Puff Pastry Appetizer Pinwheels

Puff Pastry Appetizer Pinwheels! Who doesn't like them? How did we get so addicted to puff pastry?

I find this the most versatile thing to work with in my kitchen! Lucky for me pepperidgefarm makes the best frozen puff pastry or else I'd be in a dilemma! Making puff pastry is labor intensive and tricky to get just right! The story of its creation is an interesting one...

The History

The buttery flaky layered pastry we all enjoy was originally made as a bread. In 1645, Claudius Gele, an apprentice of a pastry chef, set about making a special loaf of bread for his ailing father. The story as told in foodiescompanion.blogspot.com states that Claudius's father was prescribed a diet of water, flour and butter by his physician.

Claudius proceeded to fold and layer a pastry dough of water and flour with butter over and over again. So much butter was used that the pastry chef was concerned that the butter would ooze out as the bread cooked. Far from it, to the amazement of the two men, they saw the dough puff up and form flaky layers.

Upon finishing his apprenticeship, Claudius moved to Paris to work for Rosabau Patisserie. Perfecting his puff pastry here, he brought the Patisserie much fame and fortune. He later moved to Italy to continue his great work at Brother's Mosca's Pastry Shop per kitchenproject.com. Always working behind locked doors to make his famous creations Claudius died in 1682.

My Story

Puff Pastry in Pakistan is used in two main bakery items, Chicken Patties and Cheese Straws. I have fond memories of walking up the steps to Shezanbakers in Lahore with my grandfather to buy the patties for afternoon tea. One of Pakistan's oldest and most prominent bakeries, I still pay a visit to my old haunting grounds. Now it's with my father and kids in tow, keeping an old tradition alive. Despite the many new amazing bakeries, it's Shezan that brings back the best memories.

After moving to America and Mississippi I often craved those treats and started experimenting with creating my own version of the treats I grew up eating. Over the years I began to realize how quick and easy it was to create appetizers with the puff pastry. From puff pastry pinwheels to twists and cups with filling both sweet and savory delights can be created in very little time.

The Recipe

Puff Pastry dough is made through a process called lamination. Flour and water are mixed to form a dough that is then layered with very cold butter, folded and rolled out. This process is repeated multiple times till you have a ⅛ inch thin dough. Similar to the precepts in my  never-fail-flaky-pie-crust recipe and my sweet tart crust recipe keeping the dough chilled is the key to a pastry that will be flaky and will rise well.

Since the process is painstaking I usually don't make my own dough. to the best of my knowledge most countries have ready made dough available. If not please feel free to contact me for a recipe for making your own dough! The fillings are easy to put together, but there are a few tips to using the pre made dough that will help insure perfect results. These are given at the end of this post, please do read them!

SPICY CHEESE PINWHEELS

Similar to a cheese straw, these cheese pinwheels require about 5-10 minutes of prep and a 15-20 minute bake time. These are great for an after school snack, as an accompaniment with tea, or to serve with cocktails on New Years Eve!

I always have a few packets of puff pastry on hand in my freezer, there's usually some type of shredded cheese in the fridge and my spice cabinet is overloaded on any given day. So no need for last minute grocery runs incase you have unexpected company!

Roll out the pinwheels as per recipe instructions below. they will look like the picture below.

Pop the tray in the oven and you'll have these beautiful apps ....

Chicken Tikka Masala Pinwheels

A little bit more laborious than the cheese pinwheels, these are worth that little bit of expert.I usually poach some chicken breasts and keep them in my freezer to use for assorted recipes. This is perfect for me since I cook so much but incase you don't you can always use any leftover chicken or store bought rotisserie chicken for this recipe.

It takes barely 5 minutes to pulse the chicken mixture together in the food processor and spread on your pastry. Roll, cut, bake and voila ....

One sheet of pastry wasn't enough for these! everyone was fighting over them!

Baklava Inspired Sweet Pinwheels

Since there's a little kick to the other two pinwheels I thought we needed to balance it out with a touch of sweet! These Pinwheels with cardamom, honey and pistachios taste a bit like baklava with 1/10th of the effort. No layering of filo sheets is needed here and once again I usually have all of these ingredients on hand!

Make all three and have an Appetizer party ! So easy and quick and sure to delight your family and friends !

TIPS

• I thaw my puff pastry overnight in the fridge for best results. You can thaw it on your counter for 20 minutes if you're in a rush but the overnight method is best.
• Keeping my dough cool while prepping my appetizers is a trick I often use. This is done by periodically putting it back in the fridge to maintain the correct temperature.
• I Cool my tools to prevent my dough from warming up while I work with it.
• using a pizza wheel to cut my pastry dough yields a much neater edge than a knife.
• Always flour your work surface to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter.
• Never roll the dough thinner than ⅛ inch or else it will not rise properly.