We know that puff pastry baklava is absolutely not a local recipe for most countries, but you can try it in almost any eatery that respects itself and its customers.
But how can it be cooked incomprehensibly by someone and it is not clear from what the dish is with fresh homemade pastries directly from the oven? Of course not! That is why today the Armenian baklava will be cooked step by step from puff pastry, which can please both children and adults!
East sweet
Undoubtedly, puff pastry baklava is a dish that came to our region from the East, which means that the recipe itself has been repeatedly modified specially for local customs and customs.
But if you look at how much pleasure people eat these sweet “rhombuses”, soaked in honey syrup and filled with a variety of nuts, then it immediately becomes clear why they stopped at this particular dessert.
In fact, puff pastry baklava can be safely put on one step along with famous recipes like halva and Turkish delight, for example.
They not only have a lot in common in the composition, in which for the most part nuts and spices predominate, but they owe their origin to those eastern countries where this sweet dessert came to us from!
Miraculous
What is puff pastry baklava really? This is a well-rolled dough, prepared independently, which skillfully combines with sweet honey syrup, crushed nuts, dried fruits and a variety of spices.
A common dish for baklava is a rectangular plate with high sides, in which it is directly cut before baking. First, diagonal incisions are made in one direction, and then in the other, so that the sweetness acquires a bizarre rhomboid shape.
List of ingredients
It is so simple that it will not be difficult for you to remember it! But what you should pay special attention to is nuts and dried fruits, since they make up most of the dessert.
Therefore, choose only a proven product, the quality of which you have no doubt that homemade baklava from puff pastry was a success!
- Butter - 350 gr.
- Sour cream - 300 gr.
- Chicken egg - 4 pcs.
- Flour - 4 cups.
- Soda - 1 tsp.
- Sugar - 2.5 cups.
- Walnut - 2 cups.
- Honey - 2 tsp.
First step: creating a test
Baklava from puff pastry, the recipe of which we are considering today, will never work out without good ingredients. Therefore, we will prepare all the components ourselves, forgetting about ready-made store options.
Moreover, the dough is created in just a few minutes, since it does not differ in the complexity of the preparation, but due to the fact that it is flaky, we will have to constantly keep it refrigerated in order to achieve the perfect result in the finished dish.
- Sift the flour into a deep container and add softened butter to it, which must be removed from the refrigerator 30-40 minutes before cooking.
- Carefully combine these ingredients, rubbing them into large crumbs, as if from a cookie.
- Add eggs (only yolks), sour cream and soda to this mixture, then carefully mix all the ingredients into a homogeneous and elastic dough. Wrapping it in a plastic wrap, put it in the refrigerator for 40-50 minutes so that all the components combine properly.
Second stage: preparation of the filling
Since we have a lot of time before the dough cools down well, we have the opportunity to prepare a delicious nutty layer, without which baklava at home simply can not work!
- Lightly chop the nuts, having previously removed a hard peel or shell. Be careful with chopping, as we need to get a fairly large crumb, similar to cookie crumbs, but not a dusty mass. Therefore, we advise you to remove the mechanical chopper and use the good old "classic" - a plastic bag and rolling pin.
- Then, to the nut mass, we add the remaining proteins and sugar. Also at this stage, you should add chopped and pre-soaked dried fruits, if you planned to add them to dessert.
- Also, in a separate container, melt butter to lubricate the layers of baklava, after adding spices to your taste.
Third stage: connecting parts
- We divide the chilled dough into several identical parts, after which we leave only one piece, and put the rest in the refrigerator. Gently roll the workpiece to a rectangle, with a size similar to your shape, and put it on the bottom.
- On top, grease the dough layer with butter, and then sprinkle with a nut mixture.
- Again we roll out a thin layer of dough, put it into a mold, grease it with butter and sprinkle with nuts. We carry out this “operation” before you end the nut mixture and there remains one uncovered dough layer laid in the mold.
- The finished pie from the layers is slightly cut on top, making recognizable notches only on the upper layer. Lubricate everything with a beaten egg and put in the oven, preheated to 180 degrees for 30-45 minutes, depending on your technique.
- In the meantime, you have the opportunity to prepare a sweet impregnation for dessert by combining and thickening a small amount of butter and honey (you can use the remaining oil that was used to coat the layers during the assembly of baklava).
- A few minutes before the dish is ready, we take it out of the oven, make auxiliary "notches" to the very end, and then pour our honey mixture around the entire perimeter of the mold, evenly distributing the liquid. Also, as a decoration, you can put one whole walnut on each piece of baklava, while the liquid gravy remains sticky.
- Baklava from puff pastry, the recipe of which is almost taken to the end, should reach the oven for a few more minutes, during which the gravy is absorbed into the center, and a crispy crust forms on the edges. The finished dish is best slightly cooled, and then only removed from the form and serve.
So, quickly and without much effort, the baklava was prepared at home. Her taste, truly oriental and spicy, fully justified all our efforts, and it is really great!