Baklava: the recipe and the secrets of cooking.

Traditional eastern delicacy is baklava. The recipe for its preparation is based on the principle of alternation of the layers of dough and filling. The latter necessarily contains nuts and butter - the first give a unique taste to sweets, and the second makes the baklava juicy and tender. Traditionally, there are two types of exquisite dessert: Azerbaijani and Turkish. The basis of the dish is the same, but the recipes vary in some subtleties. There is also baklava Armenian - but it is much more difficult to prepare. Here, the recipe for this option will not be given, as it is simply impossible to find on the Internet pages - the Armenians are kept secret of the trick of cooking the dish. I only know one thing: the dough in this version is rolled out as thinly as possible and soaked for a certain time in a pre-prepared mixture of milk, sugar and butter. Baklava turns out to be tender, sweet and incredibly satisfying.

Well, now let's look at how to make baklava at home.

The Azerbaijan baklava. The recipe assumes an independent preparation of both the dough and the filling. In milk (half a cup) dilute yeast, add egg, salt. After complete dissolution, add 3 tablespoons of melted butter, 2 cups of flour. The dough should turn out to be steep. It is left under the towel for an hour, and at this time prepare the filling. Nuts (walnuts or almonds) are finely chopped and ground until smooth, with vanilla sugar, powdered sugar and honey. Lay the baklava on the baking tray in the following sequence: the dough layer, the vegetable oil, the filling part and again in the same sequence. The thickness of each layer of the burrito is 2 mm. The top layer is smeared with egg yolk mixed with saffron. All the resulting cake is cut into rhombuses, inside each rhombus is placed half the core of the walnut. Baklava is baked in the oven.

Turkish baklava. The recipe is different only by the selection of spices. Dough for baklava is prepared on the same principle as in the previous version. Mistresses recommend to get a guaranteed good result immediately measure the necessary amount of flour, make a deepening in it and gradually fill it with liquid ingredients. Flour must enter the dough all, while it is important not to knead the dough, leave it soft and tender. The filling is prepared from walnuts, twisted in a meat grinder. And now you have to tinker a bit. All the dough is divided into small pieces the size of a tennis ball. Each portion of the slice is rolled as thin as possible, smeared with melted butter, then the walnut mass is laid on it, then the burrito with the filling is wound onto a thin pencil, the pencil is removed and closed on the sides of the "ears". Now all the roulettes are laid on a baking sheet and baked at 200 degrees for 10 minutes, then they are abundantly watered with melted butter and bake already at a temperature of 170 degrees for about an hour. Ready baklava poured with cooled sugar syrup and left to cool for an hour and a half.

Traditional baklava. A recipe for modern housewives who like to eat deliciously, but do not like to stand at the stove for a long time. Buy puff pastry and prepare the filling according to the above recipe. You can use more nuts or less - it tastes like a mistress. So, it is suggested to not spread the nuts in the lower layers, but fill them with only the middle part of the delicacy. However, each layer of the dough should be greased with melted butter, and after removing the baklava from the oven, water it with sugar syrup. The individuality of the hostess will manifest itself even in the preparation of this very syrup: someone adds lemon, someone - cinnamon; Some boil the syrup until thickened, while others simply limit the dissolution of sugar in the water. In any case, knowing the basic principles of creating this delicious dessert, you can find your own version of baklava: delicious, crunchy, hearty and sweet delicacy.