Bulgaria: vegan tikvenik

For today’s visit to Bulgaria, we bake vegan tikvenik. Tikvenik is a traditional pumpkin and phyllo dough pastry spiced with cinnamon and often eaten at Christmas. The multiple layers of crispy phyllo dough, the cinnamon and the sweetness create a dish that reminds me a lot of baklava but with a pumpkin twist. Read on to learn more about Bulgarian cuisine and tikvenik or jump straight to the recipe.

Bulgarian cuisine

Bulgaria is a country in the Balkans and lies on the Black Sea. Interestingly, Bulgaria lies at the border between several subregions. According to the UN Statistics Division (which I use for this blog), the country lies in Eastern Europe. Its eastern neighbour Turkey lies in West Asia and Bulgaria’s western neighbour, Serbia, lies in Southern Europe. This region starts to feel a bit similar, seeing how we have already visited 3 of Bulgaria’s neighbours for this blog (Turkey, Romania, and Serbia).

The Balkans is an area with plenty of agriculture and Bulgaria is no exception ​[1]–[3]​. Fresh fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, sweet peppers, eggplant, and cucumber are combined with dill, parsley, mint and other herbs. Dairy, in particular yoghurt and local cheeses, are very popular ​[3]​. Meat from many animals is also featured heavily.

Bulgarian dishes

The country’s cuisine is typical of the region and has many influences from its many neighbours. Mediterranean dishes, Balkan classics, Ottoman delicacies and Middle Eastern specialities all combine to create a rich cuisine ​[1]–[4]​. Popular dishes include kyufte (meatballs), kebapche (kebab skewers), moussaka, and stuffed sweet peppers. Tarator is a cold yoghurt soup which sounds a lot like tzatziki: yoghurt, cucumber, dill and garlic are mixed together. Salads, like shopska salad with plenty of fresh cucumbers, tomatoes and Bulgarian cheese, are popular as are different soups, referred to as chorba.

Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman Empire for some 500 years (14th to 19th century) ​[5]​. One of the many culinary contributions from this era is the phyllo dough ​[2]​. Extremely thin layers of dough are used to create both savoury dishes and sweet pastries. Burek or börek, which we cooked when visiting neighbouring Serbia, is very popular in Bulgaria as well. Banitsa is a breakfast dish with eggs, cheese and yoghurt rolled in phyllo dough layers. The famous regional phyllo dough pastry baklava is made by layering phyllo dough with honey, nuts and spices like cinnamon before baking. Another popular phyllo dough-based pastry is the tikvenik, a pumpkin and walnut stuffed dessert that is often eaten on Christmas Eve ​[6]​.

Tikvenik – a phyllo dough pumpkin pastry

Tikvenik is a Bulgarian phyllo dough pumpkin pastry where grated pumpkin is mixed with spices and sugar and wrapped in phyllo dough sheets before being baked. The pastry or pie is often served at Christmas but is also eaten year round.

After looking at several recipe versions, both written and on Youtube, I found that the base recipe is very similar in most cases but there are a few small variations​[7]–[14]​. The basic recipe uses two sheets of phyllo dough brushed with oil as a base. Grated butternut squash is then sprinkled over the dough in small mounds followed by sugar, cinnamon and crushed walnuts. The dough is then rolled up similar to how you make cinnamon rolls and then the roll is bent or rolled into a pie form, creating a spiral pie similar to the burek we made for Serbia. Brush with oil before baking.

Despite referring to it as a pumpkin, all recipes I came across that showed pictures/footage of their ingredients used butternut squash so that is what I’m using here. One recipe calls for cooking the grated butternut squash with sugar and spices before adding it to the roll ​[13], [14]​. Another cook mixes sugar and grated butternut squash to extract water by squeezing (similar to how you often salt cabbage) ​[12]​. Some other minor variations include adding nutmeg, ginger and cloves as well as cinnamon ​[13]​ or omitting spices and nuts ​[12]​. Some people also prefer to bake the tikvenik in straight rolls ​[11], [14]​ to create multiple, personal pies instead of a shared, spiral pie. Some recipes call for dusting with powdered sugar ​[7], [9], [10]​, one for pouring on simple syrup (sugar and water) ​[12]​ while many just enjoy the tikvenik straight out of the oven.

Vegan tikvenik recipe

Veganizing the traditional tikvenik recipes is very easy. While some recipes call for butter ​[7], [13], [14]​, most use plain oil to brush. For the phyllo dough, a few recipes use butter while others simply use oil. I would highly recommend buying ready-made phyllo dough from the freezer section in your grocery store. Chances are you can find an accidentally vegan version. Here in Canada, President’s Choice phyllo dough is vegan (but do double-check).

Conclusion

I must admit that I was a bit sceptical about tikvenik before I made it. To me, pumpkin and butternut squash are best used in savoury dishes and North American pumpkin pie is hit or miss. Sometimes it is great but sometimes it is too pumpkin-y for my taste. But vegan tikvenik strikes a great balance. You get a bit of pumpkin flavour without it being too much. And you get sweetness, phyllo dough crunchiness and great nutty flavours from the walnuts. I also went quite heavy with cinnamon because I quite like it. Another point in favour of this vegan tikvenik is that the substitutions required to veganize the original dish are very minor.

The overall result reminded me greatly of baklava with a touch of pumpkin. Delicious.

Vegan tikvenik recipe

Print

Vegan tikvenik

Tikvenik is a Bulgarian phyllo dough pumpkin pie with cinnamon and walnuts. It is often eaten for Christmas. This vegan version makes no sacrifices, as most tikvenik recipes are already vegan.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Balkan, Bulgarian, Eastern European

Keyword Christmas, holiday, pumpkin

Servings 1 20 cm pie

Ingredients

• 6 sheets Phyllo dough Many brands are vegan
• 250 g Pumpkin or butternut squash, grated weight without peel
• 6-9 tbsp Granulated sugar
• 3 tsp Cinnamon
• 75 g Walnuts, crushed
• 5 tbsp Oil, e.g. canola
• Powdered sugar, for decoration

Instructions

• Set oven to 180°C (350 °F)
• Brush a 20 cm round, oven-proof dish with oil.
• Grate the pumpkin. Tip: grate what you need as you need it to make it easier to save the leftovers for another dish.
• Roll out two sheets of phyllo dough. Brush with 1 tbsp oil or more if needed.
• Sprinkle phyllo dough with grated pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon and crushed walnuts.
• Roll into a roll, starting at the long side.
• Place the roll into the oven-proof dish, starting to make a spiral. You can start at the outer edge or centre.
• Continue making rolls and placing them into the dish until the dish is full. For a 20 cm pie form, 3 rolls is a good number.
• Brush pie with oil and bake at 180 °C (350 °F) for 20-40 minutes, until crispy and golden brown.
• Let the tikvenik cool somewhat and dust with caster sugar. Serve warm.

References