How to bake a multi-layered Botlikh pie with walnuts and dry apricots (RECIPE)

Botlikh pie is named after a village in Dagestan, in the North Caucasus, where it’s traditionally baked for weddings and other holidays. Today, however, this cake is famous far beyond the little mountain village. 

The pie’s peculiar feature is its multi-layered filling, consisting of dried apricots and walnuts that grow in this region. Botlikh pie is made of dough that resembles short pastry in texture. It’s best to prepare the dough the night before, and bake the pie the next day. 

One of the reasons for the pie’s popularity is that it can be stored for a very long time without losing its taste. Such pies used to be taken on a long trip, but today they can be baked and frozen until needed. 

Although Botlikh pie is usually served cold, I admit it's hard to resist trying it when freshly baked. For best results, it should be sliced cold, so that it holds shape better. 

I went with the classic recipe without adding any spices, but next time I'll try to use cinnamon for the filling. Anyway, the apricots and walnuts make it a hearty pie, and I'm sure you won't get away with just one bite. 

Ingredients for 8 portions: 

Dough:

• Flour – 450 g
• Granulated sugar – 80 g
• Butter – 100 g
• Egg – 1 pc
• Kefir – 100 ml
• Sour cream – 100 g
• Soda – 1 tsp
• Yolk – 1 pc (for greasing) 

Filling:

• Dry apricots - 200 gr
• Walnuts - 200 gr
• Sugar - 200 gr 

Preparation:

1. In a glass, stir baking soda with kefir, which will begin to foam because of the reaction with the baking soda.

2. Beat sugar and egg until light foam appears; then add sour cream, kefir and melted (and cooled) butter.

3. Add flour and knead a homogeneous elastic dough. 

4. Wrap it in cling wrap and chill for 6 hours or even overnight.

5. After 6 hours, (in my case, the next day), rinse and soak the apricots in warm water for half an hour. Dry them on a towel and grind in a blender until smooth. Wash and dry the nuts, and mill them in a blender. The mass should be fine, but with few large pieces.

6. Add 100 grams of sugar to the apricots and nuts. The filling is ready.

7. Warm up the oven to 210°C. Divide the dough into three parts. Two parts bigger and one part smaller.

8. Sprinkle your work surface with flour and roll out one of the larger pieces of dough into a layer slightly larger than your 24-cm baking form. Place the first piece of dough on the bottom of a deep round baking form, folding the edges of the dough around its perimeter. You can line the bottom with parchment to keep it from sticking.

9. Place the first layer of walnut filling. Leave some nuts for sprinkling on the cake in the end.

10. Roll out a small piece of dough equal to the baking form’s diameter and place it on the walnut layer.

11. Place the apricot filling on it.

12. Roll out the last large piece of dough and cover the pie with it.

13. Brush the pie with a mixture of egg yolk and a spoonful of cream, and sprinkle with the remaining nuts.

14. Bake the pie for 35 minutes.

15. You can taste the pie while it’s still warm (not hot).

16. But it is better to serve Botlikh pie cooled. This way it will be easier to cut it into little diamonds. 

READ MORE: Master this roll cake from the Soviet era – the best quick party dessert (RECIPE)