Minnesota Cooking: Baklava - You Don't Say

Upon googling baklava, my first recipe starts like this: Ingredients: 1 1/2 pounds walnuts, chopped 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves Zest of 1 lemon 40 sheets phyllo dough.

Wait, what? My baklava needs lemon zest?

What started my search was the fact that I bought almond Milk the other day, vanilla flavored. First time I have tried it. I thought the experience would be more exciting, like a watered down ice cream or egg nog. I thought wrong. It was not like either one.

I'm thinking about almond paste. That's one of the ingredients in baklava, isn't it? Well. I have this almond milk and I thought about using it to make a gravy, kind of like how thick almond paste would be.

Then, I thought about adding powdered sugar to it. Then, my mind trailed to the box of phyllo dough that I have had stored in my freezer for years. You know, don't judge me. I meant well. I might have even consumed a couple bottles of honey since I purchased it. Honey is yummy... I ate some on some Club crackers the other day. A little crunch, a little sweet. Yep. I gobbled a couple of those crackers down in a heart beat. I probably had a spoonful of honey on each piece. I might have to do that again, today.

So. If I took some sort of gravy, inspired by my almond milk, and made the gravy sweet, with powdered sugar, and put that between the layers, I should end up with a baklava type dessert by the time I'm done puttering around. Shouldn't I?

You know. A person goes to a lot of work, scraping and scooping and bending and baking, just to have a mouth destroy it in a matter of seconds.

Why do we do this?

Now, if I'm going to make this and eat this all by myself, it isn't going to happen.

I'll have to think about this for a while.