Puff Pastry Party Pinwheels

Originally posted 30 November 2018

Hello there lovelies!

I’m starting this post with some very exciting news!! If you follow me on Instagram, you will already know that I am going to be on Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas programme on channel 4. I applied during the Summer, found out that I was selected at the beginning of September, filmed the scenes at home mid-September and the actual show (which takes a competition format) in October! I was completely out of my comfort zone and I almost convinced myself not to do it. It was a fun and amazing experience that I will never ever forget and that I feel privileged to have been a part of. I met some amazing people, including my fellow competitors and the lovely people who work at Raise The Roof Productions, who produce the show. If you would like to watch me on the telly, my episode is on next Friday 7th December at 5pm on channel 4. The actual show started yesterday, Thursday 29th November at 8pm and continues next week! Hurrah to Christmas on the telly!

It is the last day of November today and that means the party season is upon us! I’ve got my party crown (see last week’s crochet crown tutorial) and now I need some party bites to pack and gift or to serve to festive visitors. I’m all for reducing the amount of stress that goes into the festive party season preparation, so simple and delicious but time saving recipes are a hit in our house.

Ready made puff pastry is a dream. I have never made puff pastry myself but you only have to watch pastry week on the Great British Bake Off to know that life is too short to make it from scratch! I applaud you if you make your own, I really do!

These sweet and savoury pastry pinwheels are easy to prepare; they are bite size so make great canapés or party nibbles; they can be made a day ahead and heated up just before AND they can be frozen!

Right, I think I’ve done a good job selling them, so let’s crack on! I have created one sweet recipe and one savoury but there are so many possibilities for delicious fillings and I have suggested some of these below.

Sweet & Savoury Puff Pastry Party Pinwheels

Makes about 45 of each flavour.

Ingredients:

2 x 500g blocks of ready-made puff pastry, one for each recipe

Flour for dusting

1 egg, beaten

For the sweet pinwheels:

250g ready made or homemade Christmas mincemeat

For the savoury pinwheels:

150g washed and drained spinach leaves

A knob of butter

40g pine nuts

1 heaped tbsp of ricotta cheese

80g feta cheese

A squeeze of lemon

Large pinch of nutmeg

Ground black pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 180°C

Grease and line 2 oven trays

For the sweet pinwheels, purée the mincemeat in a blender or food processor to make a paste. Set aside.

Roll out the puff pastry on a liberally floured surface until it measures approximately 45 x 33cm.

Cut into 3 sections widthways so that each section measures approximately 15 x 33cm.

Now spread one third of the mincemeat onto one section in an even layer lengthways, leaving about 2 cm uncovered.

Brush beaten egg along the uncovered section of pastry. Starting with the other edge, roll up the pastry lengthways, making sure your roll isn’t too loose.

Turn over and using a fork, seal the edge.

Cut into 2cm thick logs and place on their sides onto a baking tray. Brush the beaten egg to the top and sides of each log.

Repeat with the remaining mincemeat purée and puff pastry. Bake in the oven for 16 – 18 minutes, until browned. You’ll need to do this in 2 batches.

Allow to cool for a few minutes on the tray, then transfer to a wire rack. You may need to gently press the filling down with you finger if it has spilled out slightly. Best served warm and dusted with a little icing sugar.

For the savoury pinwheels, lightly toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add a knob of butter. When the butter has melted, add the spinach leaves and allow to wilt. This should take just a few minutes. Drain well and allow to cool. Once cool, purée together the wilted, drained spinach, toasted pine nuts, ricotta and feta cheeses, lemon juice, nutmeg and ground black pepper to taste, until the mixture is a paste consistency.

Repeat the steps as for the sweet pinwheels above (leaving out the icing sugar dusting!).

Serve with a hot cuppa or a glass of festive fizz!

Tips:

Both purées can be made in advance and chilled for a day or overnight before using.

Once puréed, the pastes should be spreadable but not too sloppy.

Other possible paste combos:

Peanut (or other nut) butter and dates

Chocolate digestives and peanut (or other nut) butter

Pesto

Goats cheese and roasted courgettes/aubergines

Roasted sweet potato, cream cheese and added cooked bacon bits

So we have our party crowns and nibbles, perhaps we could do with some decorations for the festive table! I’ll be back next week with a tutorial for festive place name ‘holders’ which double as lovely gifts!

Until then lovelies, thanks for visiting!

Take good care,

Lots of love

Lucy

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