Armenian baklava: recipe with photo

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Historically it so happened that the peoples living nearby borrowed all the best that is in the kitchen from each other, and gave the dishes their own national flavor. Today it is difficult to say who invented baklava or baklava. The Greeks consider it their national delicacy, the Turks consider it theirs, and representatives of many other nations inhabiting a vast expanse from Central Asia to the coast of the Marmara and Mediterranean Seas will consider themselves offended if someone doubts that it was their ancestors who invented the nut pie with sweet honey filling.

Without entering into disputes about the origin of this delicacy, we want to tell you how Armenian baklava is prepared.

A bit of history

Echoes of its fate can be heard in the kitchen of every nation. Due to historical reasons, Armenians, like Greeks, Bulgarians and many other peoples, lived under the yoke of the Ottoman Empire for many centuries. Almost all of them prepare baklava or baklava. Armenians also have some interesting recipes for such pastries. In particular, unlike the Greeks,they make it with yeast, not phyllo dough. Consider one of the most famous Armenian baklava recipes.

What you need

Dough for Armenian homemade baklava is prepared from:

• 75ml milk;
• 3g dry yeast;
• 3g granulated sugar;
• 250 g flour;
• 1 eggs;
• 1/4 tsp s alt;
• 75g sour cream;
• 25g butter.

To prepare the filling for Armenian baklava, you will need:

• 130g walnut kernels;
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder;
• 125g granulated sugar.

Filling is prepared from:

• 50ml water;
• 75g honey.

In addition, to decorate and lubricate the baking surface you will need:

• 60g butter;
• 50 g nut kernels;
• egg.

Armenian baklava recipe with photo

To prepare the dough proceed as follows:

• in a small bowl, mix sugar, yeast and milk and put in a warm place for 10 minutes;
• in a large bowl knead the dough from flour, melted butter, eggs and sour cream and s alt;
• add milk with yeast to the dough and knead;
• cover with a towel and put in a warm place for an hour and a half.

Assembly

Homemade Armenian baklava, the recipe of which you already know, is usually prepared with walnuts. Sometimes almonds, peanuts, or a mixture of both are also used.

To prepare the filling, nuts are placed inoven and calcined. After they have cooled, grind in a blender. Add powdered sugar, cinnamon and stir.

The risen dough is divided into 13 equal parts and formed into balls. Cover them with a towel to keep them dry. The last two are combined to make a large ball. It is rolled out so that it is slightly larger than a greased large round form, on which baklava is going to be baked. The thickness of the dough layer should be about 1 cm.

Melt the butter and grease the surface of the layer that is in the mold.

The second ball of dough is rolled out thinly and placed on top of the previous one. Sprinkle with 1/10 of the dry nut filling.

The same is done with 9 other balls. Moreover, the filling is applied to the latter, retreating 2-3 cm from the edge.

Baklava decoration

Photos of Armenian baklava make you want to cook and try this sweet delicacy. Last but not least, the attractive appearance of this oriental walnut honey cake.

To give baklava a traditional look in the form of an ornament that can be seen on Armenian carpets, proceed as follows:

• dough that goes out of shape at the edges is cut off, leaving 2 cm;
• brush the edges with beaten egg
• roll out the last ball of dough;
• cover them with baklava;
• brushed with leftover egg mash;
• cut round baklava with a sharp large knife that has been kept in cold water for several minutesin diameter so that 8 sectors of the same size are obtained, trying not to let the knife reach the middle layer;
• then each sector is cut so that 3 rhombuses and 3 triangles are obtained along the edges of the form;
• tear off neat halves of walnut kernels and place one at the center of each diamond, pressing lightly so that they do not subsequently fall off the pie.

Baking

Baklava is cooked in an oven or in an oven heated to a temperature of 180 degrees. First, the form is sent there for 15 minutes. Then they are taken out and poured with melted butter, having previously cut to the end. Send the mold back to the oven.

While the Armenian baklava is being baked, the filling is being prepared. Boiled and slightly cooled water is poured over honey and mixed until smooth. Take out the baklava and pour over 1/3 of the filling. Send the cake back to the oven for 10 minutes.

Ready baklava is left to cool. Take the cake out of the mold. Beautifully laid out on a large tray in the order in which the pieces lay during baking. Drizzle again with the remaining syrup. Leave to cool and soak. You can serve it to the table in 20 minutes. However, it will be better if the cake rests for about 1 hour.

Arishta baklava

Along with the traditional walnut-honey pie, another version of this delicacy is prepared in Armenia.

In general, arishta, or as it is called in some regions, rshta is a special kind of homemade noodles, from which pilaf is made and used in soups. It is believed to have been inventedin Persia. At least, this is evidenced by the translation of the word reshte (رشته), which in Farsi means "stripes" or "threads".

What you need

To prepare the dough you need to take:

• ½ kg flour;
• 50 g butter and granulated sugar each;
• 1 egg;
• 250 g sour cream;
• 1/2 tsp s alt and the same amount of baking powder (can be replaced with a mixture of citric acid and baking soda).

The filling is prepared from:

• 350 g of any shelled nuts, usually walnuts;
• 150g powdered sugar;
• 2 chicken eggs;
• 4 tsp cinnamon powder;
• 2 tbsp. l. confectionery crumbs;
• a little cardamom powder.

For filling you need to take:

• 1/2 kg of granulated sugar;
• 1 lemon;
• 1 tbsp boiling water.

In addition, you will need to take another 100 g of butter for assembly.

How to make dough for arishta

The recipe for Armenian baklava with noodle dough is quite simple to implement. To prepare the dough you need:

• grind egg yolk with sugar until white;
• add softened butter;
• grind everything until smooth;
• in another bowl beat egg whites and combine with pre-whipped sour cream;
• mix with egg-butter mixture;
• pour baking powder;
• s alt;
• knead the dough, gradually adding wheat flour;
• stazu divide it into several parts androll out into layers about 2 cm thick;
• leave to weather slightly;
• roll each roll, cut into noodles and spread on the table.

How to prepare the stuffing and "collect" baklava

In order to get a confectionery crumb, part of the noodles is baked and dried in a preheated oven for 2-3 minutes. Next, prepare a complex filling, in the manner described above. When it is ready, start assembling the baklava:

• a mold the size of a large soup bowl is smeared with ghee;
• tightly spread 3 layers of noodles on the bottom of the mold, brushing with oil, each perpendicular to the previous one;
• spread over a thin layer of stuffing;
• cover with arishta;
• spread the filling and repeat all the same steps 3 times, not forgetting to coat the layers with oil.
• applying the last one, smear the baklava with a beaten egg;
• cut with several diagonal lines and sent to a very hot oven;
• prepare the filling as described in previous recipes;
• after 5 minutes take the baklava out of the oven;
• fill it with melted butter and put it back in the oven for 20 minutes, reducing the heat to medium, and after another 10 minutes - to low.

Remove the mold from the oven and deepen the cuts. Drizzle with syrup. Leave for 10 minutes. Take out of the mold, put on a dish and serve.