Bird Nest Recipe (Osh El Bulbul) Baklava

This decadent Bird's Nest Dessert is known as "Osh El Bulbul," an Arabic term that translates to "Nightingale's Nest." The name perfectly describes this adorable pistachio-filled Birds Nest Baklava.

Why This Recipe Works

This Bird's Nests Dessert would be a perfect addition to your Easter menu, Mother's Day brunch, or anytime for that matter. The delicate Kataifi pastry nests are bite-sized, making them perfect for when you want something sweet but you don't want to overindulge.

You may need to practice the technique a bit, but your last nest will definitely be prettier than your first one. 😉

Some people find it easier to wrap the Kataifi pastry around a dowel to make the birds nests tighter, but I found wrapping the strands around my finger to be easier. Try both ways and decide what you prefer.

You can freeze the leftover Kataifi, especially the broken little strands and make Kunafe or Kadayif with them at a later time.

What Goes Into This Recipe

Recipe Ingredients and Substitutions

• Kataifi: Although I have a Kataifi recipe on my blog, I recommend purchasing it instead. Store-bought Kataifi comes in long, compacted strands, which are ideal for making nests.
• Butter: This recipe calls for unsalted, clarified butter or Ghee if you have it.
• Nuts: Some bird's nest recipes call for almonds or hazelnuts. However, the traditional nuts used in Osh Al Bulbul are pistachios. They are shaped like eggs, after all, and it's easy to fit 3 to 5 pistachios in each nest.
• Syrup: The syrup has a combination of sugar and honey. I also added some orange blossom water to it which is traditionally used but rose water can be substituted. Amazon sells them together, which is a better deal. Here is the link. I also added some dehydrated orange slices, but you can use fresh citrus slices instead.
• Spices: I added cardamom pods to the syrup, but they didn't impart enough flavor. I decided to sprinkle some cardamom powder over the baked birds' nests and added some of the extra syrup on top. That did the trick. If you'd like, add half of a cinnamon stick and some cloves to the syrup as well.

How to Make Birds Nest Baklava

Prepare Syrup

Add sugar, honey, water, cardamom pods, and citrus slices to a small saucepan and whisk over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes or until the syrup thickens. Add orange blossom water and lemon juice and set aside until needed.

Pro Tip: Whenever you make baklava, begin by preparing the syrup first. The syrup should be cool when adding it to the hot baklava. The combination of cool syrup and hot pastry ensures that the syrup will be absorbed into the pastry.

Clarify the Butter

Place butter in a measuring cup, cover it with a napkin, and secure it with a rubber band. Microwave the butter for 30 seconds or until completely melted. Allow the water and milk solids to settle to the bottom of the measuring cup.

Pro Tip: Although you can clarify the butter on the stove, I've found it's much easier clarifying it in the microwave. Be careful not to dip into the bottom of the cup where the water and milk solids have settled.

Form the Birds Nests

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and brush the pan with melted butter.

STEP 1: Use kitchen scissors to cut 8" long strands of Kataifi dough and wrap the strand tightly along your finger to form a nest. Tuck the extra strands into the center, if possible, and gently transfer the birds' nests to the pan.

Pro Tip: A mini-muffin pan is not absolutely necessary for this bird's nest dessert recipe. You can also pack the nests tightly into a buttered baking dish or pan.

STEP 2: Brush melted butter over each nest then fill each nest with 3 to 4 pistachios. Spoon approximately 1 teaspoon of butter over each nest.

Pro Tip: I found that the pistachios stayed in the nests better when you insert them into the nests with the pointy end down.

Baking Instructions

STEP 3: Cover the tray with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes on the middle rack. When the time is up, remove the foil and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the birds' nests are golden brown.

STEP 4: Remove the tray from the oven and immediately pour the cooled and strained syrup over the hot bird nests. Give them a few minutes to soak up the syrup before plating them.

Recipe FAQs

More Pro Tips

• Defrost Katiafi dough in the fridge overnight, if frozen, or defrost frozen phyllo dough on the counter for an hour or so. However, the preferred method is defrosting it in the fridge.
• Although I stopped at 24 nests, you will most likely have leftover ingredients and may be able to make more nests than the recipe states. 
• If you have leftover pistachios, you can grind them finely and stir some cardamom and cinnamon into them then sprinkle them on top of the birds nests.
• Store the bird's nests on the counter, either uncovered or covered with a thin kitchen towel. If you store them in a covered container their texture will get soft and even soggy. 

About This Recipe

You know how sometimes you file something away in the back of your mind, meaning to do it, but you just never get around to it? This Birds Nests recipe is a perfect example.

Years ago, and I do mean YEARS ago, my sister, Beni, sent me a round container of baklava called Osh El Bulbul. I immediately fell in love with the tiny birds' nest baklava and decided I needed to come up with my own recipe.

Well, after years of good intentions, I finally got around to making them! The birds nests that Beni sent me were wound much tighter and neater than mine but hey, I'm proud of my first attempt. The important thing is they taste amazing!

I thought about making them a few more times to perfect the technique before posting this birds nests recipe. But on second thought, I decided birds' nests don't need to be perfect. I mean, when was the last time you saw a perfect, not a straw out-of-place bird's nest?

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