Ekmak | Syrian Sweet Bread

Ekmak is a Syrian sweet bread that consists of a soft dough shaped into a boat and filled with sweetened soft cheese, fruit, jam, and drizzled with honey. 

 
This ekmak is shaped like Georgian khachapuri. It's filled with cheese like khachapuri, but it is sweet instead of savory, and the dough is super soft and fluffy. 

I found this bread in the July/August edition of Bake from Scratch Magazine. They refer to it as "the Syrian pastry you need to know." 

This bread evidently has origins in Raqqa, Syria. It's a city that, before it became war-ravaged, was the home of 200,000 people and a vibrant agricultural center with wonderful food traditions. 

Ekmak means "sweet bread with cheese" in old Assyrian, according to the magazine, and it is a dessert.

This recipe comes from Riyad Al-Kasem, who is originally from Raqqa and is now a restaurant owner in Tennessee. His restaurant is Café Rakka in Hendersonville. The book, The Road from Raqqa by Jordan Ritter Conn tells Riyad's story of his life in Raqqa and how he came to the United States, started as a dishwasher in an Italian restaurant and came to own his own restaurant. 

According to the article in Bake from Scratch, Ekmak comes from his grandmother.

His own recipe includes a sourdough starter, so feel free to substitute. This dough is kind of like pizza dough, only sweeter. 

I've made this with blackberries, but you can use any berries or fruit you like. be sure to use full fat ricotta, or if you can find it, double-cream ricotta. 

How to Shape Ekmak:

First, form the dough into balls. 

Next, press the dough into disks and let rest for 10 minutes. 

Next, stretch out the disks and top them with the ricotta mixture. 

After that, place your hands on opposite ends and sides of the oval and fold the opposite sides of the ends over and press to secure. 

Then, fold the other side over to form a boat-like shape. 

Give everything a gentle pull to elongate the breads. 

Fill top breads with a combination of jam and fresh fruit. 

Finally, brush the dough with an egg wash and bake the ekmak for about 15 minutes. 

In the article in Baked from Scratch, Riyad talks about how this bread brings back memories of his beloved Raqqa, before it was destroyed. 

"I take a bite and I can almost hear my family laughing. When I copy a recipe from my memory, I copy everything with it, the experience that comes with it too. It is more than just food. It is laughter, memories, pictures, and the smell of the air.... all of that comes together when I do things like this." 

The dough starts super wet but it's pretty easy to work with. Just add more flour to your mixer by tablespoon until you have a super tacky dough. 

Making these takes some time, and there is more active time than you might be planning on because you stagger your baking as you are shaping the dough. All in all, I think the whole process was about three hours. 

Once you've made the dough and allowed it to rise, you shape it and fill it with the ricotta mixture and top it with the berry mixture. Once it comes out of the oven, you can sprinkle it with confectioner's sugar and serve it with honey, which is traditional. 

I tried to capture some shots of the drizzling honey, but couldn't quite. The honey does make a big difference though. Although, I'm thinking a sugar glaze might be delicious too. 

This is an amazing breakfast or dessert. 

To learn more about the restaurant, be sure to check out their Facebook page as well as the restaurant's site. 

This is this month's Bread Baking Babes bread of the month. I'm the host! After the recipe, be sure to check out all of the Babes' versions of this bread. 

Ekmak | Syrian Bread Recipe

Yield: 18 servings (9 Ekmak)

Author: Karen's Kitchen Stories

Prep time: 3 HourCook time: 15 MinTotal time: 3 H & 15 M

Ekmak is a Syrian sweet bread that consists of a soft dough shaped into a boat and filled with sweetened soft cheese, fruit, jam, and drizzled with honey.

Ingredients

For the Cheese Filling

• 20 ounces (567 grams) full fat ricotta cheese, preferably double cream.
• 63 grams (1/2 cup) all purpose flour
• 2 large eggs
• 28 grams (4 teaspoons) honey
• 3/4 teaspoons (2.25 grams) kosher salt
• If you want a sweeter filling, you can add some sugar to taste.

For the Blackberry Filling

• 115 grams (3/4 cup) fresh blackberries, cut in half, lengthwise
• 112 grams (1/3 cup) blackberry preserves

For the Dough

• 4 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry or instant yeast
• 12 ounces warm water (95 to 100 degrees F), divided
• 500 to 575 grams all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup (57 grams) butter, room temperature (super soft)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 9 grams (1 tablespoon) kosher salt

For the egg wash:

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water

Garnish

• Confectioner's sugar
• Honey for serving

Instructions

1. First, mix the cheese filling ingredients thoroughly. Refrigerate at least three hours, while you are making the dough.
2. Mix the blackberry mixture ingredients and set aside.
3. To Make the Ekmak:
4. In a small bowl, whisk together the yeast and one tablespoon of the sugar. Add 6 ounces of the warm water and let sit until foamy.
5. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 500 grams of the flour, the remaining 3 tablespoons of the sugar, and the butter and mix with the dough hook on low until the butter is evenly distributed, about a minute. Pour in the yeast mixture and the apple cider vinegar and mix on low while gradually adding the remaining 6 ounces of warm water.
6. 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.
7. Add the salt and knead for an additional minute on medium speed.
8. Turn the dough out onto your counter and form it into a ball.
9. Place it into an oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes to an hour.
10. Heat your oven to 425 degrees F with a rack in the upper third of the oven.
11. Line three baking sheets with parchment and lightly sprinkle each with flour.
12. Deflate the risen dough and let rest for 10 minutes.
13. Divide the dough into 9 pieces and cover the pieces with oiled plastic wrap. Let rest for 15 minutes.
14. Roll each piece into a round and place each onto a lightly floured work surface. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 10 minutes.
15. Stretch each ball into a 6 inch round, re-cover with the plastic wrap, and let rest for 10 minutes.
16. Stretch each round into a 10 inch by 4 inch oval and spoon 1/3 cup of the cheese filling onto the dough.
17. Fold the dough as pictured to create "boats" and 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.
18. Spoon a tablespoon of the blackberry mixture in the middle of the cheese mixture. Brush the dough with the egg wash.
19. Bake the ekmak for 15 minutes once sheet at a time, turning the baking sheet half way through.
20. Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes on a rack.
21. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve warm with honey.
22. Refrigerate leftovers and reheat in a 325 degree oven for about 5 to 10 minutes.
23. 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. I worked in 5 minute intervals so that each 3rd of dough was about 5 minutes behind.
24. Either way, it's not a big deal. It's like using pizza dough.
25. This is an amazing breakfast or dessert.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

230.78

Fat (grams)

8.26 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

4.89 g

Carbs (grams)

30.79 g

Fiber (grams)

1.13 g

Net carbs

29.66

Sugar (grams)

4.26 g

Protein (grams)

7.99 g

Sodium (milligrams)

109.49 mg

Cholesterol (grams)

50.81 g

https://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2021/12/ekmak-syrian-sweet-bread.html

Karen's Kitchen Stories

Bread, Ekmak

Bread

Syrian

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