Pastry The Easy Way

Anyone who sees this almond puff pastry would swear it came from a high-priced pastry shop. And it does look as if it does. It’ll be your secret that it goes together in no time because it uses frozen puff pastry.

This delicious concoction comes together very easily. It just requires a few easily obtainable ingredients and a food processor. The reason for the food processor becomes clear if you’ve ever worked with almond paste. It’s terribly dense and hard to work by hand and as a result you need the food processor since it makes easy work of the whole process. Personally, I wouldn’t try this with a hand mixer and would even be cautious about a heavy-duty stand mixer. Not because it would break the mixer, but you may not be able to get the right texture.

Rich Filling

The almond filling is rich and creamy. Just what you’d expect if you went to a high-class pastry and coffee house. It’s very easy to make too.

The filling consists of some usual ingredients for this such as cream, egg, sugar and butter. But since the almond paste is so dense, I suggest you break it up into bits and process in the food processor until it’s almost smooth then finish it off by pulsing in the remaining ingredients.

Of course if you made my recipe for almond rugelach, you just might have some of the almond schmear used for those left over. If you have that then use it up. It’s pretty much the same thing and will work entirely well.

Shaping The Pastry

The shape here is pretty common–a lace or “braid.” I wouldn’t call it a braid because you don’t have the necessary three pieces to plait. It really is more like lacing a shoe.

With this type of shape, sometimes it comes apart if you don’t seal it well enough. It happened when I made these for this post. Don’t sweat it–just cut it up before serving and trust me no one will notice. They’ll be too busy eating it!

The Recipe

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Almond Puff

An easy and elegant dessert

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time35 minutes mins

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: almond puff pastry, easy recipes for pastry, uses for almond paste

Servings: 8

Calories: 697kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 7 oz almond paste 1 package
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg room temperature
• 2 tbs all-purpose flour
• 17.3 oz frozen puff pastry thawed, 1 package

GLAZE:

• 2 tbs milk
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds toasted

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375°. Place the almond paste, butter and sugar in a food processor; cover and pulse until chopped. Add egg and flour; process until smooth.
• Place puff pastry sheets onto a greased baking sheet. Spread half of the filling mixture down the center third of 1 pastry sheet.
• On each side, cut 8 strips about 3-1/2 in. into the center. Starting at 1 end, fold alternating strips at an angle across filling. Pinch ends to seal. Repeat with remaining pastry and filling.
• Bake until golden brown, 30-35 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
• Combine the confectioners' sugar, milk and almond extract. Drizzle over braids; sprinkle with almonds. Cut into slices to serve.

Nutrition

Serving: 1slice | Calories: 697kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 266mg | Potassium: 152mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 37g | Vitamin A: 384IU | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 2mg

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