Delicious pastries to satisfy all cravings in spring

By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

With the arrival of the spring season, it is time to enjoy mouthwatering seasonal desserts.

Overall, there are more than 100 types of pastries and sweets in Azerbaijan. Sweet, savoury, tangy desserts are perfect for the spring mood. 

Pastries like shekerbura, pakhlava, shor gogal, badambura often take pride of place at traditional holidays like Novruz.

Dozens of delicate layers melt into a single tender bite of these delicious pastries.

Mouthwatering shekerbura will take care of every single craving you have in just one bite. The name "Shekerbura" comes from the Turkic word "Burulmush sheker" which is translated as "twisted sugar". The slightly crescent shape symbolizes the moon.

This sweet pastry is filled with ground almonds, hazelnuts, or walnuts, and sugar. The dough is made of wheat flour, butter, milk, egg yolks, cream and yeast. The pattern on the dough is produced using traditional tweezers called maggash.

Pakhlava (baklava) is another delicious springtime dessert that satisfies your sweet tooth. The pastry is made of paper-thin layers, chopped nuts and honey. The dough is cut into regular pieces, often in the forms of triangles, diamonds or rectangles.

Each country's region has its own special recipe for pakhlava.

In Baku, pakhlava can be made of peeled almonds or walnuts and consists of 8-10 layers.

Ganja pakhlava is stuffed with almond, sugar and cinnamon. It is baked on a copper tray over a campfire. Ganja pakhlava consists of 18 layers.

In Guba, pakhlava is traditionally filled with walnuts, hazelnuts and sharbat (sugar mixed in water).

In Sheki, pakhlava is made of rishta, stuffing (hazelnut, cardamom and coriander seeds) and syrup.

The legend says that this kind of pakhlava was made by cooks of the Shaki khan who loved sweet desserts and ordered to make something very sweet.

Shor Gogal is another delicious pastry in Azerbaijan that tastes as good as it looks. This rich-tasting bakery symbolizes the sun.

Shor Gogal is made from layers of pastry flavoured with turmeric and fennel seeds.

Your family and friends will be tickled pink when you serve them Azerbaijan's traditional pastry scrolls mutaki.

The pastry takes its name from a traditional Azerbaijani bolster called mutekke. Mutaki or mutakka are especially popular at the Novruz holiday.

You'll earn plenty of compliments when you serve this unique, yummy combination of flavours and textures.

Badambura is an unbelievably delicious treat for just-a-bit-warmer weather. This multilayered pastry is filled with almonds meal, sugar, and ground cardamom. Notably, the word badambura means almond pie.

As you can, there is something for everyone in this fabulous spring desserts guide.