Passport & Plate - Joulutorttuja
Finland | Friday, February 21, 2014 | 2 photos
Ingredients
1 package puff pastry with 2 sheets of pastry
Approximately 30 prunes
Sugar to taste
Water
Flour to assist with prep
Confectioner’s sugar for garnish
Yields: 18 pastries
How to prepare this recipe1. Follow directions on puff pastry to thaw. Don’t judge yourself too harshly for not making your own pastry from scratch. Maybe you live in a country where getting basic baking supplies or even a regular oven is nearly impossible (Japan, I’m looking at you!). Or maybe you want to be eating these pastries as soon as possible. NO JUDGMENT.
2. To prepare the filling, in a sauce pan over medium-low heat, heat prunes with water (start with approx. 1/4 cup water), mashing with a wooden spoon as it heats. Add sugar to taste, a half-teaspoon at a time, not too sweet! You can even leave out the sugar entirely if you want. Continue to mash and add water as needed until you reach the consistency of a thick paste. Remove from heat as you prepare the pastry.
3. Once the pastry is pliable, roll out the pastry sheets on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Make sure you flour everything, so you don’t degenerate to yelling at inanimate objects in the kitchen. With a sharp knife, cut each sheet into a tic-tac-toe grid. Then make a 1 ½ inch diagonal cut from EACH corner of EACH square towards the center.
4. Using 2 spoons, put approximately a heaping teaspoon’s worth of filling into the center of each square.
5. To fold the pastry, take every other point and bring it to the center, pinching the pastry together then pressing into the filling. This is a bit of an art form, definitely the trickiest part, but don’t worry, even the ones that open up and come out “ugly” are still delicious…and you can say “Oh, these are too ugly for our guests, I’ll just eat these.”
6. Bake as directed on the puff pastry package on a parchment-lined baking sheet until golden and beginning to brown. Begin to feel anticipation and delight well in your chest every time you take a peek in the oven.
7. Best served warm. Dust with confectioner’s sugar just before serving. Not sooner.
8. Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat in a toaster oven to make them crispy again.
The story behind this recipeI'm 12 years old, it's Christmas Eve, my whole huge family is being their loud, caffeine-fueled selves in the living room, just as I pass through the dining room. The plate of pastries catches my eye. Two things have kept me away all these years: 1) that deep brain connection between grandma's murky glass of prune juice and the prune filling of these pretty little stars...ugh, and 2) my stubborn Viking-descended personality that refuses to "just try it," in case they're right and get the satisfaction of knowing it. But as I am so often teased in my family, I suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out), and after 12 years of watching, all alone with the pastries, I have to go for it. I'M AN IDIOT. I could have been eating these for TWELVE CHRISTMASES??? I can't contain my glee and allow my family to bask in my newfound joy with me. The following Christmas I even have the honor of baking them, the first thing I learned to bake, my mother passing on the tricks of getting the proper shape and encouraging me to come up with my own methods. They look so complicated, yet are amazingly simple. I quickly develop a reputation for making the prettiest ones, and so it becomes my dish that I prepare for every family Christmas. Traditionally, we eat them on Christmas Eve when we read the story of Jesus' birth aloud, the shape of the pastry echoing the star that led the wise men to Jesus, cuddling among the cows in his crèche. And beyond our family circle, with their distinct Finnishness, they become my proudest way to give entry into Finnish culture, which is a complete mystery to most non-Scandinavians, a way to share my heritage with friends and colleagues. And I’m so very thrilled every time I get to pass on the recipe, divulging the tricks and knacks of getting it just right. Now the tradition has been passed to my American sister-in-law, who has wisely taught her toddler son to appreciate them from his high chair. Lucky boy! Things are looking good for the next generation!
