Georgian Dessert

Kada

Kada is a Georgian layered pastry filled with buttery toasted flour and sugar, baked until crisp outside and tender within. This version uses measured ingredients, clear visual cues and the traditional flavour balance that makes the dish distinctive.

Jump to recipe More Georgian food
35 minsPrep time
30 minsCook time
Serves 10Servings
MediumDifficulty
Kada
About this dish

Kada: the story on the plate

Kada is a Georgian dessert with a clear sense of place. Kada, also spelled qada or gata in related regional traditions, is a Georgian sweet pastry built around a distinctive toasted-flour and butter filling rather than fruit or custard. The recipe below keeps the defining ingredients and technique intact while giving practical metric quantities and enough detail for a home cook to judge texture, seasoning and doneness rather than simply follow a timer.

Historical background

Kada, also spelled qada or gata in related regional traditions, is a Georgian sweet pastry built around a distinctive toasted-flour and butter filling rather than fruit or custard.

Why it is famous

It reflects the shared pastry traditions of the Caucasus while retaining local variations in shape, richness and flavouring.

Cultural significance

It reflects the shared pastry traditions of the Caucasus while retaining local variations in shape, richness and flavouring.

Nutrition

Estimated nutrition per serving

These figures are estimates per serving. Actual nutrition can vary with the brands and exact amounts you use, how much oil, dressing or sauce is absorbed, any substitutions or added extras, and the portion size served.

A practical guide for comparing recipes and planning meals.

390Calories
7gProtein
43gCarbs
22gFat
Ingredients

What you need

  • 420 plain flour
  • 180 cold butter, cubed
  • 180 soured cream or plain yoghurt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 baking powder
  • 0.5 fine salt
  • 120 plain flour, for filling
  • 90 butter, for filling
  • 120 caster sugar
  • 1 vanilla
  • 1 egg yolk, for glaze
Method

Step-by-step method

Follow the recipe in order, tasting and adjusting seasoning where needed.

  1. Rub or pulse 420 g flour with 180 g cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in soured cream, egg, baking powder and salt just until a dough forms; chill 30 minutes.
  2. For the filling, melt 90 g butter in a frying pan, add 120 g flour and cook over medium-low heat for 5–7 minutes until it smells nutty and turns pale gold. Cool slightly, then mix in sugar and vanilla.
  3. Roll the chilled dough into a rectangle about 5 mm thick. Spread the crumbly toasted-flour filling evenly over it, leaving a 2 cm border.
  4. Roll up firmly from a long edge like a Swiss roll. Flatten the log slightly and cut into 10 thick pieces, or shape into one large coiled pastry if preferred.
  5. Arrange cut-side up on a lined tray, brush lightly with egg yolk beaten with a teaspoon of water and bake at 190°C for 25–30 minutes until richly golden.
  6. Cool for at least 20 minutes before serving. The filling firms as it cools and the buttery layers become easier to distinguish.
Cook smarter

Tips, storage and serving advice

Shopping tips

If sulguni is unavailable, blend low-moisture mozzarella with feta for stretch plus tang. Fresh coriander and tarragon matter; stale dried herbs will not recreate the brightness of Georgian food. Check labels on compound ingredients such as sauces, spice blends, stocks, kimchi, fermented pastes and prepared breads when cooking for allergies.

Ingredient quality

For Kada, prioritise fresh or properly stored versions of plain flour, cold butter, soured cream or plain yoghurt, egg; speciality seasonings should smell vivid rather than stale.

Common mistakes

Overworking dough makes it tough; hot filling melts the dough butter; under-toasting the filling leaves a raw flour taste.

Chef’s tips

Cool the filling before assembly and stop mixing the pastry dough as soon as it holds together.

How to know it is cooked

Pastry is deep golden, base is dry and the centre shows distinct cooked layers rather than wet dough.

Plating advice

Serve thick slices slightly overlapped on a simple plate.

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