Açma

Rolled out, oiled and coiled before shaping, so it tears into layers instead of breaking like bread.

Egg. Vegetarian, but not vegan — contains egg, dairy (butter), dairy (milk).

Ingredients

• 600 g plain flour
• 250 ml warm milk
• 100 g butter, melted and cooled
• 2 eggs
• 7 g fast-action dried yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 10 g salt
• 80 g soft butter, for the layers
• 1 egg, beaten, for glazing
• 4 tablespoons sesame seeds

Method

1. EACH PIECE IS ROLLED OUT, OILED AND COILED BEFORE SHAPING, so it tears into layers instead of breaking like bread. That is the one step that separates an açma from a soft bread roll made of the same dough. A piece is rolled to a thin oval, smeared with soft butter, rolled up into a rope, and then that rope is coiled into a ring. The butter keeps the turns of the rope from fusing, so the baked açma pulls apart in soft sheets. Shaped straight into a ring from a ball, the same dough bakes into a perfectly nice roll with a uniform crumb and none of the layering.
2. THE BUTTER FOR THE LAYERS IS SOFT, NOT MELTED. Spreadable and cool. Melted butter soaks into the dough and does nothing to separate it; soft butter sits as a film between the turns and melts in the oven where it can do its job.
3. THE ROPE IS COILED LOOSELY AND THE END TUCKED UNDER. A coil with a little room in it rises into distinct rings; pulled tight it bakes as a dense knot. The end is tucked beneath so it does not unwind during proving.
4. IT IS A RICH DOUGH AND TAKES A LONG SECOND PROVE. Two eggs, a hundred grams of melted butter and milk. Enriched doughs rise slowly, and an açma that has not had its full forty-five minutes after shaping bakes squat and tight -- which also compresses the layers the coiling created.
5. THE SESAME GOES ON AFTER AN EGG WASH, NOT A MOLASSES DIP. This is the opposite choice from the simit on the previous page, and deliberately: an açma is soft, pale and buttery, and a molasses dip would make it dark and chewy. A light egg wash and a scatter of sesame is all it wants.
6. The flour, yeast, sugar and salt stirred together.
7. The warm milk, 2 eggs and the cooled MELTED butter added and mixed to a soft dough.
8. Kneaded 12 MINUTES until smooth and elastic.
9. Covered and risen 1 HOUR 30 MINUTES until doubled.
10. Divided into 10 pieces.
11. Each piece rolled out to a thin oval about 20 cm long.
12. Smeared with SOFT butter -- not melted -- right to the edges.
13. Rolled up from the long side into a rope, then COILED LOOSELY into a ring with the end TUCKED UNDER.
14. Set well apart on lined trays, covered, and proved 45 MINUTES.
15. Brushed with beaten egg and the sesame scattered over.
16. Baked at 180°C for 18 to 20 MINUTES, until golden and hollow when tapped.
17. TESTED: pulled gently, it should come apart in SHEETS rather than tearing like bread. A uniform crumb means the butter was melted or the coil too tight.
18. Cooled on a rack. Soft for 2 days.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Turkey · All recipes