Thursday, April 25, 2013

Apple & Almond Bear Claw Pastries

When I decided to make these bear claw pastries from the Hummingbird Bakery 'Home Sweet Home' cookbook I didn't really check the recipe that closely and just assumed they would be fairly easy to make. However, when it actually came down to it, they were a little more tricky than first anticipated.

When thinking of pastry, I was thinking of the Danish kind but that turned out to be incorrect. The pastry here is made with milk, sugar, butter, salt, yeast, egg and flour. The mixture also had to be left to prove which was not what I was expecting.
When the dough had proved, the recipe requires it to be rolled out into quite precise rectangles. I did have to wrangle with it a bit as the dough kept springing back when I rolled it which I don't think is quite right. I also found it quite difficult to shape and seal the pastries and as a result they were all slightly different sizes. Given all this I was quite expecting a disaster when they came out of the oven but they actually looked rather better than expected, puffing up nicely and browing on top with the egg wash. 
Inside the pastry is a filling of apples, butter, sultanas, light brown sugar, cinnamon and cornflour. On top is a sprinkling of sugar and some flaked almonds which were added before baking. The finishing touch is a drizzle of icing over the top when cool. And how did they taste?...much better than expected! Kind of a bready/pastry outer with a sweet filling. Apparently these are found in traditional bakeries in America and are often eaten for breakfast with coffee. I think I could quite happily consume these for breakfast on a regular basis...but probably only if they didn't take quite so long to make! However, the bear claw finish is very cute and was achieved by cutting into the pastry along a short edge. I used scissors and cut in about a centimetre.

These pastries are my entry into this month's Alpha Bakes, hosted by Ros over at the More than Occassional Baker and Caroline at Caroline Makes. Ros is hosting this month and the letter is 'A', so this is a double whammy with apples and almonds!

8 comments:

  1. gorgeous pictures! these look so yummy,
    and i looove the website by the way!

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  2. Those look and sound absolutely fantastic. Definitely need to try this!

    Happy Blogging!
    Happy Valley Chow

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  3. These look really good - would never have thought you had trouble with them. They look worth it though! :)

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  4. Oh wow! These look beautiful... and the filling sounds divine. Sorry you had trouble with the pastry (pastry making can be finicky, can't it?). I'd love one of these warm from the oven, a la mode (my favourite way to eat any kind of apple baked treat!).

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  5. These look freaking delicious! Great photos too!

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  6. These look amazing! Love the bear claw effect. What do you think about the book as I've been debating whether to buy it or not.

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  7. I love these! They are so cute and sound scrumptious :)

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  8. I could definitely eat one for breakfast with a coffee each morning, they look tasty.
    Baking Addict, you should get the book it's a lovely one to have in your collection :)

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