Puff Pastry Magic
If you're on the go and don't want to go into complicated baking processes, these recipes are for you. One of the best short cut ingredients ever invented is the puff pastry. It has always made baking life easier. I have previously posted the easy recipe for napoleones here and now I have two more recipes using the ever reliable pastry.
CINNAMON WHIRLS
(Tapenade Palmiers)
I copied this recipe from a baking magazine. The French name (which I only discovered while surfing the web) sounds really elegant but as always, there is a simple way to to make it.
I have to say that I find it a bit of a struggle when following British recipes because they use the metric system. I'm used to cups, teaspoons and tablespoons when baking and I don't want to complicate myself with millilitres, grams, pounds, etc. If you'd notice, most of the blogs and websites I follow are Filipino or American, which means that the measurements are pretty straightforward. But when I would inevitably come across the metric system, this is where the iPhone conversion app comes in handy. As this recipe is simple, thank God, there's none of that. As for the other recipes, I have already converted them for your convenience. I just bloody hope I'm right. You see, I'm not really a Math person so I could only do my best.
Ingredients:
1 roll puff pastry, thawed
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground mixed spices
1 medium egg, beaten (to be used as egg wash)
Preheat the oven to 170C. Sprinkle the work surface with sugar then unroll the pastry. Cut vertically in the middle to make two smaller rectangles. Mix cinnamon, spices and sugar. Sprinkle the mixture evenly on both rectangles. Fold the top and bottom edges of the pastry to meet in the middle then sprinkle the mixture on the surface. Fold using the same technique then finally fold the pastry to form a log shape. Repeat the same procedure with the other rectangle. If you don't want to bake them yet, you can freeze the logs for up to one month. To bake, cut into 1 cm slices then place into the baking sheet. Lightly brush each pastry with the beaten egg then sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
*It helps if you're able to roll the pastry and flatten it before cutting. I don't have a rolling pin yet so I was not able to do this. The result was a more puffed up pastry than the actual pictures in the magazine.
CHEESE DANISH
This is a recipe I got after watching another episode of Barefoot Contessa. I loved this more than the cinnamon pastry. The secret in the cheese filling is the lemon which adds to the flavor. I also cut the pastry smaller than the original recipe because I think the size of the finished product was a bit bigger for me. Unfortunately, I still had some left-over filling after I used up all of my puff pasty (even when I cut them in smaller pieces) so I used it to fill a ready-made flan case and baked it. And how about the remaining ricotta cheese? Still have no idea. Watch this space.
Ingredients:
1 roll puff pastry, thawed
200 g Philadelphia soft cheese
1/3 c sugar
2 tbsp ricotta cheese
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp grated lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
1 egg beated with 1 tbsp water for egg wash
Preheat oven to 170C. Line the baking pan with parchment paper. Cream the soft cheese and sugar together.
Add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla and lemon zest. Lightly flour the working area and place puff pastry. Roll the pastry if you have a rolling pin. Cut into quarters and cut each quarter into halves. Place a big tablespoonful of the filling into the middle of each pastry. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash then fold two opposite corners to the center. Brush the overlapping ends to seal as well as the top of each pastry. Place the pastries on the baking pan and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Bake the pastries for 20 minutes or until puffed and brown. Serve warm.
*Same with the above, did not roll and flatten the pastry. As we were beating time (and we were both hungry), I did refrigerate the pastries before baking them. I think these two steps are essential so that the pastries do not come out too puffed out.
CINNAMON WHIRLS
(Tapenade Palmiers)
I copied this recipe from a baking magazine. The French name (which I only discovered while surfing the web) sounds really elegant but as always, there is a simple way to to make it.
I have to say that I find it a bit of a struggle when following British recipes because they use the metric system. I'm used to cups, teaspoons and tablespoons when baking and I don't want to complicate myself with millilitres, grams, pounds, etc. If you'd notice, most of the blogs and websites I follow are Filipino or American, which means that the measurements are pretty straightforward. But when I would inevitably come across the metric system, this is where the iPhone conversion app comes in handy. As this recipe is simple, thank God, there's none of that. As for the other recipes, I have already converted them for your convenience. I just bloody hope I'm right. You see, I'm not really a Math person so I could only do my best.
Ingredients:
1 roll puff pastry, thawed
3 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground mixed spices
1 medium egg, beaten (to be used as egg wash)
Preheat the oven to 170C. Sprinkle the work surface with sugar then unroll the pastry. Cut vertically in the middle to make two smaller rectangles. Mix cinnamon, spices and sugar. Sprinkle the mixture evenly on both rectangles. Fold the top and bottom edges of the pastry to meet in the middle then sprinkle the mixture on the surface. Fold using the same technique then finally fold the pastry to form a log shape. Repeat the same procedure with the other rectangle. If you don't want to bake them yet, you can freeze the logs for up to one month. To bake, cut into 1 cm slices then place into the baking sheet. Lightly brush each pastry with the beaten egg then sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
*It helps if you're able to roll the pastry and flatten it before cutting. I don't have a rolling pin yet so I was not able to do this. The result was a more puffed up pastry than the actual pictures in the magazine.
CHEESE DANISH
This is a recipe I got after watching another episode of Barefoot Contessa. I loved this more than the cinnamon pastry. The secret in the cheese filling is the lemon which adds to the flavor. I also cut the pastry smaller than the original recipe because I think the size of the finished product was a bit bigger for me. Unfortunately, I still had some left-over filling after I used up all of my puff pasty (even when I cut them in smaller pieces) so I used it to fill a ready-made flan case and baked it. And how about the remaining ricotta cheese? Still have no idea. Watch this space.
Ingredients:
1 roll puff pastry, thawed
200 g Philadelphia soft cheese
1/3 c sugar
2 tbsp ricotta cheese
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp grated lemon zest (about 2 lemons)
1 egg beated with 1 tbsp water for egg wash
Preheat oven to 170C. Line the baking pan with parchment paper. Cream the soft cheese and sugar together.
Add the egg yolks, ricotta, vanilla and lemon zest. Lightly flour the working area and place puff pastry. Roll the pastry if you have a rolling pin. Cut into quarters and cut each quarter into halves. Place a big tablespoonful of the filling into the middle of each pastry. Brush the border of each pastry with egg wash then fold two opposite corners to the center. Brush the overlapping ends to seal as well as the top of each pastry. Place the pastries on the baking pan and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Bake the pastries for 20 minutes or until puffed and brown. Serve warm.
*Same with the above, did not roll and flatten the pastry. As we were beating time (and we were both hungry), I did refrigerate the pastries before baking them. I think these two steps are essential so that the pastries do not come out too puffed out.
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| What I did with the left over cheese Danish filling |
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