Tag Archives: puff pastry

Spinach-Cheese Swirls

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These little puffs of spinach and cheese were a complete hit. The swirls were buttery, flakey and full of cheese flavors. The vegetarians and non-veggies were all pretty pleased.

Adapted from Pepperidge Farm

  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp. water
  • 1/2 cup Laughing Cow cheese
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1/8 tsp. garlic powder
  • All-purpose flour
  • 1/8 tsp white pepper
  • 1/8 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 17.3-ounce package Pepperidge Farm® Puff Pastry Sheets (2 sheets), thawed
  • 1 pkg. (about 10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained

Heat the oven to 400°F.  Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.

Stir the Laughing Cow cheese, Parmesan cheese, onion, pepper and garlic powder in a medium bowl.

Sprinkle the flour on the work surface.  Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface.  Brush the pastry sheet with the egg mixture.  Top with the cheese mixture and spinach.  Starting at a short side, roll up like a jelly roll. Cut into about 40 (1/2-inch) slices.  Place the slices, cut-side down, onto 2 baking sheets.  Brush the slices with the egg mixture. Freeze swirls for 1 hour or refridgerate for 3 hours.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.  Remove the pastries from the baking sheets and let cool for 10 minutes.

For best results, make sure to remove as much liquid as you can from the spinach before adding it to the pastry. If it’s too wet, it may make the pastry soggy.

Quick and Easy Apple Tart

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I love the rustic nature of these tarts. We took a few apples, got our mandolin out, pumped up some tunes from Fiona Apple’s new cd and we were ready to slice and puff.

The puff pastry and the thinly sliced apples have a bit of tang from the lemon and are glazed in the natural apple juice and brown sugar. The extra crunch from the turbinado sugar provides another level of texture. The tart is unbelievably simple to make and really provides a wow factor at a dinner party or for tea.

Adapted from Pioneer Woman

  • 1 whole Sheet Puffed Pastry, Cut Into Half Or Thirds
  • 4 Apples, Cored, Halved, And Sliced, But Not Peeled
  • 1 cup Brown Sugar
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt
  • ¼ cup turbinado or sugar in the raw
  • juice of one lemon

Preheat oven to 410 degrees.

Put pastry rectangles onto a baking pan (greased with a bit of butter). Add sugar and salt to the cored and peeled apples. Squeeze juice of one lemon. Stir to combine. Allow to sit for a few minutes and the sugar and juice to marinate.

Arrange apple slices on the pastry in a straight line, overlapping as you go. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of the apple tart. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden brown.

Cool and serve.

Brie En Croute (Baked Brie)

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Rich brie encased in a blanket of flakey golden pastry is a great appetizer for bit of French luxury on any night. I love the variations one can of baked brie, for savory include rosemary or thyme sprigs and for sweet, add fig jam or raspberry preserves. I’ve also added pear to a pear and brie turnover, which was a hit.

Baked Brie is also solid for a Superbowl Party. Go Pats! Other suggestions include Grape Jelly Turkey Meatballs, Crab Cakes, Pigs in a Blanket, Mexican Corn on the Cob, Egg Rolls, Lavash Pizza, Spicy Mayo BLT and for a little sweet snack Caramel Crispix Mix.

Adapted from Pepperidge Farm 

  • 1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package Puff Pastry Sheets (1 sheet), thawed according to package directions
  • 1 (8-ounce) Brie cheese wedge or round
  • 1 egg

Heat the oven to 400°F. Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Place the cheese in the center. Fold the pastry up over the cheese to cover. Trim the excess pastry and press to seal. Reserve the pastry scraps for decoration.

Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork or whisk. Brush the seam of the pastry with the egg mixture. Place seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Decorate with the pastry scraps, if desired. Brush with the egg mixture.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Melted brie en croute with a touch of raspberry preserves

Cheese Puffs

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I am not sure if this is the easiest or laziest appetizer one could ever make. Three ingredients for cheese puffs, puff pastry, cooking spray and grated cheddar cheese. Either way, the recipe yields buttery puff and layers of gooey cheese and bits of harder crispy cheddar on the outside.

  • 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, 1/2 (17.3-ounce) package
  • 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
  • Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Thaw the pastry sheet at room temperature covered by a clean kitchen cloth, about 30 minutes.

Roll a 1 inch ball of dough with grated cheese. Fold some cheese into the center and the exterior of the puff pastry. Transfer to the prepared muffin tin. Bake until light golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheets until cool enough to handle. Serve either warm or at room temperature.

Portuguese Egg Tarts

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Throughout our childhood, we have had countless Chinese egg tarts. Recently, we wanted to try making Portuguese Egg Tarts. A Portuguese Egg Tart has many similarities to Chinese egg tarts and the origins of Portuguese tarts are from Macau, a Portuguese colony.

We made the tart crust with puff pastry, versus a shortening based crust. We were surprised how easy they were to make because of the puff shortcut. We realized the egg tart should be more bruleed, which can be achieved by using the broil setting for a few minutes.

Adapted from Edible Garden and Rasa Malaysia

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar (I would use slightly lesser than this next time)
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/4 cup of heavy cream
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 block of puff pastry sheet

Thaw the puff pastry sheet  for 40 minutes and roll to about 1/2″ thickness on a floured surface. Roll it from the width-side tightly and cut into small discs. Roll each disc (flouring the surface sufficiently) to the rough size of the muffin tray.

Grease a muffin tray and pre heat oven to 350F.

Microwave milk and cream in microwave for 2 minutes. Whisk sugar into the milk mixture until dissolved. Place the egg yolks one at a time into the liquid mixture and then the vanilla.

Lay each rolled out disc into the muffin tray, pour the cooled custard to about 3/4 level and bake for about 20 mins.

The custard will bubble up during baking. Turn the broil function on for 3 minutes to brown the Portuguese egg tart.

Whisking the egg into the milk, cream and sugar mixture.

Cutting circular rounds of puffPress puff circles into greased muffin tin.

Fill custard almost the way to the top.

The warm, freshly baked Portuguese tarts.