This recipe produces a light, flaky and delicious pastry. There are several steps to this, but they are ALL EASY to do and I've included lots of extra photos to (hopefully) convince you to try it. It really IS tasty and impressive to serve !!
Bottom Layer
1/2 cup of COLD butter cut into cubes
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup COLD water
If you've ever made a pie crust, this step will be a cinch. Using a pastry cutter, cut the COLD butter into the flour until the mixture is crumbly and you can see small pieces of butter in the flour, like this:
Add the cold water and work it into the flour-butter mixture with a spoon or fork (your hands are too warm for this step). The mixture will all come together, but it will not be smooth. It should look like this:
Divide dough in half and roll into two log shapes. Transfer the logs to a parchment lined cookie sheet, then pat-roll them into 10" x 3" rectangles (I trim mine to the right shape). Make sure you leave plenty of room between these rectangles, since they puff a little while baking. They should look like this:
SECOND LAYER
This second layer will be spread on top of the unbaked rectangles:
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
In a medium size saucepan, bring the water and butter to a boil. Stir until the butter is melted. Add the flour and salt (all at once) and immediately stir like crazy. The mixture will almost instantly thicken and will leave the sides of the pan in a lump. The first time I did this step, I was SURE I had ruined it, but never fear, this is what it is SUPPOSED to do. It will look like this:
Put the HOT mixture into an electric mixer and beat on medium high for about a minute to cool it down a little.
Next, add the three eggs, one at a time, mixing well (on medium high) in between each egg. When you first put the egg in, it will make the dough look sort of "slimy", never fear, that is what is supposed to look like. Beat it a little longer and the "slime" will disappear (repeat with the other two eggs, mixing in the vanilla with the last egg). After you beat in all 3 eggs, it will look like this:
Divide the dough in half and using DAMP fingers, press it onto the unbaked rectangles you made earlier. It will look like this:
Bake in a PRE-HEATED 350°F oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until they are a deep golden color. My electric oven takes 55 minutes and looks like this after it is cooked:
Stir 2/3 cup of jam (your favorite flavor) until it is lump free and spread half of it onto each warm pastry, like this:
Drizzle frosting over jam. Frosting is made of 1/2 cup powdered sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla extract + about 4 teaspoons of milk. Sprinkle with your favorite nuts.
I tried to get a good picture of the INSIDE of this pastry, but it is hard to see. Trust me, it is light as air and flaky!!
NOTE: If you forget to take the eggs out of the fridge (so they can come to room temperature) just put them in a howl of hot tap water for about 10 minutes.
