Ekmak #BBB

Our bake for December, hosted by Karen's Kitchen Stories, is a lovely Syrian pastry known as Ekmak.  It originally meant "sweet bread with cheese".  They are a lovely treat, with a rich, ricotta filling and contrasting berry topping.  I used our marion blackberries, as they have so much more flavor than regular blackberries, and you could probably use any fruit you liked to go with the ricotta.  My Ekmak turned out with a lovely, thin and crispy crust and a very tender crumb.

Karen reminded us that this pastry is shaped liked another boat shaped bread we once made, Adjaruli khachapuri, a savory boat bread.  Both are of course delicious, and though I have a sweet tooth I would be hard pressed to choose between the two.  Be sure to visit Karen's post and read a little history of the recipe.  We would love for you to try out this special pastry with us this month and share how it turned out!  New recipes are posted every month on the 16th. Check out our Facebook group to see the participants' baking results during that time.

 

  

Ekmak

makes 9-14

For the cheese filling:

20 oz (567 g) full fat ricotta cheese, preferably double cream.
63 g (½ cup) all purpose flour
2 large eggs
28 g (4 tsp) honey
¾ tsp (2.25 grams) kosher salt
(If you want a sweeter filling, you can add some sugar to taste. ) (I did add a bit of sugar.)
 

For the blackberry topping:
115 g (¾ cup) fresh blackberries, cut in half, lengthwise (I used frozen marion blackberries)
168 g (½ cup) blackberry preserves (I used marion berry jam)
 

For the Dough:

4 tbsp granulated sugar, divided

2 ¼ teaspoons active dry or instant yeast

12 oz warm water (95-100ºF), divided

500-575 g all purpose flour

¼ cup (57 g) butter, room temperature (super soft)

1 ½ tsp apple cider vinegar

8 g (1½ tsp) sea salt

(I also added a spoonful of sourdough discard)

 For the egg wash:
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp water
 

Garnish:
Confectioner's sugar
Honey for serving

Make the Ekmak:

First, mix the cheese filling ingredients until thoroughly combined. Refrigerate for at least three hours, while making the dough.

Make the Blackberry mixture:
Mix the berries and preserves and set aside.

To Make the dough:

In a small bowl, whisk together the yeast and one tbsp of the sugar. Add 6 oz of the warm water and let stand until foamy.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 500 g of the flour, the remaining 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and the butter and mix with the paddle attachment on low until the butter is evenly distributed, about one to two minutes. Switch to the dough hook.  Add the yeast mixture and the apple cider vinegar and mix on low while gradually adding the remaining 6 ounces of warm water.

Knead on medium-low until the dough comes together. Switch to medium and knead until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky. Add remaining flour, by tablespoons, until the dough is the right consistency.  (I needed the full amount of flour plus a couple tbsp to make up for the runny sourdough I added.)

Add the salt and knead to incorporate on medium speed. Form dough into a ball, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour.  Heat oven to 425ºF with a rack in the center of the oven. Line three baking sheets with parchment and lightly sprinkle each with flour.  Turn out and de-gas the dough and let rest for 10 minutes.  

 

It's a lovely, silky, stretchy dough

Divide the dough into 9-14 pieces, cover and let rest for 15 minutes.  (I made smaller balls, since 9 would yield very large pastries.)  Roll each piece into a round and place each onto a lightly floured work surface. Cover again and let rest for 10 minutes. Pat and stretch each ball into a ~6 inch round, re-cover with the plastic wrap, and let rest for 10 minutes.  

Carefully stretch each round into a 10 inch by 4 inch oval and spoon 1/3 cup of the cheese filling onto the dough. Fold the dough over along the long edges as you can see in the pictures, to create "boats".  Stretch the dough to about 12 inches long.  Place the "boats" on the parchment lined baking sheets, 3 per sheet. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.  Uncover and spoon a tbsp of the blackberry mixture in the middle of the cheese mixture.  Brush the dough edges with the egg wash.  Bake the ekmak for 15 minutes, once sheet at a time, turning the baking sheet around half way through.  Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes on a rack.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm, drizzled  with honey. 

Refrigerate leftovers and reheat in a 325 degree oven for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Baker's Tip: Work with dough in stages so that you can prepare three ekmak at a time and continue to shape, fill, let rise, and bake, in stages. 

The rest of the Bread Baking Babes

• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
• Judy’s Gross Eats – Judy
• My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna
• Bread Experience - Cathy
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie
• My Kitchen in Half Cups - Tanna
• Feeding My Enthusiasms - Elle 
• Karen's Kitchen Stories - Karen