Baklava...still hates me

Why do I keep attempting baklava? Why? Why do I keep doing this to myself? I swear Baklava has declared me it's arch enemy. At least this version was less disastrous than previous attempts.

The very first time I tried to make baklava I the honey mixture I was boiling on the stove overflowed. I never knew how viscous warm honey truly is. Honey got all over the burner, stove top, oven door, kitchen floor and under the oven. No matter how often or hard I scrubbed, my feet were sticky whenever I stood at the stove. Luckily, that was back when I didn't do much cooking. I was able to ignore the issue quite nicely. This happened back when I was living in an apartment. Coincidentally, Mrblocko and I moved into our first house shortly after this incident. I still wonder if the next people to live in that apartment had an ant problem because I was to lazy to clean up the honey from under the stove.

Attempt number two came several years later. I had been cooking more frequently and had gained loads more confidence in the kitchen. I was extremely careful with the honey mixture, making sure it didn't boil over. This time it was the phyllo that gave me the trouble. I mentioned in Phyllo victory that the thin sheets of pastry have caused me pains in the past. I thought I was being careful. No matter what I did the sheets started to dry out as I was brushing on the butter. Wasn't the butter supposed to prevent this from happening? I guess not. By the time the phyllo met the baking pan, it was crispy.

I assumed I could make it better by putting the nuts and honey mixture on it. Surely the honey would soak into the phyllo and rehydrate it as it baked. NOPE! The only thing that happened was the phyllo didn't cook up and got too gummy to cut into squares. Only the inch or so along the edge was edible.

I got so angry at myself that I vowed I would never attempt to make baklava ever again. Of course then I saw a recipe called Lazy Cook's Baklava. I thought how could I possibly mess that up? There's no phyllo, and you don't heat up the honey! Famous last words.

Several months ago I accidentally grabbed puff pastry shells instead of the sheets. I came across this particular baklava recipe searching for a way to use them up. I've never used the shells before and I guess I didn't read the directions well enough, or just didn't understand what I was supposed to do.
Notice that the pastry isn't puffed up very high. The original recipe called for mini shells. I had the regular sized ones. I thought...how different could they be? I'll just adjust the bake time and add the nuts half way through. Not exactly. Had I read the directions on the box correctly I would have known that you bake the pastry to the full time, then take out the circular part that had the word "Top" imprinted on it.

What did I do? I smashed down that top part and added the nuts. This, of course, suppressed the rising of the shells' exterior. The result? Icky under cooked centers. The edges were tasty though. Mrblocko made me promise to try this one more time. Next time I'll try them with the mini shells. Hopefully, then baklava will decide that I'm a swell lady and raise the white flag.

Lazy Cook's Baklava from Noble Pig
1 box (2.1 ounce) frozen mini fillo shells
1/3 cup chopped pistachios
1/3 cup chopped cashews
1/3 cup chopped almonds
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon water

Chop pistachios, cashews and almonds. Combine into one mixture. Fill shells with nuts and bake in a 350 degree oven for 8 minutes or until shells are lightly browned.Mix honey with water. Remove the cups from the oven and spoon in honey mixture (really fill them up). Serve warm or at room temperature.