Baklava Pudding Pie

This show-stopping baklava pudding pie marries the crispy, nutty layers of traditional Mediterranean baklava with vanilla custard and maple strawberries. It's a dessert that's both familiar and thrillingly unexpected.

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Watch how to make this

Recipe

Step-by-step instructions

Step 1: Prepare phyllo dough

I'm going to be honest, I don't particularly like baklava. The ones I've tried are overwhelmingly sweet, drowning in syrup. It wasn't until I visited Germany and Greece that I realized not all baklava is the same. I had the chance to taste versions that were only lightly drizzled with syrup and still kept their crispness. Now, those versions I can get on board with.

With that idea of baklava in mind, I decided to create a baklava pudding pie filled with custard and topped with maple strawberries. The maple strawberries serve as a substitute for traditional syrup while you still have pistachios and pecans with phyllo.

Start preparing the pie by first creating the crust. Brush melted butter on ten sheets of phyllo dough, stacking them one on top of another. My sheets were 9x14 inches, which I found to be a great size for this pie.

Place the crust in your prepared pie dish, gently pressing it down. Make sure to use a deep pie dish since we are using a total of 18 phyllo sheets.

Step 2: Create layers

Sprinkle the pecan and pistachio mixture on top of the buttered phyllo sheets. You can choose to use only pistachios, only pecans, or even add walnuts to the mix.

Brush butter on another two sheets of phyllo, stacking them on top of one another. Lay them in the pie dish and sprinkle the nut mixture. Continue to repeat until you use all the phyllo sheets and nut mixture.

Since my sheets weren't wide enough to fully cover the entire pie dish, I switched the direction every time I placed the next layer. This way, the entire pie dish was covered.

Trim excess dough that hangs over the pie dough; I let about ½ inch of the dough hang over the edge just to have an extra dramatic effect (and a little extra phyllo crust never hurt anyone!).

Step 3: Bake

Since the crust was slightly hanging over the pie dish, I went ahead and placed the pie on a baking sheet to catch any butter that drips.

Poke holes in the crust using a fork and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

While the crust is baking, make the filling. We're going to pour the custard filling directly into the hot crust, so you want to have it ready to go.

Heat milk until it comes to a bare simmer, then slowly whisk it with the eggs, whisking constantly. Since the filling is poured into a hot crust, you want to heat the filling to prevent the eggs from curdling.

When I tried cooling the crust first and adding cold custard filling, it resulted in a soggy bottom crust. By baking the pie while the filling and crust are still hot, I was able to produce a baklava pudding pie with a crisp bottom.

Bake the pie until the filling has set, about 25 minutes.

Step 4: Top with berries

Meanwhile, make the maple strawberries. We're also topping the pie while it's hot to prevent it from getting soggy. This means we need to have the strawberries ready to go.

Heat maple syrup with a pat of butter and a pinch of salt until warm and simmering. Turn off the heat and stir in fresh strawberries, turning to marinate.

Let the berries sit in the syrup until room temperature.

As soon as you remove the pie from the oven, go ahead and scoop the warm strawberries on top. If you want a little more sweetness, drizzle a couple of tablespoons of the maple syrup on top.

Let the pie cool slightly and serve with a dusting of powdered sugar.

You can serve the dessert warm or at room temperature after the pie has soaked up the syrup. When the pie is still warm, it has a lighter texture, becoming slightly dense after it has cooled. However, after it has cooled, the flavors are more pronounced.

I took a bite of this pie and felt like I was back in Greece. The crispy phyllo with pudding filled with nuts and sweet berries is a match made in heaven!

For another fantastic dessert inspired by baklava, check out this baklava babka, and for more easy Middle Eastern recipes, check out the full list!

Make-ahead and storage

• Make-ahead: For best results, bake the crust and prepare the custard and strawberries separately. Assemble just before serving for the crispiest crust.
• Store: Keep leftover strawberries separate from the baklava pudding pie and store both in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

More strawberry dessert recipes

Looking for more strawberry dessert ideas? Try these: