Bird's Nests Pastries *RECIPE*
Have you ever walked into a bakery and wished you could make those sweets at home?
Bird's Nests
I remember visiting Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn as a kid and marveling at the wonderful Middle Eastern desserts in many of the shops in that colorful neighborhood. My own grandmother, my Sitto, often made these pastries and it seemed to me that she spent a long time preparing them.
Years later, after making Sitto’s traditional recipes many times, I began to hear from younger cooks or fledgling bakers who wished there was an easier way to make these unique and luscious desserts.
One of those treats is called “Bird’s Nests.” The traditional method is to use a sheet of phyllo pastry and wind it around a long-handled spoon or dowel and then shirr the ends together. As I watched those experienced Syrian women, they’d slide the shirred pastry off the dowel and then crimp it into a circle, overlapping the bottom to form a bird’s nest. It was then ready to fill with chopped sweetened nuts, baked and drizzled with homemade syrup called “Shirreh.”
I thought that an easier way to introduce newcomers to this Syrian sweet was to try the convenient puff pastry for a similar result. I hope you try this. I know you’ll get smiles from family and friends!
Middle Eastern Bird’s Nests
1 Recipe Simple Syrup, Shirreh
1 Box Frozen Puff Pastry
1 Cup Pistachio Nuts, shelled, finely ground (walnuts are an option)
¼ Cup Sugar
1 Teaspoon Orange Blossom or Rose Water, or to taste
Prepare the Simple Syrup Recipe: Combine 2 cups sugar and ¾ cup water. Simmer covered for 5 minutes. Uncover, add a teaspoon of lemon juice and continue simmering until somewhat thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and add a teaspoon of Orange Blossom or Rose Water flavoring. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Bake the pastry per package directions and remove the tops for other use.
While the pastry bakes, mix the ground nuts, sugar and flavoring. Spoon the nut mixture into the baked, still warm, pastries. Drizzle with the Simple Syrup and serve immediately. Add fresh berries as a colorful contemporary option.