I have some time on my hands and we are home! How often in my life I can say that. One of the things I love to do when I’m home, besides hanging out with my 6-year old, is baking. And she is right there with me, helping me cook and bake. Crazy times, while the whole world is preventing the spread of the Corona virus and I’m thinking:” Now I have time to make yummy stuff!”. I’m just trying NOT to panic and see it in the most positive way. Family time in the kitchen, baking and enjoying! A recipe, I thought was challenging, but it’s actually not that hard: puff pastry or in Dutch: Bladerdeeg! Can you make it yourself? Yes, you can!!!!
It turns out, it is not hard at all, but a bit time consuming. I found a recipe, which was easy to follow. I was so happy, because I wasn’t pleased with the store bought puff pastry or filo dough here in the United States.
Scroll down for a recipe for “Appelflap” (Apple turnover) and the famous Dutch letter “S”.
Some of the pastries made of puff pastry we bought, left a weird, unpleasant film in the back of my throat. Have you ever noticed that? I missed the flaky, buttery texture of the yummy European croissants, or apple turnovers, or the letter “S” filled with almond paste.
If I cannot get it here, I have to make it!
So here we go:
Puff Pastry (Bladerdeeg)
We cannot go back now! This is even better than store bought puff pastry and not hard to make. Be sure to make some time for it, though!
Ingredients
- 2 cup flour plus 1 tbsp
- 2/3 cup water
- 4 tbsp butter room temperature
- 1 tsp salt
- 14 tbsp cold butter
Instructions
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Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl (except the cold butter). Knead it in a stand up mixer or with your hands until it is a nice looking ball of dough.
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Cut the cold butter stick in half, so it'll be easier to roll into the dough later. Wrap in parchment paper. Put back in the fridge.
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Wrap the dough in plastic and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes
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Dust the surface with some flour and roll out the dough. Make it into a square and leave the center somewhat thicker. Put the cold butter in the center and fold the corners, so you cannot see the butter anymore. Roll out the dough so it'll be 3x longer as it is wide. It'll be a little hard in the beginning, because the butter is hard, but it should roll out easier.
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Fold dough in three parts, see picture above. Turn the dough 1/4 and roll out again. Fold dough in three parts again. Put back in the fridge for 30 minutes.
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Repeat this 2 more times. And you are ready to use it for so many yummy things!
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Don't forget to try the "Appelflap" or Marzipan letter "S", see recipes below.
Apple Turnover
I just couldn’t wait to make this easy recipe right after I made the puff pastry (recipe above).
Apple Turnovers or “Appelflappen”
One of my favorite "koffietijd" snacks when I was little, were these apple turnovers, or "appelflappen" in Dutch. Give them a try!
Ingredients
- 1/2 puff pastry dough (recipe above)
- 2 apples of choice
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup raisins optional
- 1/4 cup walnuts optional
- 1 egg beaten
- extra sugar
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 375 F.
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Use half of the puff pastry you already made (or store bought) and roll it out on some extra flour. Try to cut 6×6 inches squares.
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Peel and cut the apples into small pieces, Mix with the lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar, raisins and walnuts.
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Place one square on a Silicon mat or parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Use a brush to brush on the egg on the sides of the square.
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Put a bit of the apple mixture in one corner of the puff pastry square. Fold the other corner over the apple mixture, so you create a triangle.
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Carefully push the sides shut with a fork. Brush more egg on the Apple turnover and sprinkle with some sugar. Put in the oven for 20-25 minutes
Dutch Letter with Almond Paste
This recipe is so good, I couldn’t make enough pictures, because this Letter “S” was gone in no time! I should make it again and update the pictures;)
Dutch Letter with Almond Paste
Everyone around here is familiar with the Dutch Letter. It is a famous Dutch pastry which is sold especially during the Tulip Festival in Pella, Iowa. I remember this Dutch treat from our Sinterklaas Holiday in December.
I've noticed that people call it Dutch Letter with almond paste, but what is the difference between marzipan and almond paste?
Marzipan is usually used to decorate cakes, it's smooth, has more sugar and less almonds than almond paste. For this recipe we use the almond paste.
Make it a few days before using the almond paste. You can keep it in the fridge for up to 10 days.
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup almond meal or blend almonds (without skin) in a food blender
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 lemon (zest and juice)
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 355 F.
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If you need to blend the almonds, you can do it now. Don't over-blend it, because it will turn into almond butter.
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Mix the almond meal, the sugar, the zest of one lemon and juice of half of the lemon. If you are going to use the almond paste right away, mix in half of the egg. If not, mix in half of the egg right before you're going to use it and leave the pastry (without the egg) covered in the fridge until you're going to use it.
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Roll out half of the puff pastry you made from the recipe above.
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I made one big letter "S". You can make smaller ones, or logs or other letters. Just cut long rectangles, for example 5×12 inches.
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Shape the almond paste also in the shape of a log and wrap the almond paste log with the puff pastry and shape it into whatever letter.
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Use the other half of the egg to brush on top of the letter or log.
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Bake the pastries for 20 minutes.
Hello everyone,
Welcome to my Crafty Dutch Girl blog! Grab a cup of “koffie” and browse through fun blog posts about our Dutch family expat life in the USA, Dutch history, Dutch recipes, Dutch things to do in the USA and all kinds of crafts and activities. Don’t forget to connect with me for new ideas! “Groetjes en tot ziens”.