Daring Baker - April 2012 Challenge

This is a new kind of post, which should hopefully appear every month on this very same date. I've joined the online community of the Daring Bakers, as a way to discover new recipes and try something different.

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.

Both have been great surprises, with a slight preference for the nazook. I had never baked anything armenian before, to my knowledge at least, and I'm keeping both in my recipe book.

Nazook


For about 40 pieces

Pastry dough
420 gr all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted
2½ teaspoons active dry yeast
240 ml sour cream
225 gr softened butter (room temperature)

Filling
210 gm all-purpose (plain) flour, sifted
340 gr sugar
170 gr softened butter (room temperature)
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Wash
1-2 egg yolks

Make the Pastry Dough

1. Place the sifted flour into a large bowl.

2. Add the dry yeast, and mix it in.

3. Add the sour cream, and the softened butter.

4. Use your hands, or a standing mixer with a paddle attachment, to work it into a dough.

5. 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.

6. Cover the dough and refrigerate for 3-5 hours, or overnight if you like.

Make the filling

7. Mix the flour, sugar, and the softened butter in a medium bowl.

8. Add the vanilla extract.

9. Mix the filling until it looks like clumpy, damp sand. It should not take long. Set aside.

Make the nazook

10. Preheat the oven to moderate 175°C.

11. Cut the refrigerated dough into quarters.

12. Form one of the quarters into a ball. Dust your working surface with a little flour.

13. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle or oval. The dough should be thin, but not

transparent.

14. Spread 1/4 of 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 (2.5 cm) along the long edges.

15. 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.

16. Pat down the loaf with your palm and fingers so that it flattens out a bit (just a bit).

17. Apply your egg yolk wash with a pastry brush.

18. Use your crinkle cutter (or knife) to cut the loaf into 10 equally-sized pieces. Put onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
19. Place in a preheated moderate oven for about 30 minutes, until the tops are a rich, golden brown.
20. Allow to cool and enjoy!

Armenian Nutmeg Cake

For 1 cake

240 ml milk
1 teaspoon of baking soda
280 gr all-purpose (plain) flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
400 gr brown sugar, firmly packed
170 gr butter, preferably unsalted, cubed
55 gr walnut pieces, may need a little more
1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1 egg

1. Preheat your oven to moderate 175°C.
2. Mix the baking soda (not baking powder) into the milk. Set aside.
3. Put the flour, baking powder, and the brown sugar into your food processor. Pulse until uniformly mixed.
4. Toss in the cubed butter. Pulse until uniformly mixed into tan-colored crumbs.
5. Pour HALF of the crumbs into your springform (9”/23cm) pan. Press out a crust using your fingers and knuckles.
6. Crack the egg into the food processor with the rest of the crumbs still in it.
7. Grate 1 to 1-1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg. Toss that into the food processor, too. Pulse until well-incorporated.
8. Pour in the milk and baking soda mixture. Continue to mix until a slightly lumpy tan batter is formed.
9. Pour the batter over the crust in the springform pan.
10. Gently sprinkle the walnut pieces over the batter.
11. Bake in a preheated moderate oven for 55 minutes. It's ready when the top is golden brown, and when it passes the toothpick test (comes out clean).
12. Cool the cake in the pan, and then dig in.