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Shekerbura
Nut-filled half-moon pastries
Şəkərbura: Azerbaijani Novruz half-moon pastries with nut filling
Şəkərbura is one of the three sweets that must be on the khoncha tray at Novruz, the spring new year celebrated on 20–21 March, alongside pakhlava and gogal. The half-moon shape is said to stand for the moon, and the fine herringbone pattern on top is pinched by hand with small brass tweezers called maggash, a skill passed down at family baking sessions in the days before the holiday. Inside is a sweet, fragrant mix of ground almonds or walnuts with sugar and cardamom. Shaki is famous for its shekerbura, though every family has its own pattern. Serve with black tea. Chef's tip: bake them pale; shekerbura should stay creamy-white with only the edges just turning blond, never brown.
- Total time
- 95 min
- Difficulty
- hard
- Serves
- 20
Ingredients
For the dough
- 14 oz plain flour
- 5 ½ oz buttermelted and cooled
- 3 ½ oz sour cream
- ½ cup warm milk
- 1 tsp sugar
- ¼ tsp salt
For the filling
- 9 oz blanched almonds or walnutsfinely ground
- 7 oz icing sugar
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
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Method
0/8 doneStep 1: Stir ⅛ oz fast-action dried yeast and 1 tsp sugar into ½ cup warm milk and leave for 5 minutes until foamy.
5 minStep 2: In a bowl combine 14 oz plain flour and ¼ tsp salt. Add the yeast milk, 5 ½ oz butter, 3 ½ oz sour cream and 2 egg yolks and knead for 5–6 minutes into a soft, smooth, non-sticky dough. Cover and leave in a warm place for 45 minutes; it will not quite double.
45 minStep 3: Mix 9 oz blanched almonds or walnuts, 7 oz icing sugar and 1 tsp ground cardamom. The filling should be dry and powdery but clump when squeezed.
Step 4: Heat the oven to 350°F (fan 325°F) and line two trays. Divide the dough into 20 balls. Roll each into a 10 cm round about 2 mm thick.
Step 5: Put a heaped tablespoon of filling in the centre, fold over into a half-moon and press the edge closed. Fold the edge over itself in small twists, rope-style, to seal.
Step 6: Using tweezers (or the tip of a small knife), pinch a herringbone pattern across the top, from one side to the other, without piercing the dough. A common mistake is pinching too deep: the filling breaks through and burns.
Step 7: Arrange on the trays and bake for 18–20 minutes, until the pastries are set and dry on top, pale cream, with just the edges barely golden.
20 minStep 8: Cool on the tray; they firm up as they cool. Keep in a tin for up to 2 weeks.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 230 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbs
- 24 g
- Fat
- 13 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does shekerbura take?
- About 95 minutes in total: 75 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 20 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of plain flour?
- Self-raising flour, same amount (then leave out the baking powder).
- What can I use instead of fast-action dried yeast?
- Fresh yeast, three times the weight.
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