Tag Archives: pastry

Sweet Palmiers

Recipe, WBIAGW, , , , , , ,

Today I’ve cooked up a batch of these for a BBQ were having tomorrow, the recipe is one I learned on my “Creative Canapes” class while on.honeymoon in Tideswell.

They’re delicious on their own, with a cup of tea or as a side to a creamy custard dessert.

Sweet Palmiers

200g Puff Pastry
60g sugar (it doesn’t matter if it’s granulated or caster, I used golden caster for these)
Half teaspoon cinnamon
One egg beaten
Water

Pre heat your oven to gas mark 6 abs then start by rolling your pastry on a lightly floured surface. You’re looking to roll a rectangle approximately 30cm x 15-20cm and 3mm thick (about as thick as a pound coin)

Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl, make sure it’s well combined and there are no lumps of spice.

Brush your pastry with the egg abs then evenly sprinkle the sugar & cinnamon over the entire surface. Once covered use your rolling pin and lightly roll over the surface to help the sugar stick to the pastry and sprinkle with water.

With the pastry laid out landscape in front of you with a sharp knife gently score 6 even strips along the length….I find this easiest to approximate the centre of the pastry and start there, score a line and then you know you need two lines above and two below equal distances apart.

Now, take the top section of pastry and fold it down over the next section down, do the same with the bottom section, folding it up over the next part. Brush the freshly exposed pastry with water and then repeat the folding to get the pastry to meet in the middle. Brush this too with water and then fold it over itself one last time.

Chill for 10-15 minutes… this really helps with the next step as if it’s not chilled it’s too squishy.

Lightly grease and sprinkle with water a baking tray.

Lay out the freshly cooled roll on a lightly floured surface and slice into 5mm thick pieces.

Evenly space these out flat on the tray squashing them slightly with the palm of your hand as you go.

Bake for about 8 mins, or until golden. Leave on a wire rack to cool.

These store well in an air tight container 2-3 days….. but in our house they never last that long.

These could also be made by mixing powdered ginger into the sugar in place of the cinnamon. Or you could use chocolate paste in place of both…. Or make them savoury by using pesto or tomato sauce… the possibilities are endless!

Cheat Use store bought puff pastry because there’s not enough hours in the day to be making my own all the time.

Vegetable Pastry Slice

Recipe, WBIAGW, , , , , , ,

Last night I had my friend Catherine over for dinner and it gave me the opportunity to try out a variation of a recipe I’d read online a while ago.

I hadn’t got all the veg in the house that I remember was in the original but I had enough that I thought it would work.

Here’s what I made

Vegetable Pastry Slice
(Makes 4 slices)

image

One pack of pre rolled puff pastry
2 red onions
1 red peppers
8-12 Cherry tomatoes
Some  Mushrooms
Roasted red pepper pesto
Mozzarella
Cheddar

Take the pastry out of the fridge before you start, that way it will have warmed slightly be less cold before you’re ready for it and is less likely to crack when you unroll from the pack.

Pre heat oven to Gas mark 6 (or whatever that equates to in °c/°f)

Peel and quarter the onions and separate the layers and slice the peppers.

Chop mushrooms into quarters.

Heat some olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan and throw in the veg, after a couple of minutes throw in the mushrooms and either 2 or 3 cherry tomatoes per slice (dependant on taste). Remove pan from the heat when the veg is starting to look charred and the tomatoes soft.

Unroll the pastry, lie flat and cut into quarters.

Now take a sharp knife and score a line all the way around the rectangle about 1cm in from the edge being sure not to cut all the way through. (Don’t worry if you do a little in parts turn the pastry and smooth with your finger to rejoin the edges), and place on a baking tray.

Using the score lines as a guide spread the pesto over the inside of the slice.

Now spoon the vegetable mix equally on top of the pesto.

Milk or egg wash the visible pastry and put on the top shelf of the oven.

Cook for approx 10 mins or until the pastry is starting to puff.

Remove from the oven and crumble the mozzarella and as much grated cheddar as you like over the veg.

Season with black pepper and return to the oven for 5 minutes, or until the pastry has browned and the cheese melted.

Finish with a couple of leaves of fresh basil.

I served these with rocket, cherry tomatoes and olives with a balsamic dressing.

Variations, I think this would work with roast vegetables too and I’m planning on trying a similar method with ham, asparagus and cheese. In fact I think you could use this method to top the pastry with just about anything!

With thanks to our friend Jez Turner for the mozzarella, made with his fair hand.