These fruit pastries can be a nice little dessert after a meal or a great partner with coffee in the morning. I've been having fun making and sharing these and decided they might be nice for people to make during the holidays. They are so pretty, especially with raspberry jam. I've made blackberry and blueberry, too, and they are just as delicious. The dough is a snap to make in your food processor - it takes just a couple of minutes.
The original recipe for these had been torn out of a magazine somewhere (I wish I knew where so I could reference it) but it called for using active dry yeast and proofing the yeast, a step I have done away with long ago. In my version, I make it easier by using instant yeast and simply adding it to the flour - no proofing required. Also, I use salted butter in my version and skip adding salt to the dough.
Using the food processor is a must when making this dough - it is so fast that making doughs like this is amazingly easy. You add the dry ingredients to the processor and blend and then add your chilled butter and liquid ingredients and pulse just until everything comes together in a ball. Done. The dough requires two rests in the fridge of about an hour each, so plan accordingly.
The original recipe was just for pinwheels, but I started experimenting with shapes and came up with these little circular pies, which my husband really liked and were actually a bit easier to make than the pinwheels. The recipe also called for Turbinado sugar on top, but I like to use Swedish sugar - so much prettier and crunchy.
Jam Pastries
for a printable recipe, click here
How many pastries this recipe makes depends on the size and shape you make. If you make 5" pinwheels, it makes about 16.s
(The dough needs to chill in the fridge twice for about an hour each, so plan accordingly.)
dough:
½ cup milk
¼ cup water
¼ cup sugar
1 egg
2.5 cups (or more) of flour
1.5 teaspoons instant yeast (not active dry)
2 sticks salted butter, cubed and chilled
filling:
1 cup fruit jam
glaze:
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons cream
Swedish sugar or Turbinado sugar
Whisk milk, water and sugar together and warm slightly in the microwave for about 25 seconds or on the stove. (Do not heat over 110°F. Hot kills yeast). Add egg and whisk with a fork.
Pulse the flour and yeast in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until coarsely blended. Add liquid mixture through feed tube and pulse until dough comes together. If the dough is too sticky, add another tablespoon of flour and pulse. Form the dough into a disc and wrap in lightly floured plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into an 18"x10" rectangle about ½" thick. Working from a narrow end, fold dough in thirds like a letter. Repeat rolling and folding twice more; wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 hour.
Make the pastries. Heat oven to 350°F. Mix yolk and cream in a bowl and set aside. Line two rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper.
To make pinwheels: On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out. If you want to make larger pinwheels, roll the dough out about ¼" thick and cut dough into 5" squares. If you want to make smaller pinwheels, roll the dough out a little thinner and cut dough into 4" squares. Transfer squares to parchment lined baking sheets. Brush yolk mixture around outside half of square, all the way around. Place about 1 heaping teaspoon of jam in the middle of each square. Slice each corner of squares from tip to about halfway toward center of square. Fold same side of each cut corner up and over jam to make a pinweel shape. (see photos). Brush yolk mixture on top of pinwheels. Sprinkle with Swedish sugar or Turbinado sugar. Bake pinwheels until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Use dough scraps by keeping them wrapped in plastic wrap and rerolling.
To make little pies: On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to a little less than ¼". Cut 3" circles. Brush outside of circle with egg wash. Place about a teaspoon of jam in center. With a fluted pastry cutter, cut 3" strips of dough and lay on top of jam to form a top by weaving the strips. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Bake about 15 minutes, until golden brown. Use dough scraps by keeping them wrapped in plastic wrap and rerolling.
