Can You Make Strawberry Amaretto Pastries Ahead of Time?

[LakesideMom]

Hello cheffers!

I am hosting a show making the Strawberry Amaretto Pastries and I want to make the puff pastry ahead of time so that we don't have to heat up the house with the oven during the show. Have any of you done this? Is there a special way the pastries should be stored after baking so they stay fresh? I would make them earlier that day. I was thinking of just leaving them on the stone and covering them with a kitchen towel.

 

[smarteez2]

Hey thereI would not suggest leaving them on the stone and covering them with a towel. The residue heat plus the tower could make steam or condensation and make them soggy. When you are done baking them you are supposed to cool completey on bakers rack. I would say do that and them put them in a ziploc baggy or something else airtight. I hope this helps.

 

[redd3708]

Hey y'all! Um, I was going to make this also. What brand of pastry dough do y'all use?

 

[chef_goods]

Pastry troubleI had a show last night and fixed these, but... I think the pastry sheet may have sat out too long beforehand. When I unrolled it, it was sort of separating and I think it dried out. And, it didn't bake well either. I baked like layers of paper.

Has anyone had this experience? And, is it because it was possibly out too long? (or could it be something else?) And, if so - let this be a warning to all!

Thanks!

 

[LakesideMom]

I had a show last night and fixed these, but... I think the pastry sheet may have sat out too long beforehand. When I unrolled it, it was sort of separating and I think it dried out. And, it didn't bake well either. I baked like layers of paper.

Has anyone had this experience? And, is it because it was possibly out too long? (or could it be something else?) And, if so - let this be a warning to all!

Thanks!

That sounds like phyllo dough - not puffed pastry dough. I made the same mistake the first time I made them at home. I bought the wrong dough. Check out the recipe on page 32 of Season's Best (same book where you find Amaretto Pastries). That recipe calls for phyllo dough. Puffed pastry is different. Hope this helps!

 

[cmdtrgd]

I had a show last night and fixed these, but... I think the pastry sheet may have sat out too long beforehand. When I unrolled it, it was sort of separating and I think it dried out. And, it didn't bake well either. I baked like layers of paper.

Has anyone had this experience? And, is it because it was possibly out too long? (or could it be something else?) And, if so - let this be a warning to all!

Thanks!

Did you use Puff Pastry or Phyllo? Phyllo is not what is called for in the recipe and usually is the one to dry out. When thawing Puff Pastry you don't want it to thaw too fast or get too warm. Keep a metal cookie sheet in the freezer. Open the Puff Pastry package - I like Peperidge Farm brand - and leave the pastry on the counter or a plate. After a few minutes, gently try to pry the tri-folded pastry apart into a triangle with the middle of the tri-fold on the counter/plate. If you can't do that without it cracking, give it a minute or two more and try again. Once you have it in a triangle, it should thaw faster. If it feels cold, but pliable, in your hands, you have done it right. If it feels luke-warm, it is too warm and the fat inbetween the layers of the pastry will just leak out as it cooks. Thats what the metal pan in the freezer is for. Slap it on the metal pan and let it cool back down before baking it.
HTH

 

[chef_goods]

You guys are great! We apparently had the wrong one. I knew you guys would be brilliantly helpful.

Thanks!

 

[pampchefmom2002]

I took pre-baked pastry puffs in the chillzanne rectangular server. It seemed to work out well. I had baked them earlier the same day.

 

[LakesideMom]

I took pre-baked pastry puffs in the chillzanne rectangular server. It seemed to work out well. I had baked them earlier the same day.

Great idea! Yet another product to show off at the show.