Baklava Cheesecake (No Bake)

Creamy vanilla no bake cheesecake made with a baklava shell: endless layers of syrupy sweet crispy phyllo and two layers of sweet and salty ground nuts.

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 24

Chill ( 4

Servings tall 9 inch cheesecake

Equipment

9 inch deep springform cake pan

Ingredients

Baklava Shell

30 phyllo sheets thawed overnight in the fridge
230 g walnuts pecans, pistachios or a mix of two or all three
50 g or ¼ cup brown sugar light or dark
¼ tsp fine sea salt
About 1 cup ghee or clarified butter for brushing between the layers (melted butter is an ok substitute)

Syrup

100 g or ½ cup fine granulated sugar
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon cool tap water
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

No Bake Cheesecake

452 g or 2 bricks full fat cream cheese at room temperature
65 g or ½ cup powdered sugar
50 g or ¼ cup sugar fine granulated or brown
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
120 g or ½ cup full fat sour cream at room temperature
240 g or 1 cup heavy whipping cream or heavy cream

Instructions

Make the crust

In a food processor, process the nuts until they are finely ground. Toss them into a bowl with the sugar and salt.
Preheat the oven to 350 F.
Trim the phyllo so it’s about 11-12 inches wide then cover it with a damp towel. Melt the ghee if it’s in a ‘creamy’ or solid state.
Brush a deep 9" springform pan with a thin layer of ghee, then place a phyllo sheet over the bottom, it’s fine if it has some overhang - we’ll trim it later. Brush the sheet of phyllo with ghee and layer another sheet over it, turning it slightly, and brush. Keep doing this until you have 15 layers of phyllo, layering them so you’re getting coverage on all sides of the pan.
After the 15th sheet, spread half of the nut mixture into an even layer. Brush one sheet of phyllo with ghee and layer it, ghee side down, on top of the nuts then brush the top with ghee. Layer and brush again, with another 8 sheets. Spread the other half of the nut mixture on top of the 8th layer and then brush and layer again, for another 7 phyllo sheets.
Trim any excess phyllo that’s hanging over the edges (in the video you’ll see I trimmed it a bit but I also had to trim more after I baked it) and then use a sharp knife to slice through the baklava, cutting it like a pie into 16 thin wedges. Brush more ghee on top after slicing.
→Note: these slices won’t necessarily be the slices for the cheesecake once it’s done, but the cuttings allow for the syrup to seep in to make this more of a true baklava crust.
Set the springform pan on a cookie sheet and bake it until golden all over, for about 30 minutes. While it’s baking, make the syrup: cook the sugar and water together until the sugar dissolves then remove from heat and squeeze in the lemon juice. Let it cool.
When the crust is done baking, remove it from the oven and drizzle the syrup all over - ensuring to get syrup into all the cracks. Let cool completely before making the filling.

Make the filling

Set the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer and use the back of a spatula or wooden spoon to press it down. Affix the paddle attachment and add the sugars, vanilla and lemon and a pinch of salt. Beat until creamed and you can’t see any ‘lumps’. Add the sour cream and beat to combine.
Pour in the heavy cream and beat until the mixture is thickened to medium/stiff peaks. Pour and smooth the filling into the cooled baklava shell. Decorate with more nuts, if desired. Set in the fridge to chill for at least 6 hours or overnight.
To remove the cheesecake, you might have to trim the phyllo (if there was some overhang) before you open the belt of the springform pan. Use a sharp chef's knife to serve. Store leftovers in the fridge.