Armenian Nazook 2 ways … sweet and savoury
“Food is a central activity of mankind and one of the single most significant trademarks of a culture.”
Mark Kurlansky
These are literally hot off the press oven! Delightful little bites, crisp, flavourful, completely unexpected and a window to yet another culture. Trust Daring Bakers to throw up another fabulous challenge, this time an Armenian pastry full of infinite promise. Nazook, something I had never heard of. I went sweet and savoury, two ways – Nutella, Almond, Vanilla Bean Nazook and Cheddar Chimichurri Nazook, both delicious!
The Daring Bakers’ April 2012 challenge, hosted by Jason at Daily Candor, were two Armenian standards: nazook and nutmeg cake. Nazook is a layered yeasted dough pastry with a sweet filling, and nutmeg cake is a fragrant, nutty coffee-style cake.
I read up the challenge pretty early in the month but this has been a tiresome month with plenty of kid issues. Have kids, will fret. Just as the ‘not so terrible anymore teen‘ has begun settle down, the preteen is offering us ‘challenges‘ galore. Not a moment of rest for the wicked I chide myself, and life goes on!Last night as I read the DB forum about all the wonderful Nazook experiences, I reached the kitchen in a trance and made the dough. ‘Rest the dough for 3-5 hours‘ said Aunt Aida.
Seemed like the challenge was tailor made for me, giving me time to relax too! I love make ahead bits of recipes as they make the work look so easy. The recipe called for sour cream and it was time for substitution as it isn’t locally available here! With help from Google, I settled for hung yogurt and butter. I have yet to experience such a smooth fine pastry dough, pliable, flexible and so unassuming. It made me sit up and take notice. The texture seemed to hold a lot of promise especially in hot weather like ours in North India.
Yet another Daring surprise from another beautiful culture, this time Armenian cuisine. Last month we walked the wild side with an exciting Dutch Crunch Bread or tijgerbol from the Netherlands. Some time before that we made the stunning Povitica, a Croatian sweet bread that was unforgettable! I absolutely love the way Daring Bakers is embracing food cultures in the most amazing way!Our talented host this month, Jason, is half Croatian and grew up eating Povitica! Jason decided to share his Armenian heritage with us and introduced us to his Aunt Aida’s nazook recipe of which he wrote … “I’ve tried a LOT of nazook, and have to say hers is the best I’ve tried.” I halved the recipe even though all the reviews were great but it’s beginning to warm up a lot here, and I didn’t know how the butter would behave! The result was so good. The crust is almost like a flaky shortcrust or shortbread, maybe somewhere in between, but quite amazing!
It’s always a sweet vs savoury tug of war for me in the kitchen. Even though I had chocolate something in mind for half, and pistachio for the other half, I reached for cheddar and went savoury on the first lot. So good! The flour in the filling intrigued me, so unusual, but like it needed to be there. The end result was crisp, buttery, flaky and full of good pizza flavour!For the second bit of the dough, Nutella called my name, and with a last minute almond distraction I ended up with Nutella, Almond, Vanilla Bean Nazook. I have stayed eggless with the challenge as I get loads of requests from my local readers to offer more eggless/vegetarian recipes. If you like, give the pastry an egg wash to get the characteristic shiny finish that nazook has.
Thank you Jason of Daily Candor {and your sweet Aunt} for a wonderful window to your rich heritage. Thank you as always Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice for hosting this fab kitchen!! Do stop by here to see the beautiful nazook and nutmeg cake our other daring bakers have done!
[print_this]Recipe: Nutella, Almond, Vanilla Bean Nazook and Cheddar Chimichurri Nazook
Summary: An Armenian yeasted dough sweet traditional pastry. The result was so good, the crust is almost like a flaky shortcrust or shortbread, maybe somewhere in between, but quite amazing! {Adapted from Aunt Aida’s recipe from Jason}. Makes 20-22 nazook.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes { plus resting time}
Ingredients:
- Pastry dough
- 210 gm all-purpose flour, sifted
- 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
- 100gm hung yogurt {thick}
- 125gm softened butter (room temperature)
- Savoury filling
- 55gm all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted
- 50gm cheddar, grated
- 1 tsp chimichurri seasoning or dried Italian herbs
- 40gm butter,room temperature
- Sweet filling
- 100gm Nutella
- 55gm all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted
- 55gm vanilla sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean, scraped
- 40gm butter, room temperature
- 25gm almond meal
- Wash
- 1-2 tsp low fat cream or yogurt {or an egg yolk, or 1 whole egg}
- Dried herbs, sea salt, vanilla sugar, icing sugar etc for topping
Method:
- Make the Pastry Dough
- Place the sifted flour into a large bowl. Add the dry yeast, and mix it in.
- Add the sour cream, and the softened butter.
- Use your hands, or a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, to work it into a dough.
- If using a standing mixer, switch to a dough hook. If making manually, continue to knead for about 10 minutes, or until the dough no longer sticks to the bowl or your hands. If it remains very sticky, add some flour, a little at a time.
- Cover the dough and refrigerate for 3-5 hours, or overnight if you like.
- Make the savoury filling
- Mix the flour, dried herbs, grated cheese and the softened butter in a medium bowl.
- Mix the filling with a fork until it looks like clumpy, damp sand. It should not take long. Reserve.
- Make the sweet filling
- Mix the flour, almond meal, vanilla bean and sugar, then add the softened butter in a medium bowl.
- Mix the filling until it looks like clumpy, damp sand. It should not take long. Set aside.
- Make the nazook
- Preheat the oven to moderate 175°C.
- Cut the refrigerated dough into two.
- Form one half into a ball. Dust your working surface with a little flour.
- Roll out the dough into a large rectangle or oval. The dough should be thin, but not transparent.
- Savoury version:
- Spread the filling mixture across the rolled-out dough in an even layer. Try to spread the filling as close as possible to the edges on the short sides, but keep some of pastry dough uncovered (1 inch/2.5 cm) along the long edges.
- Sweet version:
- Spread the filling mixture across the rolled-out dough in an even layer. Try to spread the filling as close as possible to the edges on the short sides, but keep some of pastry dough uncovered (1 inch/2.5 cm) along the long edges.
- Continue for both versions…
- From one of the long sides, start slowly rolling the dough across. Be careful to make sure the filling stays evenly distributed. Roll all the way across until you have a long, thin loaf.
- Pat down the loaf with your palm and fingers so that it flattens out a bit (just a bit).
- Apply the wash with a pastry brush.{Sprinkle with dried herbs or vanilla sugar etc if desired}
- Use your crinkle cutter (or knife) to cut the loaf into 10 equally-sized pieces. Put onto an ungreased cookie sheet,
- Place in a preheated moderate oven for about 30 minutes, until the tops are a rich, golden brown.
- Allow to cool and enjoy!
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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
Deeba @ PAB
About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.
37 Comments
Rosa
Mmmmhhh, that is one fabulous speciality! Extremely addictive, I’m sure.
Cheers,
Rosa
Rekha
So many new cuisines to discover… One day I would love to be a part of this daring baker series… I especially love the savoury version of nazook, to me it looked somewhat like pizza bites.
Anita Menon
THat looks so so good!!
Jenni
Oh, wow! What a beautiful job, as always! Your nazook is STUNNING! I love the fantastic filling choices you did, too! Great job! 😀
Priya
Incredible bakes, extremely inviting and irresistible..
Sihi
The Nazooks look awesome! Love the fillings.
Best,
Sihi
Kim
Savory flavors sound really great for a Nazook right about now. I didn’t try any savory flavors but I would like to now. Beautiful photos. Nice job on the challenge!
Zoka
WOW!!!!! Great Job !! Love it! I used ground walnuts as a substitute for flour in the filing, but I love your idea with nutella. 🙂 I thought a savory version might be delicious. Now I must try. This was my debut in the Daring Bakers Challenge 🙂 I can’t wait for my next DB challenge!.
Meena Thennaapan
Very inviting – Mouth-watering!
raquel
Se ven deliciosos, tanto dulces como salados. Estare encantada de probarlos. Un saludo
Bryt
ohhh how beautiful! and I love the bowls and plates you use!
Kristin
Beautiful shots! Great idea to also make a savoury version of the Nazook, have to try that too. This was such a great challenge and I loved baking the cake and the Nazooks.
Cathy
This Armenian Nazook is looking so delicious & lucrative. Definitely the best good looking pastry of the year. Would like to have a bite!
Thanks for sharing such a nice recipe
-Cathy
Shelley C
It’s always an adventure with kids, isn’t it??? Mine are still little, so it’s good to know that I’m going to continue to be on my toes for many years to come!!
Your nazook looks amazing I love that you did both sweet and savory, and your flavor combinations are totally inspired. Wonderful, wonderful job!!
Dawn
Your nazook flavors sound so intriguing – I want to try them! And they’re so beautiful! Wasn’t it wonderful that the dough was so fabulous and worked equally well for sweet and savory?
Sawsan@ chef in disguise
This is it! I can’t wait any more ! going to the kitchen to make this right now!
I made the nutmeg cake and regret not making the nazook but after seeing your creations I am going to the kitchen to make this right now
Deeba @ PAB
Teehee Sawsan…after I read your nutmeg cake post, I scuttled off to the kitchen to make mine. I did hit disaster zone as I experimented with smaller tins and had overflowing lava all over my oven {had the base protected though!} What I salvaged was FAB but not too good looking!
Ashleen Moreen
It is really good to feel having great time with kids especially in the Kitchen, they are very curious on how to cook and bake. By the way, love the nazook flavors and I think it tastes good.
Meeta
How simply divine this looks! Kudos to you Deeba for being with the DBs for so long. I kind of miss it! It’s great to follow your creativity in these challenges. Well done!
Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella
I really wish I had time to make the nazook but I think I’ll make it independently of the challenge and the reviews sound great! 🙂
Sylvie @ Gourmande in the Kitchen
How interesting, I’ve never heard of nazook but the sweet one reminds me of rugelach.
Naigel
It was truly a mouth watery stuff, this is very interesting and I am able to discover this recipe… I am pretty sure that my children do love it also…
Lilibeth
Wow! They are mouth watering bread… Thanks for this recipe, I would surely try to bake this. I’m sure my family will love this recipe!
Barbara
Clever of you to make both sweet and savory, Deeba. I think I’d have a difficult time deciding between them.
Marilyn
I want to try this bread..Sound like good to eat..Thanks for sharing with us..
Barbara @ Barbara Bakes
How great that you made a savory version. I’ll have to try that. Love all your different flavors.
Avanika {Yumsilicious Bakes}
I’ve never heard of nazook, but it sure looks super interesting. Love the worldly ‘exploration’ the Daring Bakers have been doing off late
Laura
I want to try this bread..Sound like good to eat..Thanks for sharing with us..
Gisselle
I really love pastries so much.. And these ones are definitely perfect for every afternoon with a coffee on the table..
Rekha
I made the savory version for a group of friends and it was a big HIT. Thanks!
Deeba @ PAB
Yay for you! So glad the friends enjoyed!
Gurgaon Fp
Marvelous…..
Gurgaonflowerplaza.com
mamatkamal
I want to make that bread right now. How great you made all these delicious versions Deeba. Thanks for sharing, and big hugs,
Cheers
Mamatkamal
Charis
Thanks for this recipe, I would surely try to bake this.Reading through this post reminds me of my previous room mate!
ds
wow….
Deccansojourn.com
Jingalala
You are killing me with your food pictures….
Just loveeelllllyyyy captures…..!
Caroline@Taste Love & Nourish
I’m an Armenian girl and never heard of nazook either, but these are gorgeous! I’m bookmarking this page plan to make them soon. I cant’ wait to try them. Your photos are really beautiful. So glad to have found your site!