towelsto make sure that the phyllo sheets won´t dry out while you are assembling the baklava cheesecake.

Baklava Cheesecake Recipe By Ruhana Ebrahim

Place the sheets in between very lightly wet tea towelsto make sure that the filo won´t dry out while you are assembling the baklava cheesecake

This is a classic cheesecake recipe that comes together really quickly, all you need to pay attention to is not to over mix it. You will only need a couple of ingredients like Philadelphia cream cheese, cream, eggs, a little bit of sugar, and a small amount of flour.

Beat cream cheese with sugar for 1-2 minutes until fluffy, mix in flour, add eggs and finally the heavy cream, mix just until combined, do not over mix. If you are spending more than 3 minutes preparing this filling, then you are probably overbeating it.

Bride's Cushion Dessert Recipe

I am not using vanilla and lemon - which are often used in cheesecake fillings - because the flavor of this baklava cheesecake will very much come from the syrup.

Basically, you will have to assemble the baklava layers first just like if you were making baklava, then pour the cream cheese filling on top. My filo bag has 10 large phyllo sheets and I have used all 10 of them - that gives a high enough baklava layer under the cheesecake layer.

Prepare your baking pan, I recommend a not too large (15-20 cm / 6-8 inch) but deep spring form. The one I am using is 19 cm / 7, 5 inch in diameter spring form, this one. I covered the bottom and side of the pan with aluminum foil, because I made one batch with a water bath and one without. You will be pleased to hear that this baklava cheesecake bakes perfectly and does not crank on the top even without water bath, so the aluminum foil is not strictly necessary.

Easy Baklava Recipe

Always pre-heat your oven for at least 10-15 minutes and make sure you invest in an inexpensiveDigital oven thermometerto avoid underbaked or burnt baklava cheesecake. If your oven tends to burn more on the top, it is better to bake this cheesecake more on the bottom so the filo pastry won´t burn.

Can I bake this baklava cheesecake without a water bath? Yes, absolutely! You will be pleased to see that this cheesecake won´t crack on top!

I suggest baking the cheesecake in the following way; First, bake it at 180C / 356F (no fan) for 45 minutes, then remove the side of the spring form and bake for a further 25 minutes so the baked cheesecake tip and side both get golden in color. This baklava cheesecake is rather tall therefore requires a minimum of one hour baking time, however, please note that each oven is different and you will have to experiment with your own one. If the cheesecake was browning too much on top, feel free to cover it with aluminum foil towards the end of the baking time.

Recipe: Baklava Cheesecake

Making the soaking syrup for this baklava cheesecake is super simple, you will literally have to boil all the ingredients together (except rosewater) however it is worth noting 3 important things:

1. Boil the mixture for 5-10 minutes (depending on your stove) until it gets syrupy. If the mixture is not syrupy enough but more on the liquid side, it can make the cheesecake wet and soggy instead of moist, so make sure it is syrupy. Add in rosewater in after the syrup is ready

2. Prepare the syrup towards the last 5-10 minutes of the baking time so it will be ready by the time your baked cheesecake is done in the oven

Baklava Cheese Cake Recipe By Tasmeya

3. While drizzling the cheesecake with syrup I suggest focusing on the side around where the filo pastry is. It is fine to drizzle the cheesecake part (middle) a tiny but the main focus should be to moisten the baked phyllo sheets.

You will definitely need a springform pan, eg. a 19 cm / 7, 5 inch spring form. Spring form type of baking pan has two parts: a round shape base and a sideband with a clamp. The band expands and contracts by opening and closing the clamp. Easy peasy! For the best results, choose a non-stick finish and I recommend a not too large (15-20 cm / 6-8 inch) but deep version to avoid sad-looking flat cakes.

Yes, you can, however, you will need to adjust the ingredient quantities and baking time accordingly. Having said that, the larger the cake the riskier that it won´t bake throughout, so you have to pay extra attention to the correct oven temperature and make your own judgment to take the cheesecake out of the oven

Individual Baklava Cheesecakes

Most probably yes, you can, however, you can´t just leave out / change an ingredient without reformulating the entire recipe. When one ingredient changes, some other ingredients need to be changed too in order to keep the balance in the texture and flavor. Sadly, I am not able to provide substitutes for all sorts of allergies and diets.

Phyllo dough can be purchased either frozen or refrigerated. If you go for a frozen one, you will need to bring it to room temperaturefirst, but do not open the package yet as the pastry can get dry out very quickly.

No, I do not recommend substituting phyllo with puff pastry, please see above the section where I explain what is the difference between these two pastries

Signature Baklava Cheesecake

Probably your oven is over heat, considering using a Digital oven thermometer. Also, do not use a fan while making this cheesecake. If, for some reason, it was browning too much on the top, feel free to cover it with aluminum foil towards the end of the baking time

Any leftover cake can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for 1-2 days. I suggest you cover the dessert so it does not absorb any