I'm baking this PIE every other day!! INCREDIBLY TASTY DOUBLE-LAYER PIE with NUTRITION

Hello everyone. You're on Evelyn's Kitchen. Today, we'll be making the famous Balak Pie. The incredible combination of two fillings and tender, crumbly dough turns this pie into a heavenly delight. This Dagestani pie has a unique flavor, and it gets better and better every day. It wasn't until the third time I made it that I finally got the flavor I liked best. Save my perfect version of the most delicious Balak Pie. So, let's get started. In a bowl, add 160 grams of softened butter at room temperature, 120 grams of sugar, a packet of vanilla sugar, and half a teaspoon of salt to adjust the flavor. Then, using a spatula, mix the butter and sugar until smooth. My butter wasn't softened enough, so it was a little hard and harder to mix until smooth. But don't worry, it won't affect the result. So, we grind it like this and it's almost a homogeneous mass. Next, add two small eggs, or one large one at room temperature, and also sour cream at room temperature. You can use 20% or 15% fat. I used 15%. Then, using a whisk or a mixer, combine until smooth, so that the eggs, sour cream, butter, and sugar are thoroughly combined into a homogeneous mass. Sift the flour. I used 400 grams here, but you may need more. Sift some of the flour and pour two teaspoons of baking powder directly onto the flour. You can use baking soda, about 3 grams, but I use baking powder. And mix. I'll start with a whisk, then you can use your hand or a spatula, whichever is more convenient for you. I find a whisk works best for combining the flour and the liquid part. The dough is more homogeneous immediately and the flour is mixed in well. So, sift the flour in portions, mixing it into the dough. This dough doesn't require any special kneading because it's shortcrust pastry. So, just combine it quickly and it's ready. That's it. Next, I'll knead it with a spatula. And I'll knead the dough like this, moving it around. I've already added all the flour, and now I'll start kneading it by hand and check if there's enough flour. The dough should remain soft, but not sticky. It can remain slightly sticky, but not too much. It should be more like it's coming off your hands than sticking. As you can see, the dough is already coming together. It's practically non-stick, which means there's almost enough flour. I take an additional two or three tablespoons of flour, dust some of it on the table, and turn the dough out. It's still quite sticky, but two or three tablespoons of this flour will be quite enough. Always leave a little extra so you can knead it to the right consistency. As you can see, this flour is going in. And so, we gather it up like this envelope. As I already said, it's shortcrust pastry and doesn't require any special or lengthy kneading. Mix everything together until smooth and no longer sticky. The dough is ready. You don't need to knead it for long. Now I've added two tablespoons of flour. That's it, the dough is absolutely ready. As I said, I used 400 grams and three tablespoons of flour, but the amount may vary. It all depends on the flour. This is the dough I got. Look, it might stick a little here, but I don't recommend adding more flour. It's very soft, just slightly sticky. Dust a plate with flour, place the dough on it, and wrap it all in a My dough weighed 940 grams. Refrigerate the finished dough for 30 minutes. During this time, we'll prepare the filling, but if you prefer, you can prepare it today and make the pie the next day. Next, prepare the filling. For the nut layer, we'll need nuts. Use any nuts you like. It'll be delicious with absolutely any nuts. But the best option is walnuts mixed with some other nuts. I'll be using walnuts and almonds, but they need to be lightly toasted in the oven first, but not too much. Lightly toasted so they don't dry out. That's it. Next, chop them in a blender or grinder. The nuts weigh 250 to 300 grams, but I use mostly walnuts and some almonds. Then chop the nuts. Blend for just a couple of minutes until the nuts are finely ground, but not greasy, because the nuts are fatty. Once you've blended them, they start to turn into a paste. Add 70 grams of sugar to the nuts. I won't add more because I've tasted the nuts. Both almonds and walnuts are very sweet. Mix everything together. The first nut filling is ready. Even though I chopped the nuts quickly, literally in half a minute, they still immediately became a bit greasy. That's okay, it's a delicious filling. For the next layer, we'll use dried apricots. Rinse them thoroughly under running water and dry them on a paper towel. Pour the dried apricots into a saucepan and add them to the dried apricots. I add 70 grams of sugar. If you like it sweeter, add up to 100 grams. It's up to your taste. Pour them into the dried apricots. Add 3 tablespoons of water so that they have something to simmer in and soften. Literally 3, 4 is fine. Stir and put on low heat until the sugar dissolves and the dried apricots become softer. You don't need to simmer for long. 5 minutes is enough. You can cover with a lid. This will soften the dried apricots faster, but, of course, it all depends on the dried apricots. The harder your dried apricots are, the longer you'll need to cook them to soften them enough to be chopped. I boiled the apricots for about 10 minutes. I covered them with a lid and they softened thoroughly. That should be enough. Next, chop the apricots. You can use an immersion blender or a planetary blender like the one I used. I didn't even wash the bowl under the nuts. I'll chop them right there. Pour everything together and add the syrup there. And chop. Beautiful and delicious dried apricot jam is ready. The nut filling is the same. Now, let's start shaping the pie. The dough rested for 30 minutes and was well set. The longer it sits in the refrigerator, the easier it will be to roll out and work with. Lightly dust the countertop with flour. We form the dough into a sausage shape and divide it. We need three pieces. One slightly larger and two equal. The larger piece will be the base of the pie for the first layer. My base dough weighed 350 grams and two pieces weighed 290 grams each. While we're working with one piece of dough, it's best to refrigerate the rest covered with plastic wrap. I'll be baking in a 26 centimeters springform pan, but this dough will easily accommodate a springform pan up to 30 centimeters. Take the largest piece of dough for the base and roll it out into a not too thin layer. We're planning on leaving a little extra space around the edges, so we're rolling it out to about 30 centimeters instead of 26 centimeters to create a rim. Starting from the center, roll out the dough around the edges. Lightly dust it with flour. Roll the dough around the rolling pin like this and place the base in the pan. Then, using your hands, spread it out well, creating a rim. And so, pressing with my finger, I form a border. Try to make it at least three centimeters thick because the two layers of dough and the filling will be quite a bit, so there's enough room. If your border is too thin, that's okay. Basically, you don't need to make it thick because it won't be very tasty. Don't roll out the base too thin because the base needs to hold the entire pie, which is why we use more dough here. And this is what our base looks like. Actually, if your border is too thick somewhere, you can simply cut it off and stick it to the shorter place. Next, poke small holes in the base of the pie with a fork. This will ensure the pie bakes well and excess steam from the filling will escape and it won't puff up like a mound. That's enough. Next, lay out the first layer. This will be the nub layer. Pour in all the filling and spread it over the entire base in one even layer. Once we've spread it out, I'll need to use something like this to compact it. By the way, the nut aroma alone is simply wonderful. Lightly compact it to make the layer even. Next, roll out the next layer. This will be the middle layer of dough. Do the same thing, not too thin and not too thick, just enough to make it thick. This is the thickness you'll get. Roll it around the rolling pin in the same way. It will be easiest to transfer to the pie. Place it on the pie. Then, using your hands, carefully attach this layer of dough to the base. If there's any excess, you can trim it off with a knife and add the final layer of dough. Using your fingers, press these two parts together. Then, spread out this sunny layer of dried apricot jam. Smooth this layer out evenly. The dried apricot layer is very dense, so if you're having trouble spreading it with a spoon, wet your fingers with water and gently spread it out like this, so as not to damage the layers underneath. Then cover with the last layer of dough. I also lightly run it along the edge and the excess edge. I take a plastic spatula or spatula like this and trim it to remove any excess dough. And now you have a beautiful, even pie. And here we trim it like this, removing the excess dough, and here you can gently shape the pie with your finger like this. This is not necessary, you can even leave the edge like this. This is purely visual, you can leave it to your liking. And here I do this with my finger so the pie doesn't puff up. Lightly prick it with a fork like this. This will allow steam to escape and prevent it from puffing up. Dip the fork in flour. And that's what I get, a pattern like this. Then we mix it all up. Here I have a yolk with a tablespoon of milk and I'm brushing the top of the pie so it gets a nice golden color. The pie is almost ready. After you've brushed it with the yolk and milk, you're ready to bake. But if you want, you can sprinkle some chopped nuts on top, but the nuts shouldn't be sugared, so once you've chopped the nuts, take two tablespoons and sprinkle them on top. I forgot to mention this, so put the nuts aside and then you can decorate the pie. Or you can just leave it as is. I'll decorate it, of course. It will look much more appetizing that way. And sprinkle with nuts. Bake the pie in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius without convection. The middle rack is slightly lower. This is the second rack I use, so the pie is roughly at this level. Then it will be perfect. The top should not brown too much, and the bottom should be heated more. Bake for about 35 minutes, but it may take 40 minutes. We're looking for a golden crust on top. The pie is ready. Exactly 40 minutes have passed. Look at it! Remove the springform pan. Slice the pie when it's completely cool, or at least slightly warm. Eh? Well, let's finally try this incredible Botlik pie. Oh, this pie is traditionally considered either Dagestani or Tatar. More Dagestani, of course. There's a village in Dagestan called Botlik, or something like that. Correct me in the comments if I'm right. And that's where a huge apricot harvest ripens. Well, nuts are also there, of course. That's why this incredibly two-layer pie is considered traditional there. It's considered their national pie. Well, let's try it. I've probably made this pie three times now. And this recipe is the one I like the most. And the sugar here is just the way I like it, because other recipes always have too much sugar. It really overpowers the flavor. Well, let's try it. What did we get? Mmm. This pie is so delicious, so beautiful. It's that case when it's both beautiful and incredibly delicious. It's incredibly delicious. Mmm. Yes, that's definitely the taste. The sugar is perfect. Well, I finally achieved what I wanted, because I don't know why they add so much sugar to it. The nuts are sweet on their own. The dried apricots are sweet on their own. They add, I don't know, 150 grams of sugar. That's too much, especially for shortcrust pastry. Such a soft, crumbly pastry, baked through, very creamy, tender, not hard. Thick jam. Apricot, thick and very tasty jam. The nut filling, you know, it doesn't overpower the taste. It only complements it. Everything here doesn't overpower each other. It all plays together just right. A very perfect taste. I'm happy with the result, friends. This is exactly the recipe you should definitely try. I'm sure you'll really, really like it. It's so delicious. Another piece. Mmm. Fantastic. All those other recipes aren't it. But this, this is also cool. Yeah, it's with nuts, with filling, like cookies. It's peach jam. It all comes together and is simply amazing. By the way, it's unlike anything else. Yes, that's exactly it. I can't compare it to anything. It has its own special flavor. That's what I like. Original. Friends, be sure to try this. And if you do, I'm definitely looking forward to your photo reviews. Like it, subscribe to the channel, and yes, write your comments, and we'll definitely add your photo reviews at the end of the next videos. By the way, thank you very much for your photo reviews. We are very pleased. Thank you all so much for your attention, and see you again. Bye.