Apricot Fried Pies

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Ingredients:

1/2 recipe rough puff pastry

5 apricots

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Confectioner's sugar for dusting

Preparation:

Remove stones from apricots and dice.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar and stir.  Let set.

Roll out pastry to 1/8 inch thick.  Cut out 4" or 5" rounds.  Roll rounds paper thin.  Place a tablespoon of apricots in center of round.  Moisten edges and fold in half.  Press with fingers or fork to seal well.  Chill pies for at least 30 minutes.

Place an inch of oil in heavy bottomed pan (i.e. cast iron).  Heat oil to 365 degrees.  Place a few pies in oil and fry until golden brown turning as necessary.  Drain on rack and dust with confectioner's sugar.  Serve while still warm.

Variation:

Pies may be baked in a 400 degree oven on a parchment lined baking sheet until puffed and golden brown.  Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar while warm.

History:

As a child my grandmother made apricot fried pies when my uncle's tree over produced apricots.  While searching for a recipe for these pies, I was surprised to find that "fried pies" are a Texan specialty.  My grandmother and mother were from Texas.

Pasteis de Nata

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Makes 12 Tartes.

Ingredients:

For the rough puff pastry:

150 gr. all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

25 gr. unsalted butter, chilled and diced

50-75 ml chilled water

60 gr unsalted butter, frozen

For the custard:

375 ml whole milk

45 gr. all-purpose flour

2 strips of lemon zest

1 cinnamon stick

375 gr. confectioner's sugar

7 large egg yolks

Preparation:

For the pastry, mix the flour and salt together in a bowl.  Rub in the chilled butter, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Gradually add enough chilled water (about 4-6 tablespoons) to form a dough. 

Roll out the dough to a rectangle on a lightly floured work surface.  Grate half of the frozen butter over the bottom two thirds of the dough.  Fold down the top third and fold up the bottom third as if folding a letter.

Turn the folded dough 90 degrees and roll it out into a rectangle again.  Repeat the process and grate the remaining frozen butter on two-thirds of the dough and fold as before.  Wrap the dough in cling wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll and fold the pastry twice more, each time wrapping the dough in cling wrap and leaving it to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface to a rectangle measuring 8" by 12".  Roll up the pastry tightly, from the short side, into a log and cut the log into 12 equal discs.

Place 1 disc into the cup of the muffin tin, swirl-side up.  Using wet fingers, carefully press the pastry up the sides with your fingers, working from the center outwards, until the pastry just pokes over the top.  Repeat with the remaining pastry discs.  Chill for 20 minutes.

For the custard, pour the milk into a pan and whisk in the flour.  Add the strips of lemon zest and the cinnamon stick.  Bring to a simmer over low heat, whisking continuously.  Cook for 2-3 minutes until thick.  Remove from heat.

Dissolve the sugar in 185 ml of water in a small pan over a low heat.  Then, increase the heat and boil until a drop of syrup placed in a glass of water forms a thread (or it reaches 106 - 112 degrees C on a candy thermometer).  Gradually whisk the boiling syrup into the milk mixture.

Put the egg yolks in a large bowl and strain the milk mixture over the top, whisking to combine.  Cover the surface with cling wrap and leave to cool to room temperature. Once cooled, remove the lemon zest and cinnamon stick.

Heat the oven to 475 degrees (don't use convection).  Pour the custard into the pastry cases, leaving a 1/4 inch gap at the top, then bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until the pastry is golden and crisp and the custard is bubbling with tiny brown spots on top.

Cool the tarts in the tins for 5 minutes, then gently transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

History:

Recipe comes from the Great British Bake Off.

Puits d'Amour (Wells of Love)Makes 9 Pastries

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Ingredients:

For the Rough Puff:

165 gr. all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

115 gr. unsalted butter, frozen

6 to 7 tablespoons cold water

For the Compote:

250 gr. (8 oz.) strawberries, hulled

25 gr. confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

50 gr. (2 oz.) raspberries

For the Crème Patisserie:

1 cup whole milk

1/2 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped

2/3 cup granulated sugar

3 large egg yolks

3 Tablespoons AP flour

4 1/2 teaspoon turbinado sugar, ground (for Brulee)

For the Choux Pastry:
1 cup water
1 cup flour
4 ounces butter
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. sugar
1 cup of eggs (4-5), beaten

Beaten egg for brushing

Nibbed sugar for sprinkling

Preparation:

Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.  Have available a 10 cm (4 inch) round cutter, large piping bag, 1 cm (0.4 inch) plain nozzle and a kitchen blowtorch.

Make the pastry.  In a large bowl mix the flour and salt together.  Using the course side of a cheese grater, grate long lengths of the frozen butter onto the flour.  Mix with a palette or butter knife. 

Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of the chilled water into the bowl and, using the knife, mix until the dough begins to hold together.  Quickly bring the pastry together with a floured hand.  (Add the remaining water, if necessary, to bring it into a soft, single lump.)  Shape into a flat rectangle of about 4 x 6 inches.  Wrap iin cling wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

Unwrap the pastry and place on a lightly floured worktable.  Roll into a narrow rectangle of about 5 x 14 inches.  With the short end of the pastry closest to you, fold up the bottom third of the pastry onto the

middle third. then the top third down, as if you were folding a letter.  Wrap the pastry in cling wrap and chill again for 30 minutes.  Repeat the roll and fold once more, then chill again for at least 30 minutes, or until needed.

For the compote, put the strawberries into a pan with the sugar and lemon juice and cook over a medium heat for 10 minutes.  Add the raspberries and cook for another 5 - 10 minutes, until reduced to a thick compote (but not a jam).  Remove from the heat, cool, then chill.

For the crème patisserie, put the milk in a pan with the vanilla pod and seeds.  Bring it to a boil, then remove from the heat.  Whisk the sugar, egg yolks together in a large bowl until mixture is pale yellow and "makes ribbons" 3 to 4 minutes.  Add flour; whisk until smooth.  Whisk a little hot milk into the sugar and egg mixture, then whisk in the rest of the hot milk until well combined.  Return to the pan.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, about 3 minutes.  Boil mixture, whisking constantly 1 minute.  

Remove from the heat and pass through a sieve into a clean bowl if lumpy.  Cover the surface with cling wrap and let cool to room temperature.  Mixture can be chilled covered for up to 3 days.

Heat the convection oven to 425 degrees.  Lightly dust your worktable and roll out the rough puff to a 14 inch square.  Using the 10 cm (4 inch) cutter, cut out 9 discs.  Place on the baking sheets and prick each disc all over with a fork.  Chill for 30 minutes.

For the Choux pastry, bring the water, butter and seasonings to a boil in a 2 quart saucepan.  As soon as the butter has melted, remove the pan from heat, pour in all the flour at once, and vigorously beat it in (with whisk or hand mixer).  As soon as blended and smooth, beat over moderate heat for a minute or more, until the pastry balls up, cleans itself off the sides of the pan.
  
Turn the pastry into a 3 quart bowl and stir with a wooden spatula or spoon for 30 seconds to cool it briefly.  Then make a well in the center of the warm pastry and beat in 1/4 cup of the beaten egg.  When blended (it will look strangely separated at first), repeat with another 1/4 cup egg then another 1/4 cup egg.  For the final 1/4 cup, drizzle in dough gradually so dough is not too moist.  Dough should just hold its shape when lifted in the spoon.  

Spoon the mixture into a piping bag fitted with a 1 cm (0.4 inch) plain nozzle.  Pipe the choux in a circle 1/2 cm (1/8 inch) in from the edge of each disc.  Brush each choux ring with beaten egg and sprinkle with nibbed sugar.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until puffed, crisp and golden.  Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To assemble, spoon the crème patisserie into a piping bag fitted with a 1.5 cm (0.6 inch) plain nozzle.  Spoon the strawberry compote into the pastry shells and pipe the crème patisserie over the top.  Sprinkle half a teaspoon of the turbinado sugar on top and using a blowtorch, brulee the sugar.  Serve immediately!

Variation:

Choose your favorite compote for a change.

History:

Most of this recipe comes from the Great British Bake Off.  I've had to use my own Cream Patisserie and Choux recipes as those included from the Great British Bake Off had too many errors in them.