Baku Baklava: A step-by-step recipe with photos for home cooking

The culinary calling card of Baku (the capital of Azerbaijan) is the honey-flavored Baku Baklava, a step-by-step recipe for which we offer you to make at home.

Nutritional value per serving

443 kcal

Proteins: 8.5 g
Fats: 16.2 g
Carbohydrates: 65.5 g

*Nutritional value is calculated per 100g of ingredients

Total time: 3 hours
Time in the kitchen: 3 hours
Complexity:

It's easy and straightforward to prepare, but it does require some experience. Not everyone can do it right the first time.
Number of servings: 35

Baklava is a sweet dessert made from multi-layered dough with a nut filling and honey soak. This Eastern dessert is popular in many Balkan countries, the Middle East, as well as Turkey and several former Soviet countries.

It is believed that the sweet honey-nut dessert was a favorite dish of the rulers of ancient Persia and Turkey, although the dish's origin is unknown.

Baklava shouldn't be confused with another popular Eastern dessert, baklava (or bakhlava). Each dish has its own distinct and distinctive preparation:

Parameters	Baklava	Baklava
Dough	sweet	phyllo puff pastry
Number of layers	7-12	15 or more
Nuts	mostly walnuts	any (pistachios, almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, etc.)
Syrup	honey or sugar	lemon with rose water

The classic recipe for such a sweet as Azerbaijani (Baku) baklava also has a number of characteristic features:

yeast dough base;
soft and fluffy texture;
layer of crushed walnuts;
characteristic diamond-shaped cutting when served;
soaked not with honey, but with sugar syrup.

Making authentic Baku baklava at home is quite simple, so any home cook can make this sweet treat with their own hands, using our simple step-by-step recipe with photos and detailed explanations of the preparation process.

Classic Baku baklava

Baku Baklava – A Step-by-Step Recipe for Homemade Baklava

Ingredients

Servings

Ingredients for the dough:

Flour

700 G
Butter

150 G
Egg yolks

3 pcs
Sour cream

200 G
Milk

200 G
Dry yeast

1 tsp
Sugar

1 tsp
Vanilla sugar

10 G
Salt

1 pinch

Ingredients for the filling:

Walnuts

600 G
Sugar

400 G
Cardamom

1 tsp
Nutmeg

0.5 tsp

Ingredients for syrup:

Sugar

400 G
Water

200 G
Citric acid

0.5 tsp

Additionally:

Egg C1

2 pcs
Vegetable oil

120 ml
Melted butter

100 G

Preparation

Step 1

Before you begin kneading the dough, you need to prepare all the ingredients. Let's start with the nuts, a must-have in classic Baku baklava—they need to be dried and peeled (the skins can be easily removed by hand when dried).

Tip! It's better to roast nuts in the oven rather than in a frying pan.

Step 2

While the nuts are roasting and cooling, prepare the syrup. The syrup used to pour the baklava needs to be cooled to room temperature. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine 200 grams of water, 400 grams of granulated sugar, and 0.5 teaspoon of citric acid or 2 tablespoons of natural lemon juice.

Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the temperature reaches 110-112 ℃.

Please note that the mixture should not caramelize; it remains almost white and looks like a runny liquid, but it quickly hardens on the cooled surface.

Step 3

Next we make the dough.

Add 1 teaspoon of yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar to warm milk. Cover the container and let the yeast activate.

Step 4

Let's start kneading the dough.

Combine 200 grams of sour cream, 3 egg yolks, and melted (but not hot) butter. Whisk until smooth.

Step 5

Add the dough into the base and knead again.

Step 6

Sift the flour, add a little salt, vanilla sugar, and combine with the liquid base.

Step 7

Knead the dough with your hands and put it in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Step 8

Grind the nuts in a blender.

Step 9

Add granulated sugar, cardamom, and nutmeg to the nuts. Mix all ingredients thoroughly until smooth.

Step 10

We divide the entire dough into 14 parts, 12 of which are absolutely equal, and 2 are slightly heavier (these will be the bottom and top layers of the dough).

Step 11

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grease it with refined vegetable oil.

Step 12

Roll out the first layer of dough and place it on a baking sheet. Traditionally, Baku baklava is round, but rectangular pans can also be used.

Step 13

Be sure to prick the dough with a fork so that the oil and impregnation penetrate well later.

Step 14

Grease the dough sheet with refined vegetable oil and cover with nut filling.

Step 15

Lay out all subsequent layers in the same manner. Using a fork, prick the penultimate layer with a fork, then pierce all the layers of dough down to the baking sheet, and only then grease it with oil.

Step 16

Next, cover the dough with the final layer. Don't prick it, just cover it and refrigerate for 30 minutes. The chilled dough will be much easier to cut into beautiful diamond shapes.

Step 17

When the workpiece has cooled, it is necessary to first cut it into 8 equal triangles.

Step 18

Next we make a Christmas tree near each ray.

Step 19

All that remains is to cut out the diamonds symmetrically.

Step 20

Next, combine 1 egg (white and yolk) + 1 yolk + 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, beat until smooth and grease the surface of the baklava.

Step 21

We decorate each portion with a whole nut and go through all the cuts with a knife again.

Place the baklava in the oven, preheated to 160℃, for 20 minutes.

Step 22

We take out the partially baked dessert and pour generously with melted butter.

Step 23

Next, you need to bake the baklava at 160℃ for about 20 minutes in the oven on the middle position and another 20 minutes at 160℃ on the top position.

Step 24