This recipe is really very easy. It is however fairly long winded with the painting of the filo sheets with butter. Keep the faith and stay focused on the end goal which is beautiful crunchy nutty pieces of absolute deliciousness. Know that this isn’t truly traditional as it mixes Greek and Turkish and Middle Eastern baklava recipes together. Having tested different recipes however, this for me is the best mix, sweet, aromatic, comforting and yet somehow with the addition of lemon it is not tooth achingly sweet either.

Ingredients
250g butter 
1 tsp ground cinnamon 
200g pistachios, shelled 
150g mix of nuts such as walnuts, hazelnuts, cashews, pecans and almonds 
4 tbsp honey 
2 x 270g pack filo pastry  

Ingredients for syrup 
200g golden caster sugar 
175ml water 
40g honey 
½ tsp ground cinnamon 
¼ tsp ground cardamom (from 4 pods) 
½ juice of a lemon 
¼ tsp salt 

Equipment needed 
Square cake tin, ideally 20-23cm 
Pastry brush 
Food processor to chop your nuts 

Method
Preheat your oven to 180c. 

Melt your block of butter with a tsp of ground cinnamon. 

Put all of your nuts into a processor and pulse until roughly chopped. I like a mixture of sizes as it works really well with each bite. I also don’t chop the nuts too small.  

Take the first packet of filo and cut the sheets in half so they are a square rather than a rectangle. Put half pack in the packet carefully and the other half on your chopping board. Using your melted cinnamon butter and pastry brush, brush the inside bottom half of your tin, sides and base.  

To start assembling, take your first sheet of filo and brush it all over with butter, being sure to butter all the way to the edges.  Put the sheet of filo into your tin, butter side up.  If your sheet is a little big, just push the pastry into the edges and up the sides. Repeat with the rest filo on your chopping board.  Sprinkle half of your nuts over your buttered filo sheets and drizzle 2 tbsps honey over the top of the nuts. 

With the second half of your open filo packet you need to repeat this process, the only difference being your first sheet needs buttering both sides and the easiest way to do that is to butter one side, put the buttered sheet of filo in butter side down then with your hands, press the sheet down firmly.  Butter the top of that filo paste inside the tin. Again if your filo is a little big, just tuck the sheet into the edges and up the sides.  Top with the remaining nuts and drizzle 2 tbsps of honey over the nuts. 

A note here, the buttering does take quite some time so if the butter starts to solidify, just gently reheat until it melts again. 

With your final box of filo, cut the pastry in half again so it is a square.  You need to repeat the buttering of every layer of filo again, the first sheet being buttered both sides, the nuts being pressed down etc.  The only difference this time is instead of tucking the filo into the corners, I slightly scrunch the filo sheet so it fits inside the square rather than up the sides.  Repeat until all of the filo is in the pan. 

You now need to get a very sharp knife and cut through the top layers of filo through to the nuts but not all the way through down to the bottom, you want the baklava to stay together at the bottom but pre-cutting the baklava at the top before you bake makes portioning after baking much, much easier.  Diamonds look pretty but squares are easier to cut and keep the same size.  Once you have cut, push the pastry and nuts down with your hands and butter the top of the filo again. 

Bake for 20 minutes at 180c and then reduce the heat to 140c and bake for a further 40 minutes. While the baklava is in the oven put all the syrup ingredients into a saucepan and heat over a medium heat until all of the sugar has melted.  Turn up the heat to medium high and bring to the boil.  Once boiling, reduce the heat back down and cook for 5 minutes.  Turn the heat off and leave to one side. 

After the baklava has baked for the full hour, remove the baklava from the oven and increase the temperature to 200c.  Pour the syrup over the top of the baklava and recut over your original cuts, the reason to do this is to ensure the syrup soaks in to the top layer of nuts and doesn't just stay on the top.  Put the baklava back into the now hot oven for 5 minutes - this is not at all orthodox but is a tip I picked up from a Claudia Roden book and really does make the baklava as it really crisps up the top. 

Leave to cool then take out and cut through with a sharp heavy knife.