Honey Pistachio Baklava Cheesecake #Recipe by @LibbyKlein

Libby Klein Cheesecake is one of the easiest things to make in my opinion. I usually don't even follow a recipe. I have a system. But baklava is something I've never made before. So when I saw this honey pistachio baklava cheesecake I knew I had to try it. I think you could even make this with half the amount of cheesecake and in a 9x13 pan as bar cookies. The tangy and smooth creamy cheese layer is a wonderful complement to the sweet and crunchy pastry. The sauce is made on the stovetop and poured over top to drip down and flavor every bite with honey and orange blossom. It was a decadent dessert that was so easy to make once you've wrangled the phyllo sheets into subordination. Let me know in the comments - what is your favorite flavor of cheesecake.

Honey Pistachio Baklava Cheesecake

Ingredients

Baklava Layer

1 package phyllo dough, thawed
3 cups shelled pistachios, finely chopped - divided (keep 1/2 cup pistachios for the topping)
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup honey
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Cheesecake Layer

4 bars cream cheese, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 scraped vanilla bean
1/2 cup sour cream

Honey Syrup

1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp Orange blossom syrup (or vanilla)

Directions

Preheat the Oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a 9-inch springform pan.

Prepare Baklava Layer:

Mix 2 1/2 cups finely chopped pistachios with ground cinnamon and honey. Set aside.

Place a sheet of phyllo dough in the pan, brush with melted butter. Let the sheets lay against the side of the springform pan to create a side crust. Repeat the process until 10 of the phyllo sheets are used. Sprinkle a third of the pistachio mixture over the top. 

Repeat with 10 more phyllo sheets, being sure to butter in between each layer. Then top with another third of the pistachio mixture. Then cover this with your last 10 buttered phyllo sheets and last third of the pistachio mixture. 

Bake the baklava layer for 25-30 minutes until golden. Allow to cool slightly.

Prepare Cheesecake Layer:

Beat cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, then scrape and add the vanilla beans and sour cream. Pour this batter over the partially cooled baklava layer. Smooth the top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until the edges are set but the center is slightly jiggly.

Prepare Honey Syrup:

Combine honey, water, and orange blossom syrup (or vanilla) in a saucepan. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Let cool slightly.

Once the cheesecake and syrup have cooled to room temperature, drizzle the top of the cheesecake with the honey syrup. Garnish with chopped pistachios. 

Note: I chilled the cheesecake overnight, then removed it from the springform pan - bottom and all. I drizzled honey onto my serving plate so it would keep the cheesecake in place and the honey would permeate the bottom layers of the phyllo dough. Then I topped and garnished my cheesecake with the honey syrup and chopped pistachios.

Layla Virtue, a blue-haired, 30-something recovering alcoholic and former cop is trying to reinvent herself as a musician—between AA meetings, dodging eccentric neighbors at her trailer park, and reconnecting with her mysterious dad—in this ​unforgettable new mystery brimming with hilarity and heart.

Layla is taking her new life one day at a time from the Lake Pinecrest Trailer Park she now calls home. Being alone is how she likes it. Simple. Uncomplicated. Though try telling that to the group of local ladies who are in relentless pursuit of Layla as their new BFF, determined to make her join them for coffee and donuts.

After her first career ended in a literal explosion, Layla’s trying to eke out a living as a rock musician. It’s not easy competing against garage bands who work for tacos and create their music on a computer, while all she has is an electric guitar and leather-ish pants. But Layla isn’t in a position to turn down any gig. Which is why she’s at an 8-year-old’s birthday party, watching as Chuckles the Clown takes a bow under the balloon animals. No one expects it will be his last . . .

Who would want to kill a clown—and why? Layla and her unshakable posse are suddenly embroiled in the seedy underbelly of the upper-class world of second wives and trust fund kids, determined to uncover what magnetic hold a pudgy, balding clown had over women who seem to have everything they could ever want. Then again, Layla knows full well that people are rarely quite what they seem—herself included . . .

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her 
classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

Hon