Baklava Cheesecake -

5 from 8 votes

Baklava Cheesecake

If you love creamy cheesecake and nutty, sweet baklava, then this baklava cheesecake is the perfect fusion dessert for you! Layers of flaky phyllo, a luscious rosewater-scented creamy filling, and delicate walnut and pistachio topping make this a gorgeous festive dessert!

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 15

Chilling time8

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Middle Eastern

Servings: servings

Calories: 406kcal

Author: Natasha Minocha

Ingredients

Cheesecake Filling

2 3/4 cup Cream Cheese
1 cup Sugar
2 Eggs
1/3 cup Greek yogurt, plain
1/3 cup All-purpose flour
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1.5 tsp Rose water

Cheesecake Crust

10 sheets Phyllo pastry
1 cup Walnuts, halves
1/4 cup Pistachios, whole
3 tbsp Butter, melted

Syrup

2/3 cup Water
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Honey
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 Cinnamon stick
1.5 tsp Rose water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 160 C / 320 F. Lightly grease an 8" springform cake tin with butter.

Cheesecake Filling

In a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese with sugar.
2 3/4 cup (600g) Cream Cheese, 1 cup (200g) Sugar
Then add in the eggs and Greek yogurt.
2 Eggs, 1/3 cup (90 g) Greek yogurt
Whisk in the flour, vanilla extract, and rose water. Keep this aside while you prepare the crust.
1/3 cup (50 g) All-purpose flour, 1 tsp Vanilla extract, 1.5 tsp Rose water

Cheesecake Crust

Dry roast halved walnuts and shelled and whole pistachios separately until fragrant.
1 cup (100g) Walnuts, halves, 1/4 cup (30 g) Pistachio, whole
Take them off the heat, and cool. Chop very very finely. You can also use a food processor, just ensure that they don't turn into a powder.
Carefully place one sheet of phyllo in the pan. Add another one on top. Let the pastry hang over the edges of the pan.
10 sheets Phyllo pastry
Brush liberally with the butter. Sprinkle a fourth of the chopped nuts evenly on top.
3 tbsp (50g) Butter, melted
Cover the nuts with 2 sheets of phyllo. Brush with butter. Sprinkle another fourth of the nuts on top. Repeat this process 2 more times.
Cover the nuts with the remaining 2 sheets of phyllo.
Pour the cheesecake filling into this prepared crust.
Trim the overhanging pastry sheets with a pair of scissors. Leave about 1"- 2" of the crust.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60-75 minutes at 160 C / 320 F, or until the cake is golden and has the slightest of a wobble in the center.
My cake took 75 minutes.
Switch off the oven and leave the cake in the oven for 15-20 with the oven door slightly ajar.

Syrup

Meanwhile, get the syrup ready by boiling water with sugar, a cinnamon stick, lemon juice, and honey. Once it comes to a boil, lower the heat and let it simmer on low for about 10 minutes.
2/3 cup (118g) Water, 1/4 cup (50 g) Sugar, 1/4 cup (70 g) Honey, Juice of 1/2 lemon,1 Cinnamon stick
We are looking at a thickish, syrupy consistency for the syrup.
Take out the cinnamon stick and let the syrup cool a bit. Add the rosewater.
1.5 tsp Rose water
Take your cheesecake out of the oven and very carefully remove the ring from the cake tin. Pour or ladle the cooled syrup around the edges of the cheesecake (while it is still hot) where the baked phyllo sheets are, so they absorb it.
You can pour some syrup on the cheesecake, too. But the pastry crust needs it most!
Let the cheesecake sit at room temperature for 2 -3 hours (allowing the syrup to get soaked in), then refrigerate it overnight.
Garnish with chopped pistachios and dried rose petals. Slice and serve. Enjoy!

Video

Notes

All your ingredients, from cream cheese to eggs for the cheesecake filling, should be at room temperature. It’s easier to mix and gives the cheesecake a creamy texture.

Roasting the nuts enhances the flavor. So don’t skip the step.

Baklava cheesecake is indeed an easy recipe. But you do have to work fast when assembling the crust layers because the phyllo sheets are paper-thin and they dry out.

The trick I used was to keep the rest of the sheets covered with a damp tea towel while I worked with 2 of them.

In case you’re not confident in trimming the phyllo overhang, fold them over or scrunch them up and bake. It makes for a very rustic appeal.

If you want your phyllo pastry to have a deeper golden color, then around the 50-minute mark, when the filling still has a slight wobble to it, open the oven door and carefully slide out the cake. Remove the ring of your spring-form pan very, very cautiously, and then bake again for about 20 minutes. I skipped this step.

You don’t have to test the syrup for one-string or two-string consistency. You simply cook it till it's thick and syrupy.

You can brush or drizzle the syrup on top of the cheese filling, but I advise concentrating on the phyllo dough layers. The more syrup you put around the edges, the sweeter the pastry will be. Remember, the phyllo sheets are not sweet. It’s the syrup that lends them their superb flavor.

Follow my measurements of the baklava-style cheesecake ingredients, and you’ll get the perfect amount of sweetness. Even though this is a very rich cheesecake, its flavors are very well-balanced.

I believe in a zero-waste kitchen, so instead of throwing the cinnamon stick I used for the syrup, I washed it thoroughly. Dried it properly and then stuck it in my sugar jar. It’s a great way to reuse the spice.

I always, always recommend chilling cheesecakes overnight for the best texture and flavor!

Do use a weighing scale for measuring your ingredients. This will help you get better and consistent results every time.

Nutrition