Sunday 17th December - Advent 3 Bake - Puff Pastry

 Oh, these are golden oldies....

Using ready rolled puff pastry, you can make sausage rolls with almost no fuss, and delicious palmier biscuits, sweet or savoury.

Just a few Sausage and Chutney Rolls

I used 4 chipolata sausages and a tablespoon of apple chutney made by a friend last August!

Cut the puff pastry sheet in half, and put half away. Now cut the remaining pastry into 4 pieces each big enough for a chipolata. Put a thin line of chutney along the pastry, lay a chipolata on top, and roll up with the seam underneath. Carry on to make 4 sausage rolls. 

Of course, you can go ahead and use the whole piece of pastry and all the chipolatas and make 8 sausage rolls...

Place on a lined baking sheet, brush with beaten egg and cook in a preheated oven at 200 for 25 -30 minutes or in a preheated air fryer for12-15 mi nutes;

There were eight... we had them for supper with some bits of salad. 

What I HAD been intending to make was this; Pigs-in-blankets with Cranberry Sauce Turnovers from the website www.lavenderandlovage.com.

Ah well. Too late I discovered we had no bacon and no cranberry sauce, so the sausage rolls above were an improvisation, and one I will repeat often.

So these turnovers;

you need 8-12 pigs in blankets, bought or home-made, and 8-12 teaspooons of decent cranberry sauce. A beaten egg for egg-wash and grated parmesan cheese.

Cut the pastry in squares, put a teaspoon of cranberry sauce in the middle, and put a pig-in-blanket diagonally on top. Take one corner of the square and lift it over the 'pig', brush some egg onto the point. Lift the opposite corner up and glue it on top. Brush all the exposed pastry with egg and sprinkle a little parmesan on top.   

Bake in a preheated oven at 200 on a line baking sheet for 20-25 minutes, or in a preheated air fryer for 10-12 minutes.
      

Palmiers

The are golden, sweet, puff pastry biscuit., and probably the simplest ever!

Unroll your pastry (I used the other half from the sausage rolls) and sprinkle quite thoroughly with caster sugar. I keep a couple of vanilla pods in the jar with my caster sugar, which adds a touch of vanilla flavour. I might be tempted to add some cinnamon another time.

There are two approaches to the next step;

1) fold the side closest to you to the middle, and then the other side to meet it. Press down firmly with your hands. Do this again, and again if you can, and then fold it in half.

or

2) roll up one side firmly to the middle, and then the other side to the middle. That's what I did; see photograph below.

Wrap and chill for 30 mins.

Slice off biscuits, and you will see that they are all folded inside.

Bake in  on a lined baking tray in a preheated oven at 200 for 18 - 20 minutes until golden brown, in a preheated air fryer for 10-12 minutes.

     Thicker palmiers take longer...

You can use demerara sugar for a bigger crunch.

Savoury palmiers are made the same way - spread with pesto or tapenade, or just parmesan cheese.