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1
Preheat oven to 350u00b0.
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2
Lightly butter the bottom and sides of a 13 x 9 inch metal baking pan with melted butter.
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3
Pastry: in a small bowl, combine the walnuts, almonds, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves; set aside.
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4
On a clean work surface, lay flat 1 sheet of phyllo and brush it lightly with melted butter.
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5
Layer 7 more sheets of phyllo over the first, buttering each one.
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6
Carefully lay this stack of butter phyllo in the prepared pan.
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7
Sprinkle evenly with 1 cup of the nut mixture.
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8
Layer together 8 more sheets of phyllo, buttering each sheet, and lay this stack over the first layer of nuts.
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9
Sprinkle the second stack of phyllo sheets with another 1 cup of the nut mixture.
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10
Repeat this process until there are 5 stacks of buttered phyllo (8 sheets in each stack) separated by and ending with a layer of nut mixture (1 cup for each of 5 layers).
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11
On a flat work surface, prepare the top of the pastry by layering together 35 sheets of phyllo dough, buttering each sheet.
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12
Carefully place this stack of layered phyllo over the last layer of nuts in the pan.
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13
The pan should be completely full of pastry.
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14
With a sharp knife, score the baklava into square or diamond-shape pieces by cutting through just the top layers of phyllo dough.
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15
Bake until crisp throughout and the top layers are golden brown, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
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16
While the baklava is baking, make the honey syrup: combine all the syrup ingredients in a large stockpot and bring the syrup to a boil over med-high heat.
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17
Decrease heat to medium and simmer until the mixture is the consistency of thick maple syrup, about 10 minutes.
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18
Remove the syrup from the heat and let cool slightly.
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19
As soon as the baklava comes out of the oven, spoon the slightly warm syrup over the pastry.
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20
Let the baklava cool completely before cutting the scored pieces completely.
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21
Don't be nervous if the baklava seems to be swimming in the syrup initially.
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22
As the pastry cools, the syrup is absorbed into the layers.
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23
It is very important to allow the baklava to cool completely, giving the syrup plenty of time to ease into the pastry layers and give the baklava its wonderful gooey-crisp texture.
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24
Baklava will keep, covered, for 2 days at room temperature or 4 days refrigerated.
