Sweet Cheese Baklava

This is my mother’s recipe for her sweet ‘cheese’ baklava.  It’s not really cheese inside, but the consistency of the Farina and half & half becomes cheese-like.  These are a nice change-up from the usual nutty baklava.  

INGREDIENTS

• Filo dough
• Unsalted butter, melted

FILLING

• 4 cups half & half
• 1 1/3 cups Farina
• 1/2 cup sugar

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp rose water
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

HOW TO MAKE IT

FILLING

• Bring the half & half to a simmer and then add in the sugar and stir
• Slowly add in the Farina and keep stirring until everything is well combined and the mixture begins to thicken
• Pour the mixture into a baking dish to cool

• Pour the water into small sauce pan over medium-high heat
• Add in the sugar, keep stirring and bring to a boil
• Reduce the heat, add in the lemon juice and keep stirring over medium heat until the mixture begins to thicken and become syrup-like
• Be careful not to burn the syrup, it should remain a light color like light corn syrup, not golden brown like caramel or maple syrup
• Add the rose water in and blend well – take off the heat and allow to cool

• Take your defrosted fillo dough out and unfold it onto a working surface (keep the stack of dough covered with a damp – but not wet! – towel to prevent it from becoming dry and brittle)
• Depending on the dimensions of your sheet, you may need to cut them in half so your sheet has a width of about 7.5 in.
• Take a sheet with the 7.5 in. width and brush it with butter
• Then, fold the sheet over into thirds so you’re left with a long strip that’s only 2.5 in. wide
• Place about 1 tbsp of Farina mixture at the end of your fillo strip and roll it up into triangles, like a paper football – or American flag
• If your dough seems dry and needs help sticking, brush it with additional butter
• Place the triangle pieces onto a greased baking pan
• Bake at 350°F for approximately 20-25 minutes or until golden brown
• Once the baklava has cooled a bit, drizze the syrup on top of them and enjoy!