The sugar mixture of my baklava did not melt
The baklava filling made with sugar nuts and spices, was harder. Why did this happen? I poured on the syrup mixture, hoping this would soften it up. No luck. It's like the sugar granuals crunch as your chewing. Why? Baked at 350 for 45min. It was very brown.
Best Answer
There are two types of baklawa. Ones you put the syrup before and after backing, and another one where you only put the syrup after baking.
Put the syrup before and after backing
This is the more uncommon / rare type of baklawa where the nuts resemble almost nut brittle.
This baklawa type is called "asiyyeh" (which translates to "the hard one"). In this method, when preparing the baklawa, you add roughly a table spoon of syrup for every cup of warm/hot nuts. After baking, you still add boiling syrup on top, and then drain it 2 minutes later.
You can see a video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNOW0Fw4Rpc&t=779s.
Only put the syrup after baking
In this method, you still put sugar in the nuts, or on the sheet that the nuts are going to be placed on. The goal of this sugar is to allow the nuts to stick just a little. This is more of a sprinkle of sugar here.
The difference between this method and the one above is the amount of sugar.
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Why is my baklava hard?
This is likely due to using too much butter when brushing the phyllo sheets. A thin coating of butter is all that's needed. Why is my baklava dry? Be sure that when you brush your layers of phyllo, and especially the top layer, that you are brushing all the way around the ends and in the corners.Should the syrup be hot or cold for baklava?
The syrup should be hot when poured over the cooled pastry. There's one rule for adding sugar syrup to baklava: The temperature of the pastry must be opposite that of the syrup. I had always been advised to pour cold syrup over hot-from-the-oven pastry.Why did my baklava come out soggy?
Soggy baklava is a result of the butter brushing, not the sauce. Cool completely before serving and don't store in the fridge, or covered. Leave it uncovered on the counter, or it will become soggy. Don't take this anywhere unless you want to be forced to make it every single year for the rest of your life.How do you crisp soggy baklava?
Use extremelly low heat (even gas 1-2) but for 2-3 hours. This way the phyllo will get cooked without getting burned. Even when you pour the syrup over, it remains nice and crisp. This is one of the best ways as I think it is an art to make a baklava that is crispy and wet.Baklava From Scratch (Bakllava)
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Karolina Grabowska, Ryutaro Tsukata, Taryn Elliott, Kamaji Ogino