Shekerbura, a symbol of spring celebrations in Azerbaijan, is a sweet pastry filled with ground nuts and sugar. In Azerbaijan, making shekerbura usually involves teamwork. Relatives and neighbours get together at somebody’s house, and all contribute to the making of this and other Novruz treats.
Baked shekerbura is put on the table on a khoncha, a special holiday tray, filled with Novruz desserts, nuts, dried fruits and coloured eggs.
Ingredients
- 1 kg/2.2 poundsfirst grade wheat flour (white only) + 1 tablespoon(for step 3)
- 400 g/14 ozunsalted butter, cut into large chunks•5 egg yolks
- 250 g/ 9 oz sour cream
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 cup/125 ml lukewarm milk
For the filling:
- 700 g/1.5 pounds skinned hazelnuts, or almonds or walnuts(see recipe for how to skin if readily skinned nuts are not available)
- 700 g/1.5 pounds granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoons, or to taste, ground cardamom
You’ll also need: mixing bowls, baking sheets, and amaggash(tweezers).
Instructions
Prepare the dough by mixing flour and butter in a bowl with your hands. In a small bowl, with a spoon, mix the egg yolks, sour cream, salt and vanilla powder. In another bowl, put the yeast, flour and sugar; add 1/4 cup of lukewarm milk and leave for about 2 minutes. Then add the egg-sour cream and yeast mixtures to the flour-butter mixture. Using your hands, mix the ingredients to get a rough dough. Now place it on your work surface, wet your hands with the remaining ¼ cup of milk and knead for a few minutes. Leave the dough to rest in the bowl for about 30 minutes. Prepare the filling: In a mixing bowl, combine the ground nuts and sugar, add ground cardamom and vanilla powder, and mix fully. Divide the dough into 36 balls, each weighing 50g. Roll each into a 4 inch (10cm) circle and put 2 tablespoons of filling in the centre. Seal the edges into a half-moon shape and, using thumb and index finger, pinch and twist along the seal. Arrange the pastries on a baking sheet, then decorate the tops with the maggash to create rows of patterns. Bake at 175 °C (350 °F) for 15-20 minutes, or until the edges begin to change colour and the bottom is light brown.
Allergens: cereals containing gluten, eggs, milk and yoghurt, nuts.
