Armenian baklava: dessert to check the bride

Glossy in appearance and sticky to the touch, this sweet treat made from honey, walnuts and puff pastry is quite a labor-intensive delicacy to prepare. In some areas of Armenia, cooking baklava was a test drive for a future wife. If she can cope on her own, without outside help, then she will be able to handle any task in everyday life. In this article we won’t tell you how to get married successfully, but we will teach you how to cook baklava that doesn’t even require teeth - it will melt in your mouth. We warn you right away: it is not recommended for those who are on a diet to read. Baklava is an extremely high-calorie thing; you can only stop at one piece if it was the last!

Contents

1. History of baklava
2. Ingredients for baklava
3. Step-by-step cooking recipe

History of baklava

It is not known for certain where baklava came to our world. Some say the name migrated from Mongolia. There the word baγla means “to wrap.” Others refer to mentions of sweets in ancient Greek chronicles. The Armenian version talks about a certain local cook. One day he got so carried away rolling out the dough that it became thin and transparent like glass. The result is a delicious baklava. Since then, the recipe from a talented chef has been passed down by word of mouth to younger generations and has survived to this day.

There is another legend. The spoiled sultan wanted to try something special for dessert. The Armenian female chef was not at a loss and prepared honey and nut cake in the form of diamonds. Then the following dialogue took place:

- Here is your sweet dish, my ruler! I'm sure my master will like it!

The Sultan took a bite of the delicacy and with undisguised delight, dancing on soft pillows, began to say:

- Smell-smell-smell! Lava!

The exclamation “Groin” means an extreme degree of delight and pleasure. And “lava” translated from Armenian means “wonderful, wonderful.”

The Sultan's viziers, who also got a piece, echoed admiringly:

- Groin! Lava!

Since then, this dessert has come to be called baklava. Gradually, it became famous not only in Armenia, but also in other eastern countries, where to this day baklava is made according to an ancient recipe from an Armenian cook.

Photo: sun9-72.userapi.com

Ingredients for baklava

To prepare oriental sweets you will need:

• flour – 300 g;
• butter – 250 g;
• egg (yolk in dough) – 3 pcs.;
• egg (white) – 2 pcs.;
• sour cream – 200 g;
• baking soda – 1 teaspoon;
• chopped walnuts – 800 g;
• sugar – 2.5 cups;
• vanilla sugar – 1 teaspoon;
• honey – 1.5 teaspoons;
• halves of walnut kernels for decoration - 1 cup.

Photo: RDNE Stock project

Step-by-step cooking recipe

Baklava is a delicious dessert. Although preparing it is troublesome, it can be done in your home kitchen:

1. Sift the flour and add a stick of cold butter to it. Stir until smooth.
2. Add 2 egg yolks to the dough.
3. We extinguish a teaspoon of soda in sour cream by thoroughly mixing. Next, mix the sour cream with the dough.
4. Let's begin the hardest part! Knead the mixture with your hands, then form a single lump. Place it in a bowl to rest, covered with a kitchen towel.
5. First add one and a half cups of sugar and then half a teaspoon of vanilla sugar to some of the peeled and ground walnuts. Mix thoroughly.
6. Place the remaining nuts in the first part and add another glass of sugar and half a teaspoon of vanilla sugar. Mix well again.
7. Add two egg whites to the nuts with sugar, which are left over from the eggs that were added to the dough. Mix well again.
8. Divide the rested dough into four parts.
9. Roll out the first part with a rolling pin and transfer to a baking sheet. We cut off the excess.
10. Cover the first layer of dough with the nut filling. You will need about a third of the workpiece.
11. Roll out the second layer of dough and also transfer it to a baking sheet, covering the filling with it. Next, pour another layer of filling, lay out a third layer of dough, and put filling on it too.
12. The fourth layer of dough completes the unique pie. Using a sharp and wide knife, first lengthwise and then diagonally, first cut the baklava into pieces.
13. Beat one egg yolk and apply it to the top layer of baklava with a pastry brush.
14. Place halves of nut kernels in the middle of each diamond.
15. Place the dough in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for 20 minutes until golden brown.
16. While the baklava is baking, stir in one and a half teaspoons of honey and the same amount of water.
17. Remove the pan from the oven without turning it off. Carefully grease the rosy baklava with honey syrup so that the syrup penetrates into the cuts between the pieces. Place the greased baklava into the hot oven for another ten minutes.
18. We take out the dessert and let the baklava cool a little. Next, cut it into diamonds along the already cut grooves and place it on a dish.

Photo: Vera Gerasimova

Armenian honey baklava is ready! Brew tea or coffee, invite guests (you can also matchmakers. You will definitely pass the test).

It is better not to eat baklava alone, so as not to blame us later for the numbers growing on the scales. Bon appetit!

Might be interesting: free cooking classes from Move2Armenia Culture. Follow the announcements on the website.