Benden Baklava

12 ounces melted clarified butter or fat
4 ounces oil
32 ounces pulverized Benden nuts
powdered bark spice (optional)
40 leaves of flour-and-water dough stretched to paper thinness
12 ounces granulated sweetening
1/4 ounce strained citrus juice
6 ounces water
1/4 ounce sweet syrup

Mix butter and oil. Cut dough to shape of the baking pan by laying the pan ontop of stacked leaves. Butter the inside of the baking dish. Gently place one leaf of dough into the pan, fitting carefully along the bottom of the pan. The leaves are very fragile. so fold to pick them up, and unfold when in place in the pan. Brush with butter-and-oil mixture. Repeat with 9 more sheets. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of powdered nuts (with optional spice to taste) on tenth leaf. Open two more leaves of dough on top of nut mixture, buttering each in turn. Repeat with the nut mixture and two more leaves until all are used up. As soon as the last two leaves are used, brush the top with butter and oil.

With a very sharp knife, score the top of the pastry lightly legthwise into four, and then draw the knife diagonally to make lozenge-shaped portions. bake in a 325 degree oven for 90 minutes.

Combine the next three ingredients in a saucepan. Cook until the sweetening dissolves. Boil for five minutes, or until a drop of it forms a soft ball when dropped into cold water. Remove from heat; stir in syrup. Cool. As soon as the pastry is baked, remove from oven and pour the sweet misture over it. Cool the pastry to room temperature. Serve.

Serving Size: makes 32 servings

Number of Servings: 32

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user AMBROSIAHINO.