Çäkçäk
Çäkçäk (chak chak) comes from the Tatarstan and Bashkortostan region of Russia. Tatastan and Bashkortostan are neighboring regions of each other located in the East European Plain, about 500 miles (800 km) from Russia. Çäkçäk is an extremely popular sweet in Tatarstan, and is recognized as Tatarstan’s national sweet of Russia.
Çäkçäk are dough balls (or noodles) that are prepared from unleavened dough and cut and rolled into the size of a walnut. The dough balls are then deep fried in oil until a golden brown. Sometimes dried fruits or hazelnuts may be added to the mixture to provide extra flavor. When there are many balls or noodles they can be formed into different shapes, but usually into many or one large mound or pyramid. Çäkçäks get all of their flavor from the honey syrup that is added to them after the dough balls are done deep frying.
Traditionally, çäkçäk would be served as the wedding cake in the Tatarstan region. In order to make it more elaborate for special occasions they were often covered with candies and dragées.
Fun fact: The largest çäkçäk was made in honor of Kazan’s (capital and largest city of Tatarstan) millennium celebration on August 29, 2005, and it weighed about 2204 pounds (1000 kg).
Ingredients:
Dough:
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3 eggs
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50 g butter
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500 g flour
Honey Syrup:
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200 g honey
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200 g sugar
Directions:
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Eggs are cracked open and beat
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Once fully beat the butter is added and whisked together with the eggs
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The flour is measured out and placed in a separate bowl
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The egg and butter mixture is added to the flour and mixed together until a soft dough is formed
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The dough is then left out for 30 min either covered or wrapped
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Dough is cut in half and two circular shapes are formed and covered again for another 10 min
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Each of the two dough patties rolled out until about .5-1 cm thick
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Flattened dough is cut into strips measuring about an inch in width
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Stripped pieces are stacked and cut again into strips about 1 cm in width
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The strips can be left as is or combined and rolled into little balls
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The small pieces of dough are then fried (enough oil to be deep fried) until golden brown
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Once the dough is fully cooked it is time to make the honey syrup
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Use a saucepan and add the honey, mix and heat until a loose liquid is formed
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The sugar is added to the honey and stirred
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Once the sugar is fully dissolved the syrup is drizzled over the dough
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For best results dough should be in a bowl and syrup should be poured in and mixed altogether
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The syrupy-dough can be placed onto a dish and can be formed into a mound (or any shape desirable) by using your hands that have first been dunked in cold water (decreases the amount of stickiness to hands)
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Time to enjoy