Nazuki

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My thanks go to BreadClub20 baker, Peggy Wieronley, of Maryland, USA for drawing my attention to this sweet, Georgian bread that she enjoyed on her recent travels in Eastern Europe.

The origins of Nazuki go back centuries...especially in southern Georgia and in the eastern region of Shida Kartli. The name 'Nazuki', comes from the ancient Persian word for 'exquisite'.

The ethnographer, Tedo Sakhokia, tells us that the bread symbolises prosperity, softness and delicacy.

Teda Sakhokia (1868 - 1956)

Although technically a celebratory and festivity bread, especially around Easter time, it's too good to save for special occasions and deserves to be baked as often as you wish.

Traditionally, Nazuki is baked in a Georgian tone oven (see below). Around Surami, in the Kartli region, small tone ovens sprang up along the main routes, especially in times of hardship when families were seeking out an existence and turning to anyway to make enough money to survive.

A Georgian tone oven. 

Obviously, many of us aren't lucky enough to possess a tone oven or something similar, so this formula and process has had to be adapted for the modern indoor kitchen.

As usual, the formula is constructed from reading, cross-referencing and trialling. I hope you enjoy it.

N.B. In many recipes, they omit the need for a second proof. This is because traditionally, it was baked in a scorching tone oven. If you're baking this at home in a conventional oven and because of the volume of egg and fat, it's necessary to be patient and allow the bread to rise again before baking. If you rush things, your bread will be dense.

INGREDIENTS

300 gms tepid milk (** see '1' below)

800 gms strong bread flour (** see '2' below)

80 gms Demerera or Muscovado sugar ( **see '9' below)

200 gms unsalted butter (melted)

2 beaten eggs (** see '3' below)

50 ml olive oil (or similar) (** see '4' below)

6 gms vanilla extract (** see '5' below)

2 gms crushed sea salt

5 gms ground cinnamon (** see '6' below)

2.5 gms ground cloves (** see '6' below)

Yeast (activated first if fresh or dry)....10 gms (fresh) / 4 gms (dried) / 3 gms (instant quick yeast)

You can also add nutmeg if you wish. I find it a little too 'heady' and therefore I'm leaving it out.

to be added to kneaded dough

200 gms raisins (** see '7' below)

for the glazing....egg/milk wash (** see '8' below)

A NOTE ON THE INGREDIENTS

1. MILK - I used semi-skimmed. Skimmed might be better...there's a lot of fat in the butter already.

2. FLOUR - I used strong bread flour. All-purpose would work but choose one with a decent level of protein...certainly a minimum of 12%

3. EGGS - a medium egg is 55 gms. Use medium eggs.

4. OIL - rapeseed, sunflower or olive oil will be fine.

5. VANILLA - if you're using powder, then adjust as necessary. If you're used to working in teaspoons...6gms is 2 teaspoons.

6. SPICES - 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and ½ teaspoon of ground cloves. (or to taste)

7. RAISINS - I never soak my raisins...I find they hydrate sufficiently as part of the process.

8. EGG/MILK WASH - add the tiniest pinch of salt to the egg/milk wash...it'll help you get a really even coverage.

9. SUGAR - tastes change. You'll see that I'm using 10% sugar. I find that sweet enough. However, old Georgian cooking sources support far more sugar in this bread...up to 40%. That's far, far too much sugar for my taste. However, think about this when determining how sweet you'd like this bread to be. Remember, sugar affects the proving time.

METHOD

Add the flour and the rest of the dry ingredients (except the yeast) to a large bowl.

Slowly incorporate the wet ingredients and the yeast and bring them together.

Knead until you have a soft and silky dough.

Flatten out the dough and sprinkle the raisins over the dough, then fold in the edges and shape into a boule.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and keep warm until the dough has doubled.

Tip the dough out onto a board and divide into 430 gms pieces (or thereabouts...weigh the dough first and work out the precise weight)

Shape the dough into a crescent (half moon) and place on a baking tray.

Allow to rise again until nearly doubled and unit the dough returns a gently finger indentation.

Preheat the oven to 190⁰C and brush the nazuki with beaten egg/milk wash. Leave it for five minutes to dry and then egg/milk wash it again.

Turn the heat down to 180⁰C and bake until golden brown and hollow when tapped on the underneath.

Cool on a rack.

Happy Baking....ბედნიერი ცხობა...