Shekerbura (Azerbaijani Crescents of Walnut & Saffron) 🥮

Método

1. 1

   Rub butter into flour until sandy, work in sugar, egg, saffron water and milk just to a smooth soft dough. Rest, wrapped, 40 minutes at room temperature — longer if the kitchen is warm.

2. 2

   Mix the filling until it holds a shape when pinched: walnuts, sugar, cardamom, and just enough saffron water to make damp, spreadable paste. Roll into walnut-sized balls.

3. 3

   Roll the dough thin — 2 mm. Cut 8–9 cm rounds. A shot glass cuts them; a wine glass gives festival size.

4. 4

   Set a filling ball on one half, flatten it slightly toward the edges. Fold, press out air, and seal hard with your fingertips.

5. 5

   Stamp the seal: bite it decoratively with the herek scissors — the classic zigzag-and-hole pattern, which also lets steam escape. No tool: press with a knife back, then twist and prick with a pin.

6. 6

   Brush with egg wash. Bake at 180 °C, 25–30 minutes, until straw-gold with browned lace — pale is underdone here; dark is heartbreak.

7. 7

   Cool on a rack; they crisp at the edge and stay fudgey inside. Pile them into a little pyramid on a plate and the spring table is complete.