Recipe Armenian Gata Butterflies
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This sweet, flaky pastry, with a heavenly filling of vanilla and crushed walnuts, is one of the quickest bakes you can make. The only tricky part is shaping your gata into a butterfly — but rest assured, a lopsided gata is better than none!
You will need
Serves 4
- 120g plain flour (lightly toasted, see method!)
- 40g toasted and fine ground walnuts
- 50g margarine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup caster sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 sheet vegan puff pastry
- Melted margarine, to brush
To serve: (optional)
- Maple syrup
Recipe: Anushka Zargaryan
Directions
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Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan forced.
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Step 2
Add the flour to a dry pan and toast on low heat for 5 minutes.
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Step 3
Mix the flour, ground walnuts, margarine, vanilla, sugar, and salt together until it reaches a crumb-like texture.
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Step 4
Cut one pastry sheet lengthwise and lay it flat on a floured surface. Spread the filling over the whole surface of the pastry sheet. Roll it up into a log (not too thick).
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Step 5
Fold the roll from one end to the other, on top of each other (will look like two logs piled on top of each other).
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Step 6
Dust a sharp knife in some extra flour. Use the floured knife to cut the log from one end towards the middle (but not all the way to the centre — about 1/3 of the way down the log). Then make a similar cut from the other end toward the middle (again, not all the way through). So the centre of the long remains uncut.
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Step 7
Now to get the butterfly shape, fold back the top 2 cuts outward and do the same to the bottom 2 cuts.
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Step 8
Coat the exposed pastry with melted margarine and bake for 20–25 minutes or until golden brown.
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Step 9
When out of the oven, the gata can be brushed very lightly with maple syrup for an extra touch of glossy sweetness!
Recipe: Anushka Zargaryan
