If life gives you lemons, Make Baklava!

Lemon is one of my absolute flavors. If I could add it to everything, I would. Two of my baklava flavors feature lemon curd in them and I think I could eat the whole tray because of the flavor punch. They are a little bit of sweet and little bit of sour!

First came Lemon Zinger with Cashews, Lemon curd and an 801 Pilsner beer syrup. Years ago, I was invited to participate in Uinta Brewing’s Beer Garden downtown at Granary Row. The challenge was to create baklava flavors that would highlight their beer. I remember scouring Pinterest for beer and dessert pairings and found an infographic (that I wish I still had) which paired certain beers with different flavor notes. 

I don’t remember exactly, but something about this beer paired well with Lemon. It was also the first time I experimented with using lemon curd in the center layer of a baklava. 

My first concern was if the center layer would make the baklava too soggy and not allow it to crisp up. 

Boy was I wrong! Lemon curd in the center kind of just blends and melds into everything, infusing the baklava with quite the potent lemon bite! 

When I poured the beer syrup on top, it has a very cool lemon but a bit hoppy taste to is that pairs well with the creamy cashews. The golden color is pretty cool too – not gonna lie!

Our next baklava that uses Lemon curd is the Pistachio Lemon. One Sunday, I was at a friends house for the quarterly clothing exchange and ladies gathering. My friend Diane brought some lemon pistachio brownies and I was in love! Because she is a chef and owns a culinary school, we brainstormed back and forth about how to make that into a baklava flavor.

I followed the same model as the cashew one: three layers of pistachios with a lemon curd center. OMG! THE COLOR! The Green! The Yellow! The Sweet and Sour! Let’s just say, there are people who have been instantly converted to “only” eating pistachio to now ONLY eating the pistachio lemon. 

It just makes my mouth happy and the taste buds do a little fancy dance of joy!

Want some? I KNOW you do now, so pop on over and treat yourself to a little bit!