Super Bowl? It's Puff Pastry Time!

posted January 26, 2009
  by Christine Gable, Kiddie Chow

Football fans are fun to feed. They’re a hearty crowd. They’re usually not picky. And there are so many suggestions and articles in every newspaper and magazine at this time of the year. Chili. Nachos. Pizza. Chips and dip. Hot wings. Satisfying finger foods that can keep the crowd at your house cheering to the last touchdown.

So I’m not going to make even more suggestions for what you can pull together for your grab-and-go buffet. I bet you have more than enough ideas of what your crew would like—and there are tons of searchable recipes right here at CDKitchen, if you’d like to try a new one or a variation.

But here’s a thought for accompanying that meaty selection of bites: did you forget dessert? Or do you have anything slightly sweet to end the snack fest? For guys and gals who are imbibing, they may not be interested in much besides a few nuts, but for those who eschew alcohol, having some simple finger food desserts may just fit the bill to complete your perfect sports party.

So what to make and serve? (Hopefully something that’s simple and not-too-time-consuming, right?)

How about puff pastry dough. Yes, that’s right. It’s not just for fancy pastry chefs. And it’s a heck of a lot easier to use than the thin flaky sheets of phyllo (fillo) dough. Best of all, it’s a sure ticket to an impressive and easy-to-make dessert that can be sliced into custom-sized portions (read: finger food).

Puff pastry can be found in the frozen section of the grocery store, usually near the ice cream and Cool Whip—look for it on a top shelf, and Pepperidge Farm is the brand that’s usually in our stores. Feel free to try a store brand if you happen across one—they’re usually more economical but of similar quality. Best of all, it comes in packages that can be kept in the freezer until the time is right.

And that opportunity presented itself sooner than I expected.

For the following week daughter and I were at the grocery store, walking through the beautiful bakery products when some blueberry strudels drizzled with icing caught her eye. Little square boxes of bite-sized pastry with fruit filling peeking out the sides and top-slits. They looked delish.

But the price stopped me in my tracks. Was that really $4 for a handful of pastries that would be gobbled in mere minutes? Yikes.

And then I remembered that we had that puff pastry dough in the freezer at home. A-ha. Plus, we had frozen blueberries in the chest freezer. Perfect. Another kids cooking opportunity had appeared.

“How about if we use some puff pastry dough and make our own batch of blueberry strudels when we get home?”

“Oh—could we, Mom? That would be great!”

Touchdown. She had never used puff pastry before, but was more than willing. And when we got home, we found the box in the freezer, opened it and pulled one of the bags of dough out (there’s two in one box), and let it lay on the counter to thaw. In about 40-45 minutes, it was ready to unroll and fill.

Very little of my help was needed. I suggested using the blueberry filling, how tight to roll the pastry (keep it pretty loose so it doesn’t burst when baking), and showed her how to use a serrated knife to cut slits in the top, so that our pastries looked like the store bakery ones. Then it was time to bake.

We just happened to have some blueberry filling all set-to-use as filling, but prepared apple or cherry pie filling, cream cheese and jelly or apple butter could stand in also. The sky’s the limit: go for what you and your kids like best.

Puff pastry is not a dessert that you’ll want to serve every week since it’s high in fat (29 percent per serving), but it’s a delightful bite that can help make an occasion special. It's easy to keep it in the freezer, pull it out and let thaw for 40 minutes and then go. Although we had never used it before, it has become a favorite. Puff pastry dough is an easy-peasy way for kids to make a delicious dessert. Gotta love it. And yes, those strudels were quite delicious (both warm and cold).

Next week: Mockingbird Muffins


Apple Butter Puff Pastry Recipe
http://www.cdkitchen.com/


Serves/Makes: 12
Ready in: < 30 minutes

* 1 sheet puff pastry dough, thawed
* 1/4 cup apple butter
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon sugar
* vegetable oil spray

Preheat oven to 400F. Spray baking sheet with vegetable oil spray.

Cut pastry into 3 equal pieces, about 3" by 10" each. Spread about 3 T. of apple butter along the length of each pastry (10" side). Fold over and pinch shut along the edge. Cut with a serrated knife into 1-inch pieces, making a 1-inch diagonal slash on top of each piece. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake for 10 – 12 minutes until puffed and golden brown.

Note: If you're using puff pastry that's frozen, be sure to allow 45 to 60 minutes for the dough to thaw.

©2009 CDKitchen, Inc. No reproduction or distribution of this article is allowed without express permission from CDKitchen, Inc.
To share this article with others, you may link to this page:
http://cooking.cdkitchen.com/KiddieChow/836.html

For more info and updates on Christine Gable, visit her personal website at:
http://www.christinegable.com/

printer-friendly version

Comment on this article:

CDK Today with Valerie Whitmore