A little Estonian 'croissant' that I've been making for years now. The recipe yields 24 little rolls, and I usually make half a batch at a time, leaving half of the pastry in the fridge for the next day (or two). Then I get to eat warm delicious apple pastries twice :) Most Estonians would use the regular curd cheese for making these, but I've used ricotta cheese instead and it works just as well. It's the curd cheese/ricotta that makes these little 'croissants' lovely and soft, so these would be perfect when you need to bake something a day in advance (be it a picnic basket or your child's - or your own - lunch box).
Curd Cheese and Apple Rolls
(Puruvanad)
Makes 24
Pastry:
150 g butter, melted
150 g sugar
250 g plain flour
a pinch of salt
250 g plain curd cheese or ricotta cheese
Filling:
apples, cored and cut into slices
Topping:
egg for brushing
sugar chrystals ('pearl sugar')
For the pastry, mix melted butter, sugar, curd cheese, flour and salt. Combine, cover and place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes (and up to 48 hours) to rest.
Divide the pasty into two, roll each one into a ball and then into a flat circle, about 1/4 inch or 6 mm thick. Using a pastry cutter, cut the circle into 12 wedges/triangles.
Place an apple slice onto the wider end of each sector, roll up tightly.
Cover a baking sheet with a parchment paper, transfer the little apple rolls onto the baking sheet.
Brush with an egg (or egg wash, if you prefer), sprinkle some pearl sugar on top.
Bake in a preheated 200 C / 400 F oven for about 20 minutes, until the pastries are lovely golden.
10 comments:
OH! You sure do know your apples, you do, Pille!
You wrote: "Using a pastry cutter, cut the circle into 12 rectangles.
Place an apple slice onto the wider end of each circle, roll up tightly."
I think it reads better as '12 sections (or triangles)' & 'each triangle' so the reader is not confused.
I picked a basket of apples this week, so I might attempt these soon.
I tried to make these this morning but got quite confused...
...how big is the circle,roughly speaking? (I don't understand how to measure how high a piece of dough in height when its sitting on my table)
...do you cut the slices freehand? Is there some trick to get 12 evenly-sized slices? I figured out how to cut 4, 8 or 16 same-sized slices...but twelve?
...how big is an apple slice?
...are these a bit similar to rugelach?
Sorry if my questions are naive...love the look and idea of these...but am having trouble understanding how to make them.
Thanks and regards,
-David.
Alanna - thank you :)
Pene - thanks for the correction - I did mean triangle and not a rectangle, of course..
David - I cut the circle freehand - first into 4 equal sized sectors, then each sector into 3, separately. You need a sharp knife or pizza cutter, no other tricks here. I've actually cut it into 16 sectors as well, but then you need much smaller apples that wouldn't stick out too much.
Re: the size of the circle - tricky one. I don't think I've ever measured it, and it depends anyway on the temperature of the pastry a little - a softer dough is easier to roll into a larger circle, a cooler one is a bit harder and the circle ends up a bit smaller in diameter. As long as you roll it into an even thickness throughout (and then can gauge the thickness from the edges) - I reckon it's about 30 cm in diameter or about 12 inches.
The rugelach connection did pop into my mind as well, especially as I make cream cheese rugelach (and this one has curd cheese in the dough). But the rugelach tend to have more filling - a sprinkling of some sort, this one only has apples.
If you're using medium sized apples (one that fits neatly into your female friend's cupped hand), then I'd cut that into 8 or 12 slices - first I quarter the apple and then cut each quarter into 2 or 3 slices, eyeing it as I go. It's a forgiving recipe.
I've made the dough & will make the croissants tomorrow. I wondered if you had tried slices of fresh peach instead of apples? Fresh apricots & plums might work as well. I'll let you know when I've made them. Wasn't the weekend weather glorious?
I will definitely be making these again, Pille. They were delicious & my guys liked them a lot.
I cut the dough circle into 8 sections & then rolled them a little thinner before placing 2 thin slices of apple & wrapping them up. I had 16 slices from 1 apple so no leftovers. Then did then same with a peach for the second half of the dough. I used 200g of kohupiim as it only came in that quantity, not 250g.
And I baked them for 15 mins as they were browning up quickly.
Hi Pille,
thanks for your helpful comments, particularly about how to make 12 slices. I just had a big mental block about that! I tried to make them again today, I think they worked out better this time because of your help. Next time I will try to make the apples with no "sharp corners" because they sometimes break through the dough. But I like this recipe...simple ingredients, not too sweet. Thanks again.
-David.
I made these "little apple croissants" and had such a fun time making them! And then I got so many compliments on them from everyone who tried them, they're such a beautiful consistency and the flavour is subtle and delicate. I can't wait to make them again!
Pene, cool to hear that you enjoyed them! I haven't tried with peaches - I tend to eat peaches raw or make a cobbler with them. WHo knows, perhaps I'll use them another time!
David - thanks!!!
Anne - you've just made my day :)
These look delicious, I made something like this from a Finnish cookbook, but the dough had yeast in it, and was not as sweet (hillosarvet). The recipe called for "red jam" for filling (which would mean a mixed fruit jam), but I used strawberry. They had the same pearl sugar topping. http://cookingfinland.blogspot.com/2011/02/jam-filled-croissants-hillosarvet.html
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