Only one photo of Baku baklava will not leave indifferent any sweet tooth. The most delicate multi-layer dessert with lots of nuts has long been considered a treat of kings and sultans. Today we will teach you how to cook this oriental sweet right at home.
Dessert story
Baku baklava came to us from Turkey of the 8th century BC. Initially, the dessert was baked from coarse dough and called it “Baklava”. Only after the dessert hit the territory of European countries, the Greeks managed to achieve a delicate and crumbly goodies. They not only rolled out layers of dough much thinner, but also made some changes to its composition.
According to other sources, the Assyrians are considered the creators of the Baku baklava. Moreover, the recipe for this delicacy is immortalized in the book of the times of Fatih, which is now in the museum of the Ottoman sultans. An entry in this book states that the first preparation of baklava occurred in 1453. The court chef of the sultan, ruling in those years, almost by accident created an amazing dessert.
Ingredients
The process of making Baku baklava is rather laborious and requires a considerable amount of products. But, having made such a long and rather costly path to oriental sweetness, you will be rewarded with an amazingly delicious and fragrant dessert. So, for the test you will need:
- milk - one and a half glasses;
- sugar - 1 teaspoon;
- dry yeast - 7 grams;
- wheat flour - 0.5 kilograms;
- salt - 0.5 teaspoon;
- chicken egg - 1 piece;
- ghee - enough to lubricate the dough and mold.
Stuffing for Baku baklava consists of more nuts and spices:
- 200 grams of walnuts;
- 50 grams of hazelnuts and almonds;
- 2.5 cups of sugar;
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla and ground cardamom.
For lubrication use: a pinch of saffron, an egg and 2 tablespoons of hot water. The finished dessert is greased with a sauce of 2 tablespoons of honey, 100 grams of ghee, 2.5 cups of sugar and half a glass of water. In the following sections, we will describe a step-by-step recipe for Baku baklava with a photo.
Cooking dough and toppings
Kneading the dough begins with a combination of warm milk, yeast and sugar. The mixture is covered with a film and cleaned in a warm place for 20 minutes before the appearance of the "cap". At this time, salt and flour are mixed in a separate bowl, into which they then gradually pour the yeast mixture and a slightly beaten egg. The dough is kneaded to a uniform soft state for several minutes. Ready dough should not stick to your hands.
The dishes in which the dough will fit are greased with ghee. The dough is laid out in a greased container and left in a warm place for an hour and a half. During this period, the dough is cured twice and doubled in size.
Cooking the filling is probably one of the easiest stages. For the filling, grind the nuts in a blender to a state of very fine crumbs. After that add sugar and spices to the nuts, mix thoroughly - the filling is ready.
The process of collecting and baking baklava
The finished dough must be divided into eight parts so that one part is slightly larger than the rest - it will be needed to form the top layer. The baklava baking dish should be high enough and not less than 20 * 20 centimeters in size for the specified number of ingredients. Lubricate the mold liberally with ghee and preheat the oven to 200 ° C.
The most important step in making Baku baklava is to roll out the finest dough. The structure of the dough is pleasantly pleasant and obedient, therefore it does not require more flour to heat. The first layer of rolled dough is placed on the bottom of the mold and immediately greased with ghee, and then covered with a second layer of dough. Then the dough is greased again with oil and sprinkled with a layer of filling.
The subsequent layers alternate according to the scheme: dough-butter-nuts. The last layer is rolled a little thicker than the others and is slightly pressed, after which it is smeared with saffron impregnation. After that, Baku baklava is cut into rhombs, and half of the walnut is laid out on each of them.
After 10 minutes of baking, the baklava is greased with ghee and sent to the oven for another 40 minutes. Ready dessert is poured with honey sauce and left for 8-10 hours until completely cooled and better impregnated.
Baklava baklava recipe lazy
This method is much lighter than the original and differs from it in taste. However, the taste of this dessert is very pleasant, so be sure to try to cook it.
A pack of butter is chopped and mixed with three glasses of sifted wheat flour, after which a glass of sour cream (fat content of at least 20%) is added and the dough is kneaded to a uniform texture. After mixing, the dough is sent for an hour to the refrigerator chamber. At this time, the preparation of the filling and sauce begins. To do this, 200 grams of ground walnuts, half a glass of sugar, an egg and a couple of boxes of cardamom are thoroughly mixed. Honey sauce is boiled in a glass of honey and 50 grams of water.
Chilled dough is divided into two parts and thinly rolled. The first layer is laid out on a greased baking sheet, after which it is covered with a layer of filling and covered with a second layer of dough. The pie is cut into diamonds and baked at a temperature of 180 ° C for 40 minutes. After baking, the finished pie is poured with honey sauce and allowed to cool.
Finally
Today we shared with you two recipes for making Baku baklava - traditional and light. Be sure to try to cook both of these desserts to compare tastes and to choose your favorite variation.