Winter seems to be the best season for baking all sorts of delicious sweet deserts, cakes, cookies, pastries of all sorts. It's cold outside and the warmth the over brings, the aroma of heaven being baked that you can almost taste covers the air, most importantly makes you warm and fuzzy inside. For that reason and because lately I have been missing a few things I could find easily at home but are almost impossible to see over here, I decided to open my own home bakery, personal use only of course ;).
One of those long missed products from home is the crunchy, sweetness pastry called "Palm Tree" (possibly also dipped in chocolate). I did a bit of research and decided to give it a try at making them.
That way, next time I would miss them, all I'd have to do is make them :) Don't they just look amazing!?
For 6/8 large pastries you'll need:
- 2 rolls of puff pastry (If you are in Europe, you can easily find them in Lidl)
- A bunch of sugar
- A chocolate bar (can it be milk, dark, white or a mix. This is up to you to decide)
Preheat the oven at 180ºC (Gas 4 or 350 F).
In the meantime, first you will have to lay the 2 rolls of pastry and cut each of them in half, long-wise. You'll be left with four equal pieces.
Lay the first piece and dust it with sugar, use the rolling pin over it. Place the second piece over the sugar and repeat, first sprinkle with sugar and then use the rolling pin over. Do this for all the four pieces.
When all for pieces are in sugared and rolled one on top of the other, bring the sides to the middle, dust with sugar again and again use the rolling pin over it.
Fold it all where both parts meet, and cut in stripes of max. 1 cm, as they will grow in the oven. Place in a baking tray sideways and well spaced. Flatten them a little bit with the back of a spoon to shape them up a little bit.
Place the tray in the pre-heated oven for about 20 - 25 min. or until golden brown.
If you fancy them covered in chocolate, you'll have to melt carefully the chocolate either 1 minute in the microwave (taking out every 30 seconds to still so it doesn't burn) or in double boiler until smooth.
When the pastries are cooled down, dip carefully in the chocolate and place in a tray to cool. If you are like me and want to try them immediately, you can also put them in the fridge for a few minutes so the chocolate will quickly solidify and they are ready to dig into!
TIP: If you want to make mini-palm trees, the process is the exact same you just need 1 roll instead of 2 and cut it in 4 parts instead of only 2.
These go great on it's own but if you feel like it, you can accompany them with a warm cup of coffee or tea. Perfect for all year round breakfast and tea time!
Labels: breakfast, chocolate, chocolate palm tree, delicious, home made pastries, palm tree, palm tree pastry, pastries, recipes
