Badambura

Hard·1 hour

A pastry of many paper-thin, butter-layered dough sheets folded around a sweet ground-almond and cardamom filling, baked until pale golden and dusted with powdered sugar — a Novruz holiday staple alongside pakhlava and shekerbura.

Badambura takes its name from the almond — badam in Turkic — the star of its filling of ground almonds, sugar and cardamom. It belongs to the Novruz (spring-equinox new year) tradition of the Baku region, baked in every home before the holiday and set out alongside pakhlava, shekerbura and shor-gogal as a symbol of spring's return and abundance. Eaten year-round now, but at heart it remains a Novruz pastry.

The crust shatters into countless buttery flakes that dissolve on the tongue, giving way to a moist, sweet almond center perfumed with cardamom. A snowfall of powdered sugar makes each bite delicate, rich and faintly floral.

A thin yeast dough is rolled into sheets, each brushed with softened butter and stacked, then rolled into a tight log and cut into pieces to shape. During baking the butter between the layers turns to steam, pushing the sheets apart into flaky leaves, while the oil in the ground almonds keeps the filling moist and rich.

Variations

badambura with walnut filling, version scented with rose, smaller bite-size parcels, badambura glazed with saffron syrup

On the Palate

Where Badambura sits in the Azerbaijani flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 8

to dustPowdered Sugar

How it's made

8 steps · 1 hour

1
15 min
Make a soft yeasted dough with flour, milk, egg and a little butter, then let it rest.
2
5 min
Mix ground almonds with sugar, cardamom and vanilla for the filling.
3
10 min
Roll the dough out as thin as possible and brush generously with clarified butter.
Watch out
Roll the dough until you can almost see through it and butter every sheet — those thin buttered layers are what steam apart into flakes.
4
8 min
Roll the buttered sheet into a log and chill, then slice into thick pinwheel rounds.
5
12 min
Flatten each round, spoon almond filling into the center, and pinch closed into a neat parcel.
6
10 min
Arrange seam-side down on a tray and let the pastries proof briefly.
7
25 min
Bake in a moderate oven until just pale golden, keeping them light in color.
Watch out
Pull them the moment they turn pale gold, no darker — badambura is meant to stay light, past that it dries out.
8
5 min
Cool and dust heavily with powdered sugar before serving.
Watch out
Dust the sugar on only once they're fully cool — hit them warm and it melts into a wet slick.