~Turnovers~

I have been experimenting in making turnovers, I tried using Pillsbury Crescent rolls but it was too much like bread, then I spied Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets and they worked good!

Ingredients:

• 1 Box Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets
• 1 8 oz. box of Cream Cheese
• ¼ cup of sugar +
• 1 tsp. Vanilla extract
• 1 Egg

Options:

• Berry Medley Unsweetened All Natural Frozen
• Cherry Preserves
• Wild Blueberry Preserves

Direction:

• Thaw the pastry sheets, bring the cream cheese to room temperature, and preheat the over to 400F.
• Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and the Vanilla extract.
• Cut each pastry sheet into quarters.
• On each square put a dollop of cream cheese in the center of the square. (It will take a little experimentation to find the dollop of cream cheese) You can also either add a preserve or berries.
  
• Wet the four sides of the pastry sheet and fold over and seal with a the tines of a fork. You can place any filling on the cream cheese.
• Put a slot in the top of the turnovers to vent the turnover and brush with an egg wash, sprinkle with sugar.
• Place the turnover in the over for 15 – 20 minutes.
• Let cool and sever.

~~German Beer Cruller~~

This is a lost recipe.

My grandmother made these for the holidays and she never wrote down any of her recipes and I have searched the internet for recipes like her beer crullers. This is a mash up of the recipes that I have found, basically it is a donut recipe that uses beer instead of water.

Note: you will need to deep fry the crullers.

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ cup flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• ¼ cup warm milk (110° to 115°)
• 4 tsp. yeast
• ½  cup beer
• 1 Tbsp of baking powder
• ½ tsp of ground cinnamon
• 1 egg (slightly beaten)
• Topping:
• Sugar
• Cinnamon

Directions:

• Mix the yeast and warm milk and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes to allow the yeast to do its thing.
• Mix the dry ingredients, the beer, and the egg in a bowl and then add risen yeast mixture.
• Put the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead the dough for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth.
• Let dough rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled in bulk.
• My grandmother then rolled the dough out in rolls about the thickness of a doughnut and cut the dough in about 4 – 6 inch lengths, gave them a quarter twist and put them in the oil to fry.
• Patted them dry and sprinkled the with the sugar cinnamon mixture.

~~ Poppy Seed and Nut Rolls (Potica) ~~

Ingredients:

Dough

• 1 1/2 Cakes Yeast
• 3 Cups Flour
• 1 Whole Egg
• 2 Egg Yolks (Put aside the eggs whites)
• 1/2 Cup Lukewarm milk
• 1 tbsp. Sugar
• 1 1/2 Butter

Directions:

Dissolve yeast with sugar in lukewarm milk. 

On a floured surface crumble butter together with the flour, then work in the egg and yolks to together with the yeast mixture. If the dough is too hard to work, add a little more milk. 

Knead until dough does not stick to fingers or surface. 

Divide in two and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to one hour. 

Roll one ball out into a 10 x 12 inch rectangle about 1/4 inch thick and spread with either of the fillings. Roll up like a jellyroll. To make one poppy seed and one walnut roll make only half the amount of fillings.

Place the rolls well apart on an ungreased baking sheet and allow to rise for a half an hour or so in a warm place. They will look risen but will not double in size. 

Brush the tops with egg whites; bake at 350^o F until nicely browned, about 30 to 40 minutes. 

Remove from oven, cover loosely with a dishtowel and let cool.

Fillings

Poppy Seed Filling

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Lbs. Ground poppy seeds
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 1 Tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 to 2 Tbs. Water

Directions:

• Cook first four ingredients with just enough water to hold mixture together for about one minute. 
• Let cool, then spread on top of the of the and roll up the dough.

Walnut Filling

Ingredients:

• 2 Cups Ground walnuts
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 1/3 Cup of Milk
• Grated peel of one lemon

Directions:

• Mix nuts and sugar. Sprinkle dough with the milk, spread nut mixture over the dough. Sprinkle with the lemon peel. Roll up. 

History: My grandmother used to make this for the holidays, she used to spend a whole day making pastries for the holiday and one of my favorites was the poppy seed and nuts rolls. She also used to make Beer Crullers that I loved, but alas, she never wrote any recipes down and they were lost when she passed away. I found the poppy seed and nut roll recipes online and is a mashup from Yankee Magazine and Allrecipes and my recipe is a blend of the recipes. If anyone has a beer cruller recipes I would love to have a copy and I'll give you credit on this page.