Why are Turks so Awesome?

i also know how the make baklava.... fab with turkish coffee.

key ingredients
filo pastry 40 sheets
melted butter 200g

sugar 100g
almond paste 100g
pistachio (shelled and roughly chopped) 200g

a medium size glass of rose water
juice from one lemon
loads of honey

Directions
Grease a large flat pan small edge only(bottom & sides) with butter and set aside.
Mix well the pistachios, almond paste, sugar in a bowl and set aside.
Preheat oven to 180 C degrees. Place a pan of water on the bottom rack

Note: When working with filo be sure to work fast and keep the unused portion covered with plastic wrap at all times, as it tends to dry out pretty fast. Also, be sure to carefully follow the defrosting instructions on the filo–pastry the sheets will stick together if you try to do a “speed defrost”.

Set aside one full-size sheet of filo dough. Cover with plastic wrap.

Cut remaining filo sheets into 13×9 sheets. Actually, measure your pan and cut the sheets to match the actual inside dimensions. With a big sharp knife you should be able to cut all of the filo at the same time. You will most likely have a left over of filo, give it to the youngest child to use for origami nonsense as you'll never get to use it up, and it'll keep them busy for hours..

Carefully lay the full-size filo sheet into the greased pan, folding over the pan edges. With a pastry brush liberally apply melted butter.

Lay a cut sheet of filo into the bottom of the pan, and with a pastry brush liberally apply melted butter. Repeat 9 more times, so that you have the one full sheet and 10 smaller sheets as your bottom layer.

Sprinkle 2 cups of the pistachio mixture into the pan. Lay 6 more sheets of filo on top, making sure to liberally apply the melted butter between each sheet. Repeat this 3 more times, so that you have 4 separate layers of the pistachio mixture. For the top layer place as many filo sheets on top as you have remaining, again making sure to liberally butter between each sheet. Using a sharp plastic spatula, carefully fold over the large sheet of filo that should still be extended over the edge back onto the top, so that you can see down the inside edges of the pan. In effect you now have one big baklava package wrapped with your initial filo sheet. Using a very, very sharp serrated knife carefully score the baklava into whatever shape you want. A diamond pattern is the traditional shape. Try to cut about half-way down into the baklava when you do this.

Bake for 2 ½ hours at 180 degrees until nice and brown.

About 5 minutes before removing the baklava from the oven, combine the honey, rose water and lemon juice and heat over a medium heat until runny. Do not boil it, just heat it well so it has a consistency more like water.

Remove the baklava from the oven and very carefully drain the butter that it will no doubt be floating in.

Set the baklava on a rack, and pour the honey mixture completely over it, especially into the scored areas, to soak in..

Cover the baklava and let sit for at least 4 hours. Overnight is best (if you can wait that long!)
When you are ready to cut the pieces, cut through the score marks with a sharp knife, and use a spatula to remove the pieces. Have patience with this step, if you are not careful here you can make a real mess of it! now make some turkish / greek coffee

job done, my kids eat this all in one sitting..