I’m Elena from the charming and sunny Black Sea Batumi, which is perceived as a special city for me.

There is no child who has not dreamed of anything, nor have I been an exception. It was at the age of 13 that I realized that fussing in the kitchen was very fascinating and this is when my peers were playing in the yard.

Yes, the art of cooking - that was my dream to master and refine the dishes, both by taste and visual features.

Knowledge is one of the most important details in the life of a good housewife. I was even thinking of turning this hobby into a profession, but unfortunately my parents advised me to choose another profession. For example dentistry, which did not fulfill my dream, but it happened so that I entered the faculty of business and economics. Today I am quite successful in digital agency and hold the position of Director of ITERS. I adore my job.

Nevertheless, I always wanted to create a culinary blog but I was not confident in my abilities. My brother and friends always supported me, assuring me that I should definitely demonstrate and share my culinary skills to the public.

Indeed, I created a blog 2 years ago. I got so involved in it that I was deliberately coming back from work earlier to prepare something delicious, take photos, and share a new recipe for my subscribers. You cannot even imagine how they increase my motivation and fill me with energy. Their support and appreciation is the greatest gift to me.

I decided to share this exquisite recipe because Baklava is very popular in Adjara and it is often prepared. I combined two delicious desserts. 

step 1

First, preheat the oven to 100 degrees. Place the parchment in a 20 cm diameter baking mold. Melt the butter on the fire and start preparing the base (Baklava). Spread the melted butter on the bottom of the mold and around the walls of the baking mold. Put one layer of Baklava, then add butter again and spread the layer of Baklava again. Repeat this 4 times, then spread the finely chopped pistachio and repeat again putting of layers in the baking mold.

step 2

We prepare the most delicious filling: cream cheese - 600 g, cream 30% - 120 g, powdered sugar - 120 g, vanilla extract / sugar - 1 tbsp, egg - 2 pcs, lemon zest - 10 g. All ingredients should be of room temperature. Add powdered sugar to the cream cheese and mix well with a silicone spoon (we do not need a mixer).

step 3

Then, add the eggs one by one to the mass and stir well until all the ingredients are combined. Add cream, lemon zest and vanilla extract. Stir again until you receive fluffy and homogeneous mass. Pour the resulting mass into Baklava base and what is most important – slightly shake the mold to evenly distribute the cheese mass.

step 4

Bake the baklava - cheesecake at 100 degrees for 70-90 minutes. Time and temperature depend on the oven. Open the oven in 70 minutes, sprinkle Pişmaniye in the center so that the cheesecake is covered, and continue baking until the halva (Pişmaniye) is completely melted and golden. When the dessert is almost ready, start preparing the syrup. Add 170 grams of sugar to 100 grams of cold water and put on low heat. Boil for 4 minutes.

step 5

When the cheesecake-Baklava is prepared, open the oven slightly, cool it for 30 minutes and pour the syrup over the layers of Baklava. Then remove from the oven, let it cool completely and put in fridge for 6 hours or more.

How To Serve

Garnish as desired and enjoy it!