“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
Martin Luther
Day before yesterday did not begin in a good way. I woke up to find the fridge wasn’t as cold as it was supposed to be. Big S I G H … what an arduous task when I had my hands full with so much already. Transfer, spring clean, clear … and stuff the other fridge to the gills. The upside of course was the urgency to use up my frozen puff pastry which was saved up for a rainy day! Another positive was that the fridge repair man showed up within 6 hours, was a gem, fixed the fault in 10 minutes … Woot!!
I had made the puff pastry from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook a couple of weeks ago, and it was time I used it up, so I was back to Google for ideas. Saw turnovers, pop tarts, pies … and so much sweet and savoury ‘puff pastry deliciousness’ online. Also found Tarte Tatins that the boy has been on my case to make ever since he saw Meryl Streep making it in Julie & Julia! But then I saw a Dorie Greenspan ‘Flaky Apple Turnovers‘ recipe on Cream Puffs in Venice, and I knew this is just what I wanted to make…
… Dorie Greenspans adapted apple filling would happily be parceled into the Ottolenghis puff pastry. What a great meeting of 2 great cookbooks, and authors I admire. If you have the pastry ready, the rest is done in a matter of minutes. The filling is simply tossed together so that the apples are nicely coated with the flour mix. There was some butter in Dories recipe, which I completely forgot about, but we didn’t miss it in these classic and quintessential parcels. This is a simple, yet delicious sweet vegetarian pastry, good for breakfast, good for a snack … and also great for dessert. I gave it a low fat cream glaze… you can give it an egg white or yolk glaze, or maybe a milk glaze.
Puff pastry is a very versatile pastry to have on hand. A quick search online throws up infinite ways in which to use this delightful pastry. making it at home is a breeze. Do bear in mind the weather has to be cool, or cold. Summer heat and the butter will ooze out leaving you in a puddle of despair, crying copious tears. I’ve been there, so I know. For me here in North India, this is a winter pastry, indulgent and full of promise.
I did some puff pastry savoury swirls for someone yesterday, and they were winners. That post will be here soon too. Am already missing the luxury of puff pastry sitting in the fridge/freezer, and can see myself making another batch pretty soon. Yay winter, and yay Ottolenghi! Do you make your own puff pastry, or do you buy ready-made? Just curious. I have no choice but to make it; yet it isn’t as daunting as I thought it was!
More ‘Fruit in Baking‘, a passion for me as you might know, so this is also headed for this months Monthly Mingle that I am guest hosting for my spicy-sweet friend Meeta. If you are BAKING WITH FRUIT this month, do send it in to Monthly Mingle posted HERE.
Apple Cinnamon Walnut Parcels
1/2 quantity puff pastry {recipe follows}
Apple Filling {recipe follows}
Milk/Cream for glazing
Rough Puff Pastry
from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook, pg 281
{I used half portion of pastry for this recipe. I’ve used it previously in peach galettes this past summer}
300gm plain flour
1 tsp salt
180g unsalted butter, frozen
140ml ice cold water
Method for pastry:
Sift the flour and salt. Grate 80g of the frozen butter into this and mix lightly.Add the cold water, using a knife, stir the flour and water together until a dough begins to form. Now use your hands to bring it into a ball {You might need a little more water}. Press into a neat square, wrap it in cling film, and chill for 30 minutes.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle with a long edge 3 times its width. Grate the remaining butter and spread it evenly over 2/3rds of the rectangle.Take the third which is not sprinkled, and fold it over the middle of the buttered part, then fold the two layers over the remaining single layer. You will be left with 3 layers of pastry and 2 layers of butter separating them.
Turn the pastry by 90 degrees. Dust with flour and roll out into same proportions as first rectangle.Take one of the short sides and fold it over to reach the middle of the remaining part of the pastry. Fold the remaining third on top of the first one to get 3 layers on top of each other. Wrap pastry in cling film and chill for 30 minutes.
Repeat again 2 more times, and chill for at least an hour. The pastry will keep in the fridge for 4 days, and in the freezer for a month.
Filling:
Adapted from Baking:From My Home to Yours, Dorie Greenspan.
2 apples, chopped apples
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries/raisins
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp flour
Method:
Toss all the ingredients together and make sure the apples pieces are well coated with the flour.
Making the parcels:
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Roll out the puff pastry thin, trim the edges, and cut into 6 equal squares.
Place about 1-2 tbsp of the apple filling in the centre of each. Draw the four edges up to the centre, using a drop of cream to seal the corners when they meet. Place the trimmings on top of each other, gently press together, and cut out small hearts if you like. Stick the heart to the top with a drop of cream. {Don’t over stuff the parcels or they might pop open while baking}
Brush the tops of th pastry with milk/light cream, sprinkle with vanilla sugar, and bake at 180C for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and puffy. Transfer onto a cooling rack.
Serve warm maybe with a drizzle of unsweetened light cream.♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥
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Also find me on The Rabid Baker, The Times of India
They obviously knew what they were talking about! This pastry is entirely captivating, simple & fun… all you gotta do is get the weather right! Knowing I was heading for trouble, I tried it thrice, & didn’t get very far in the puffs department. The taste department was amazing though! Do stop by at 
I got the better of the Daring Baker challenge for September halfway through the month, or so I thought I did. I really really love puff pastry, and this has got to be the best I’ve tried. Well, the best given the temperature & weather conditions. Didn’t manage the beautiful puffs that should have been achieved, but blame that on oozing butter & panicky situations. I tried it a second time again, with tips flying thick in secret direct messages across twitter, but obviously butter will melt if the weather is hot, and this ain’t no rocket science! 
With the temperatures still wildly fluctuating & heading straight back into the 37C’s range, AND given that we have suddenly encountered massive butter shortages in the market (why this month?), I chose to make half the pastry dough. By then time the butter began oozing crazily all over the place, panic struck. I forgot all counts of the number of turns etc & made the fridge my best friend as Steph said. Yes, the fridge is the only person to count on when making puff pastry. 
This is an absolutely beautiful pastry to make. the dough is a breeze, especially if you have a processor. It’s done in a matter of minutes, which you can cut down even further if you just look at the 
Should I have read the writing on the wall? Ho hum … there I was again that very night, whirring puff pastry in the processor for second time, while the family sat watching Bourne Supremacy! I guess I was trying to achieve puff supremacy…well it didn’t quite happen. The second time around was a bit better, marginally I might say. There was a third attempt too…oh well never mind! Did get some more ‘ PUFFS’ but will have to wait for better weather to get to the real thing. 
The second time around, made some more 
Chocolate 
