Baklava cheesecake is a decadent yet easy dessert recipe. It’s a showstopper that you must add to your repertoire for the upcoming festive season and give people the reason to go ooh, ahh, and yum!
Preheat your oven to 160C. Lightly grease an 8" springform cake tin with butter.
Cheesecake Filling
In a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese with sugar.
Then add in the eggs and Greek yogurt.
Whisk in the flour, vanilla extract, and rose water. Keep this aside while you prepare the crust.
Cheesecake Crust
Dry roast halved walnuts and shelled and whole pistachios separately until fragrant.
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.
Brush liberally with the butter. Sprinkle a fourth of the chopped nuts evenly on top.
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 160C, or until the cake is golden and has the slightest of the wobble n 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.
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.
Take your cheesecake out of the oven and very carefully remove the ring from the cake tin. Pour or ladle the 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!