No feast would be complete without dessert, and for many Middle Eastern feasts, this means baklava. It is probably the most well-known of the many dessert options, and the ingredients are inexpensive and widely available. One of the appeals for me of serving baklava on special occasions is that it is such a unique dessert. Obviously, it is not a cake, pie, or cookie. It also does not fall into the category of "frozen dessert." It is a filled pastry, but it is a completely different creature from a creme puff or chocolate-filled puff pastry. It takes less than an hour of hands-on time to make at home, and like many Middle Eastern dishes, it can be made the day before the event. You can also purchase baklava in many bakeries and grocery stores.
For years, that's exactly what I did. I purchased my baklava along with my pitas and hummus to go along with the other dishes that I was making. Phyllo dough scared me, and the dessert looked complicated and time consuming to make. Moving to a small town a few years ago forced me to change my opinion. The only baklava here is in the fancy pastry section of the local bakery and costs as much for two tiny pieces as a whole tray of it in any other place that we lived. So I rolled up my sleeves, looked up half a dozen recipes, and went to work figuring it out.