Armenian Boorma - AFF West Asian Pastry #5

Another pastry using the versatile Phyllo. The texture is so  delicate, but yet it doesn't break easily.
For Chinese New Year this year, I posted a peanut roll, that has almost the same concept, that is  baked rolled pastry that has been brushed with ghee and filled with sugary nuts. If a comparison needs to be made... I think the peanut version smells much better. Maybe it's because the peanuts weren't raw.

Bourma - AFF West Asian Pastry #3

Bourma is a rolled pastry made with kataifi/kunafeh.

Quite a challenge to make, haha.
I didn't want to deep fry in oil, but the original way, like how I ate it before, is in fried in ghee. Yummy!

Turkish Borek - AFF West Asian Pastries #2

Börek in Turkish language is any pastry made with yufka or commonly known as phyllo/filo. Borek comes in many forms and can be filled with a variety of fillings, but the traditional ones are usually spinach, cheese and minced meat.They can be either fried or baked. You can read about the different types of Borek here

The one I made today is kol böreği and it means 'arm borek' or arm pastry. It is rolled long and can be coiled or shaped into zigzags on the pan. I will go for coil as I like anything that resembles flowers.

Esh Al Bulbul @ Nightingale Nest - AFF West Asian Pastry #1

This month, AFF  brings you West Asia! A total of 19 countries in the group.
Most of us are more familar with the term Middle East, but because Egypt is not in Asia, that is why we cannot use the term Middle East but Western Asia of which includes Turkey as well.

Do visit Shannon's blog to read the introduction post. And don't forget to drop by Lena's for her round up!

Almond Puff Fingers 杏仁条

These are called Almond puff pastry if you ever see them in Baker’s Cottage (a Msian bakery chain). I prefer calling them almond puff fingers, as they are finger sized.

This is a copycat version of those found in Baker’s Cottage. Not as buttery as theirs, as mine uses frozen store bought puff pastry. More convenient!!! Sacrificing on flavour.... 'sigh'

I tried this 2 times, doing it better the 2nd time around. First time, the top was a bit chewy because I used pure egg white and Hub said it’s not sweet enough. 2nd time, I mixed the egg white with sugar and it tasted similar with the ones bought from BC.. 2 thumbs up from Hub.

1 pack puff pastry
2 Tbsp egg white
2 Tbsp fine sugar (not icing sugar)
80gm almond flakes
2 Tbsp fine sugar

Method:
1. Roll out pastry in between 2 sheets of plastic to thickness of 5mm.
2. Mix egg white with 2 Tbsp sugar.
3. Peel upper sheet of plastic and spread egg white mixture evenly on top of pastry.
4. Sprinkle almond flakes all over pastry.
5. Replace top sheet of plastic and lightly roll to press almonds onto pastry.
6. Remove upper plastic sheet and sprinkle remaining sugar over almonds.
7. Put pastry into the freezer for half an hour to set the topping.
8. Preheat oven to 180C(fan)/200C.
9. Cut pastry into finger sized pieces. ( I cut up 40 pcs of them ) Place them onto a baking sheet. No need to grease baking sheet.
10. Bake for 12 mins on 180C and 30 mins on 140C.

*****
Period of baking varies depending on ovens. The first bake of 180C should end when the almonds achieve a very light golden colour and the pastry is well risen. 2nd bake of 140C is to make it crunchy. You may need to bake it longer if it’s still not crunchy enough. But raising it to 150C may produce a slightly browner colour. Do what you may think is suitable for your preference of colour.



Almond flakes sprinkled onto rolled out pastry that had been applied with egg white and sugar


Sprinkle on more sugar...


Cut them up into finger sized pieces


All puffed up and ready to be munched!!!