They say life goes fast after you hit a certain age. Life surely flies for me for the last few years. Didn’t we just celebrate a new year? Yet, it is Elul – אֱלוּל again! We should be ready – both physically and spiritually for another Day of Judgement.

For the last few years I’ve been lucky to be a guest, not a host at the Rosh haShana meals. This means that I am trying to make a few desserts to bring with me. I am always thinking about new things to make as I am not doing too well with boredom. While I am still thinking what to make next week, I realized that this week I absolutely needed to make something that I won’t be able to to bring with me. What is it, and why?

Pachlava as we pronounced it at home, or בקלאווה / baklava should be the perfect dessert for the sweet new year. Yet, somehow the majority of the frum community would not want to see this amazing treat at their holiday table. The reason? Nuts! Apparently we don’t want nuts to be associated with this particular holiday!
When I learned about this tradition, I was very surprised. I remember my grandmother making teiglach pretty much every year right about this time. And, of course it was full of nuts – walnuts to be exact, the only nuts we had available.

As I learned later, these very walnuts are the ones that are meant NOT to be eaten during this period. As we see in REMA‘s commentary on Shulchan Arukh :

“יש מדקדקים שלא לאכול אגוזים שאגוז בגימטריא חט ועוד שהן מרבים כיחה וניעה ומבטלים התפלה”

“There are those who are careful not to eat nuts, as the word “egoz” in gematriah [is equal to the value of] chet (sin). They also cause a lot of excess saliva and phloem and cause abrogation of prayers.”

Actually, I can very much see the point of nuts kind of scrubbing at your throat if you speak too much, which is exactly what our prayer during this time of the year is – long talk with Gd.

Thankfully, not all nuts are banned, as apparently nuts can be different species. Pistachios are not really nuts, so they are widely used in the Holiday cooking and baking. Cashews are also not technically nuts, so I am using both of these for my cakes.

So, despite this nut controversy driving me nuts 🙂 I decided to make baklava to be eaten on the last Shabbat of this year. Hoping that none of it will be left over, I used all three kinds of nuts almost equally. My baklava is also much lighter on the sugar and the amount of dough. It is surprisingly easy to make if you split your steps, and remember to handle the phyllo dough correctly, meaning quickly, and covering all the sheets you are not using at this very moment with a damped kitchen towel. This dessert can be vegan or dairy, so it will satisfy everyone.

Prepare the filling and the syrup in advance: I made the filling (basically ground nuts with spices and a bit of sugar, or better yet, silan and the syrup a day before and stored both in the fridge.

It’s best to bake baklava in a nice size high-rimmed baking sheet, but I made mine in a glass baking dish that I smeared with some olive oil both on the bottom and on the sides.

For the syrup:
Combine 2/3 cups water
1/2 cup sugar (if you want it heavier on sugar, take at least 1 cup)
1/2 honey
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
a tiny dash of salt

Boil everything together and simmer for 5-6 minutes until the sugar completely dissolves. Cool and strain. Keep in the refrigerator, but take out during the time that the baklava is in the oven

Filling:
A mixture of nuts of your choice totalling about 3 cups
0.5 Tablespoon sugar
3-5 teaspoons silan
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Tiny dash of salt
Mix together thoroughly. Store on the fridge

1 package prepared phyllo dough
Olive oil or melted butter for smoothing the sheets

Make sure to prepare all the things you need first before unwrapping the dough that you have just bought or defrosted in the fridge overnight.

Spread 5-6 leaves of dough one at a time brushing each with oil or butter
Spread half the filling on the last sheet
Repeat with more dough (5-7 leaves) brushed with oil or butter and the rest of the filling
Cover with 4-5 dough leaves again brushing everyone with oil or butter
Carefully push the dough down a bit from the middle to the sides with your hands to get rid of any air bubbles

Cut almost until the bottom, or even all the way through carefully in rectangles

Bake for about 40 minutes depending on your oven at 350F until it’s golden on top

Take it out and immediately pour the syrup all over. It will sizzle, but it will get absorbed. Cut through and enjoy!

You can store it in the fridge if its dairy or even on the counter if it’s parve, providing the weather is not as crazy as it had been here, in New York lately. Just bring it to room temperature before serving.

And, of course, this is the best dessert to make for Sukkot – everyone will be happy whether they eat nuts during Yomim Noraim or not.