Azerbaijani baklava
Description
The dish is not overly complicated to prepare. It would be wrong to say that the recipe for Azerbaijani pahлава is extremely simple, but if you arm yourself with patience and don't mind spending a couple of hours, you'll be richly rewarded, as this pahлавa is a true delight for both soul and body. Moreover, the cooking process itself is so fascinating that time will fly by unnoticed—you won't even realize it before this amazing, aromatic, and delicious Eastern sweet is sitting on your table. So go ahead and get started—I'll gladly assist you and explain everything. Serve the finished dessert at the table.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
First, we will prepare the dough: into warmed milk, add dry yeast and a little salt, mix well. Now beat the egg and pour in 2 tablespoons of melted butter, mix. Combine this mixture with the milk-yeast mixture and begin adding flour. We need to knead the dough until it becomes quite firm and elastic. Place the finished dough to rest for 1.5 hours, covered with a towel.
- 2
Step 2
Now let's move on to the nuts: we set aside half a cup of nuts for garnish, and lightly toast the rest in a skillet (without oil) for 3–5 minutes. Then, chop the nuts into crumbs and mix them with a cup of sugar and vanilla.
- 3
Step 3
We should also prepare the glaze in advance, so we pour boiling water over the saffron and let it steep for 20 minutes, then mix it with egg yolk. While the saffron is steeping, we divide the dough into 7 parts and roll each part into a thin sheet.
- 4
Step 4
We grease the baking dish with clarified butter, then place the first layer of dough. On top of it, we spread the filling, pour clarified butter over it, and place another sheet of dough. We repeat this layering process until the dough is used up. The very top layer of dough is brushed with a previously prepared mixture of saffron and egg yolk.
- 5
Step 5
Next, we cut our baklava into diamonds and decorate with walnuts. Place the pan in a preheated oven at 180 degrees and bake for 35–40 minutes.
- 6
Step 6
While the baklava is baking, we mix 1.5 tablespoons of sugar with 5 tablespoons of water and place this mixture over low heat, simmering for 5 minutes after boiling. We also melt the honey in a separate saucepan and use it to soak the baklava 10 minutes before it's done. Five minutes before it's ready, we pour the prepared sugar and water mixture over it. Once the baklava has cooled slightly, it can be served.