Like Baklava but find it too sweet? Get the the essence of it with this Baklava Cheesecake.
It is still a rich dessert with the cream cheese and honey but it isn't quite a sweet as a straight Baklava pastry.
You can make this as a traditional cheesecake in a springform pan or you can make it into thinner squares. I like the squares because the serving size is smaller and therefore not as rich as whole piece of cheesecake.
You can make the squares any size you want. I made some 1 ½" squares because I wanted a dainty dessert. The cheesecake is very moist with the filo/butter/cream cheese and honey so I put the squares in a frilly paper cup to serve. That saves a bit of gooey-ness from the fingers.
You can cut larger squares and serve them on a plate with a fork as well.
The cheesecake will keep a few days in the fridge but the bottom tends to get moister (Ok- soggy) after the first day so be aware.
I froze some of my squares in their little paper frills and defrosted them in the fridge when I wanted to serve them. They were moist but no more so than after a day or 2 in the fridge.
So - If you have leftovers or extra, freeze them as soon as possible to retain the best consistency.
Baklava Cheesecake
If you tried this, or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know it went in the 📝 comments below!
Save Print Pin FacebookIngredients
Pastry
- 1 pkg phyllo pastry 10 sheets
- ½ cup unsalted butter or butter flavoured spray See Note 1
- 1 cup roasted walnuts chopped finely and uniformly (you can pulse in a blender but do not process to 'ground' stage)
- 1 cup roasted almonds
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 Tbsps melted butter
Filling
- 500 grams cream cheese room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- pinch of salt
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 250 grams sour cream or Greek yogurt room temperature
Topping
- 1 cup honey
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon pure rose water (Optional) - See Note 2
- 1 cup pistachios unsalted, medium chop
Instructions
- Prepare your baking pan. For a round cheesecake use a 9" springform pan. You can also use a 9 X 13" pan if you want to make squares. Spray the pan you are using with cooking spray.Preheat oven to 325 ° F.
Filling
- Prepare your filling first since once you open the phyllo pastry you have to work with it quickly so it doesn't dry out.
- Beat cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the salt, vanilla, lemon zest and juice and beat till well mixed.
- Beat in the corn starch until evenly mixed. Slowly beat in the sour cream or yogurt until it is evenly mixed. Do not over beat.
Filo Pastry Base
- Pulse nuts, cinnamon and salt in a blender until finely and uniformly chopped. Do not over process to 'ground' stage. Add melted butter and pusle until just combined.
- To make your base :For 9 X 13: pan Open your phyllo sheets and lay a sheet out in your pan. Brush with butter, or spray with butter flavoured cooking spray. See Note 1. Make sure to butter or spray the phyllo sheets right up the sides of your pan. Continue layering sheets and spraying until you have 10 sheets forming a solid base in the bottom of your pan. Trim any phyllo that sticks above the edge of your pan.9 " Spring from pan:Cut your phyllo sheets in to 6" strips lengthwise. Center a strip in the pan and brush or spray. (See Note 1). Add the next strip overlapping but just offsetting. Continue overlapping and layering and moistening until you have used all the phyllo and you have a solid base. Make sure to butter or spray the phyllo sheets right up the sides of your pan. You can choose fold some of the excess above the edge of the pan back into the pan so you have a double edge, or you can trim the excess.
- Cover base evenly with the butter/nut mixture. Pour in the cream cheese filling mixture. Tap the pan on the counter once or twice to remove air and settle filling.
- Bake at 325° about 30 minutes for the 9 X 13" pan or 45-50 minutes for the spring form pan. Top should be golden. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake nother 30 minutes for the 9X 13" or 50 minutes for the springform pan.
- Remove from the oven. Mix the honey, lemon and rose water, if using. Drizzle over the top of the cheesecake and sprinkle evenly with the pistachios.
- You can serve it at room temperature at this point (or shortly after) or refrigerate. The base will get moister after day one and would be best eaten with a fork.You can cut the cheesecake and freeze it up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge and serve on a plate with a fork.
Sabrina Camacho
i have made this cheesecake a few times now and it is a favorite! so thank you for your recipe. i do have a quick question: are the eggs supposed to be part of this recipe? i have used them every time but have to add about 30 more minutes to the baking time stated here. thanks in advance!
Carolyn Hetke
Hi Sabrina. Yes, the eggs are meant to be there. 325 degrees is a low/slow bake. I am not sure if you are adding baking time in the oven before the rest period? Because there will be some residual baking when you leave it in the oven for the rest period. Some possibilities - could the sour cream or yogurt be thinner Geek yogurt? Could your pan size be smaller? (making the cheesecake deeper?) I am not sure what else to suggest. I am glad you like it and have adapted it. Mine worked out as stated in the recipe but if anyone else has tried this could you weigh in please?
RALPH HETKE
This gets the job done!
RALPH HETKE
Excellent!