Baklava Cheesecake

This cheesecake was a celebration.  A celebration with family, and of cheesecake (Shane's favourite) and baklava (my favourite).  We had our first entertaining barbecue of the season the other evening, on a gloriously hot day.  The candles twinkled, the sun set, the air was warm with laughter.  Our bellies were full, the dishes were done and I brought out this dessert in it's full cheesecake-y glory.  Technically this recipe was rated with four whisks (maximum difficulty) in the book, but I found it quite simple, as long as one could follow directions.  Now anything with a pie crust...automatic four whisks.

The dessert was a clever blend of cheesecake and baklava.  The cheesecake was wrapped inside layers of phyllo and then baked.  After a two day chill in the fridge it was topped with another layer of phyllo and nuts that was baked off separately.  Once that was in place the entire cheesecake got dumped with a honey syrup that was left to soak in.  Three days later, once it was all said and done it was gobbled up in no time at all.  The mark of a true dessert.

Baking notes:
-I followed the recipe to a T and everything was delicious.
-I thought personally that the cheesecake layer might have been a little grainy, but I used a lower quality cream cheese due to the price, which can often be grainer than I like.
-I didn't have enough phyllo sheets, so I folded them in half and made ten circles out of five sheets.  (Much less waste this way anyways).
-When I was baking the phyllo/nut layer I split the nuts into two layer rather than all in the middle layer.  It was a smart move.
-I also baked the phyllo circles for 15 minutes instead of 30 and they were already a little too toasty.

The recipe for Baklava Cheesecake can't be found online.

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