Wizard Guy related baking question

[VanaGalen]

I'm not sure if it the right place to post it, but I suppose most people from the OotS forum don't check out the "discussion" forum, so I'll ask here.

The last round of Favorite Character Tournament got me interested in Wizard Guy's specialty - cherry turnovers. I recently looked up what a cherry turnover is and they look really good. I've never heard of it before as there isn't anything like that type of pastry in the cuisine of my country. The closest thing to a cherry turnover we have here is probably strudel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strudel), which is very yummy, but also pretty hard to make.

The season for cherries should begin soon so I'm eager to make some. The problem is, I have no idea how to make them :smallwink: I googled up some recipes, but most of them uses some sort of pre-made ingredients (which are of course unavailable here) and the recipes tend to differ a lot, so I'm not sure which is the best one.

Could someone with ranks in Cooking(pastry) enlighten me in making the perfect, Azure City style cherry turnovers? :smallsmile:

[asphias]

ooh, yum.

in Holland we mostly have 'apple turnovers'(or appelflappen, as we call them), but i imagine a cherry turnover would be quite similar.

now basically, what you need is what we in holland call "bladerdeeg", google translates this into 'puff pastry'. i don't know where you are from, but i expect you will have something similar. it is pre-made dough which has lots of layers, so that when you put it in the oven, you have lots of thin layers with a bit of air inbetween.

once you find this kind of dough, the actual recipe is easy:

mix the filling you want to put inside your turnover, for apple turnovers this would be something like:
-small pieces of apple
-sugar
-raisins
-cinnamon
i imagine for cherry turnovers you'd just need cherries and maybe some sugar, but feel free to experiment:smalltongue:

then, take a square of the dough, put some filling in the middle, and close the dough diagonally. make sure it is closed well, maybe use a tiny bit of water to make sure it stays closed.

to finish it off, mix an egg in a bowl, and use a brush to get a thin layer of egg on top of your turnover, so that it looks shiny. throw a little bit of sugar on top, and put them in the oven! about 20 minutes in 200 degrees celcius, though the exact timing may vary.

good luck, and let us know if it worked out!

[Mammal]

I think asphias is right on the money. Puff Pastry is pre-made dough that bakes up very light and fluffy. It's usually sold in the freezer section, and it comes in sheets. You roll it out and cut it into whatever shape you need. Here's what it looks like! (https://www.google.com/search?q=puff+pastry&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=y7vFUaPpE-GIygH-roDQCg&biw=1109&bih=709&sei=zbvFUdqrMonQygGl2ICoCQ)

Most recipes I'm seeing call for some sort of pastry (homemade or not) and a filling made of pitted cherries, sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon, with a milk/powdered sugar glaze on top.

My impulse would be to make "turnovers" more like empanadas and fry them rather than baking them, because everything tastes better fried.

[SarahV]

When I make turnovers I usually just adapt a pie recipe. Pie crust and pie filling will work, just shape them into turnovers instead of a pie. One hint: Put less filling in each one than you think you need, at least at first. My instinct is always to put too much filling in, and then they are hard to seal up. (And sealing is important, otherwise they leak and the juices will burn.)

I also found this recipe which does not have pre-made ingredients:
http://www.grouprecipes.com/68289/cherry-turnovers-from-scratch.html

(I usually substitute butter for shortening in pie crust because I hate shortening, but that's just me :smallyuk: )

[NerdyKris]

Vanagalen, the word you're looking for is "from scratch". Use that term, and you'll find plenty of sources on how to make the dough yourself, which is easy-ish.

But I'm fairly certain you'd find the correct dough in the supermarket under "puff pastry", as the others said, which is far, far easier.

[VanaGalen]

Thanks for these yummy ideas you posted :smallsmile:

There is pre-made puff pastry (we call it French pastry, as it greatly gained popularity during Napoleonic Wars) available here, though I usually prepare it from scratch instead of using frozen one. We actually even have something like "appelflappen" that Asphias described (we call it "French cornet/croissant with apples", here is the picture (http://www.mojewypieki.com/app/webroot/upload/images/przepisy/Rożki%20francuskie%20z%20jabłkami/rozki_francuskie_z_jablkami_2a.jpg)). I had no idea it actually counts as a turnover. From my google search, I've got the impression that turnovers are made of unsweetened shortcrust pastry rather than puff pastry.

As it turns out puff pastry is also an option, I'll try out both versions :smallsmile: I'll probably start with pie crust, because the weather now is too hot for making puff pastry. I like Sarah's recipe, I also hate margarine-like shortening, so I'll use butter instead.
I suppose cooking the filling with cornstarch like Mammal suggested is essential, otherwise the juice would probably leak out.

I also wonder if sweet cherries would be OK or do I have to wait for sour cherries?

[mattie_p]

There is pre-made puff pastry (we call it French pastry, as it greatly gained popularity during Napoleonic Wars) available here, though I usually prepare it from scratch instead of using frozen one.

I find it ironic that it is called French Pastry, as it is used to make Beef Wellington. Wellington, of course, is Napoleon's famous and victorious foe.

[SarahV]

I also wonder if sweet cherries would be OK or do I have to wait for sour cherries?

Sour cherries are much more traditional - usually, people use them frozen or canned because they are not available fresh. But I have seen recipes that use fresh sweet cherries also.

I think I would google a recipe for "sweet cherry pie" and see what ratio of cherries:sugar:other ingredients they use, to get the right level of sweetness.

[VanaGalen]

Today finally I followed the footsteps of Wizard Guy and made first experimental batch of cherry turnovers :smallsmile:
I made few mistakes, but overall they turned out pretty good. My family who tried them out indeed said these were the best cherry turnovers they'd ever tasted (as that kind of dessert is pretty much unknown in my country, they simply never had it before, so mine were the first and therefore the best).

Here is the picture:
http://i43.tinypic.com/2lktx7m.jpg

The weather is too hot to make puff pastry, so I tried out the shortcrust dough that SarahV suggested. It turned out very good, it wasn't too greasy (the thing I don't like about puff pastry), but crisp and delicate.
As we don't have fresh sour cherries yet, I used sweet ones for the filling That wasn't very good idea, as it was a bit bland. Sour cherries are much more aromatic and way better for baking. It turned out I prepared too much filling and I didn't use even half of it, but it's pretty yummy on it's own, so I'll definitely find some use for it :smallwink:
If anyone is interested, I'll post the complete recipe I used. And I'm definitely making them again soon, it's a great dessert. Wizard Guy definitely should have become Baker Guy.

[Shred-Bot]

Today finally I followed the footsteps of Wizard Guy and made first experimental batch of cherry turnovers :smallsmile:
I made few mistakes, but overall they turned out pretty good. My family who tried them out indeed said these were the best cherry turnovers they'd ever tasted (as that kind of dessert is pretty much unknown in my country, they simply never had it before, so mine were the first and therefore the best).

Here is the picture:
http://i43.tinypic.com/2lktx7m.jpg

The weather is too hot to make puff pastry, so I tried out the shortcrust dough that SarahV suggested. It turned out very good, it wasn't too greasy (the thing I don't like about puff pastry), but crisp and delicate.
As we don't have fresh sour cherries yet, I used sweet ones for the filling That wasn't very good idea, as it was a bit bland. Sour cherries are much more aromatic and way better for baking. It turned out I prepared too much filling and I didn't use even half of it, but it's pretty yummy on it's own, so I'll definitely find some use for it :smallwink:
If anyone is interested, I'll post the complete recipe I used. And I'm definitely making them again soon, it's a great dessert. Wizard Guy definitely should have become Baker Guy.

Yum! Those look awesome! I'll have to give this a shot also.

I've always liked puff pastry more in savory dishes than desserts... I think the pie crust was definitely the way to go here.

And maybe we'll get to see Wizard Guy resurrected and following his dream, competing against Inkyrius in the Dwarven Lands Invitational Baking Championship.

[Lord Torath]

My mom makes Boterletter from scratch, and it is essentially puff pastry wrapped around almond paste. Unfortunately, she's on vacation in Canada with my dad right now. When they get back, I can ask her for the recipe.

What I remember from watching her make it when I was younger, is that you roll out the pastry dough into a roughly rectangular shape about the size of a baking sheet. Slice one pound of butter into 1/4" thick slabs, and lay them out next to each other so they cover half the dough. Fold the other half over the butter and seal the edges. Carefully fold the whole thing in thirds. Then use your rolling pin to flatten it back to the size it was before you folded it in thirds. Fold it in thirds again, and put it in the fridge for a few hours. Repeat the roll/fold/chill several times (the more you do it, the flakier your pastry will be. I think she folded and flattened about 7 times total?). The last time you roll it out, cut into strips/squares of whatever shape your pastry requires.

For baking, she placed 3-4 layers of paper towel on the baking sheet, then placed the pastries on that. (It absorbs a lot of the butter that leaks out).

I'm afraid I can't be specific with baking times or temperatures. Maybe in two weeks.

Good luck!

[BroomGuys]

Those turnovers sure look good, but I'm currently fighting a mighty urge to make a football-related pun right now.

[Shred-Bot]

Something like: "VanaGalen must be related to Mark Sanchez, because those are some KILLER TURNOVERS!"?

[Ebon_Drake]

Those look really great, I'm sure Wizard Guy would be proud.

[Needle]

http://i43.tinypic.com/2lktx7m.jpg

Delicious!

Now I get what you doing, it's really popular at the southest parts of South American (look for "Empanadas", Chile, Argentina and Uruguay loves those), and though the custome here is to fill it with non-sweet stuff, there are common sweet variatons that mostly use quince jelly (that's what I get as a translation for "Membrillo", don't know if it's accurate so blame WR if it's wrong :smalltongue:), which isn't that different in taste but it is a lot more solid.

All hail the Wizard Guy :smallbiggrin: