Armenian Gata Patries
Gata is a unique, delicious Armenian pastry that is hard to compare with any other desserts. It is made with flakey dough filled with sugar, flour, and butter. It is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. What makes Gata special is that you have to brown the flour with the butter, creating incredible flavor. It is also perfect dessert to prepare a day in advance for any special events because it still tastes amazing the next day.
Ingredients
300 grams of butter
480 grams of flour (4 cups)
1 cup of full fat plain yogurt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
200 grams of sugar (1 cup)
½ teaspoons of salt
1 beaten egg for egg wash
Directions
Preparing the dough
In a bowl, combine 360 grams (3 cups) of flour, ¼ teaspoons of salt, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder.
Take 250 grams of butter and cut it into small pieces (about size of peas), and then combine it with flour mixture from Step 1. Do not form the dough until the next step! Your mixture should be loose, just bits of butter coated with flour.
Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to 1 cup of yogurt. Take that yogurt and add it to the batter and mix it together into a dough ball. Do not overmix the batter as it can toughen the gluten. Cover the dough and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Preparing the filling
Warm up the pan on low heat, add 120 grams of flour (1 cup) to it. Keep stirring the flour until it becomes golden in color (Figure 1). This should take few minutes. Be careful not to burn it.
As soon as the flour turns golden, add 50 grams of butter to it. After the butter melts take the pan off the heat immediately and add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to it (Figure 2). Set it aside and let it cool.
When the filling cools down, add 200 grams (1 cup) of sugar and ¼ teaspoon of salt to it (Figure 3). If you are conservative when it comes to sugar and like your desserts a bit less sweet, you can use less than a cup of sugar, about 170-180 grams.
Putting the pastries together
Take the dough out of the fridge and divide it into 3 equal parts, following by dividing the filling into 3 equal parts as well.
Roll out the first part of the dough into a rectangle and then sprinkle it with the filling (Figure 4). Very gently press the filling into the dough. Roll the dough into a log shape, while forming spiral layers inside. Gently press the dough and brush it with egg wash. Be sure to brush the edges of the dough with egg wash as well, as this step will help the dough stick (Figure 5).
Cut the log diagonally, forming small little pastries (Figure 6)
Repeat the process with the rest of the dough and filling. Place little pastries on the greased baking tray (Figure 7).
Preheat the oven to 360 degrees Fahrenheit (182 Celsius). Bake the pastries for about 25-30 minutes (depending on your oven), until the pastries become golden in color. Enjoy!
Figure 1 - Adding Butter to Filling
Figure 2 - Filling is Ready
Figure 3 - Adding Sugar to Filling
Figure 4 - Adding Filling to the Pastry
Figure 5 - Rolling the Pastry
Figure 6 - Cutting the Pastries
Figure 7 - Pastries Ready for Baking