baking at home: Bumble-Berry Jalousie

Ahhh....delicious dinner, dishes done, kitchen candle lit, New Music Monday on WTTS for another hour and the smacking of sleet and ice freaking me out against the windows and doors.  The much-hyped winter storm arrived as promised just before dinner.

Sara and I are safely in for however long it takes.  Plenty of food.  Plenty of shows to watch on the DVR.  Plenty of blog ideas on my computer desktop.  Now all we need is some good luck that the power stays on.  Can't tell you how many serious discussions Greg and I have had about  having a generator installed to ensure we always have the sump pumps running along with, oh I don't know; lights, heat, a/c, refrigeration and other assorted modern conveniences we might like to enjoy.   Too late now.  Candles and flashlights are ready.  Tomorrow I'll take a serious look at the storage room to make sure that the mild disarray of it's current status doesn't leave something precious exposed to rising water.  Deep and heavy sigh and a little prayer that the line of ice v snow moves just a little south tonight.

Since I last posted about purchasing amazing pastries I thought tonight's post should be actually baking a fairly amazing pastry.  I last baked these over the holidays and I'm embarrassed to say that once again I managed to have more than my fair share.  I did savor every bite, but there may have been a few too many bites.  Thank God for a decent metabolism and a devotion to regular exercise.  I would look so amazing with less dessert, but what fun would that be?  If you share my love of baked goods, does it just amuse you to no end when you read a meal plan in a magazine that allows for one dessert a week?  Really?  One a day is truly still a goal for me.  One a week?  I would be so skinny, but I would be mean.  Mean as dirt.

Okay, back to business.  Tonight's topic:  the jalousie.  Zhahh-loo-ZEE for those of us not fluent en Francais.  A french puff pastry filled with fruit not unlike a strudel or turnover.  This recipe is based on one from Fine Cooking published in 2007.  Most packaged puff pastry sheets come two to a box, so if you only want to bake one (so you don't end up sharing one and more or less making another just for yourself, oops) remove just one sheet from the box and return the other to your freezer.  I have made an apple jalousie in the fall with apple slices, brown sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, butter and and seeds from a vanilla bean carefully sauteed for a filling.  This last round I made a bumble-berry jalousie because I had an abundance of frozen mixed berries from Costco.  I actually cooked too many berries and used the leftovers as jam.  Bonne idee, non?

Bumble-Berry Jalousie

filling
14 oz. frozen mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, the elusive marionberries, whatever)
1/4 C sugar
2 T blackberry or raspberry liqueur, optional
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1/8 tsp cinnamon
pinch kosher salt
1 1/2 T cornstarch

jalousie
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package directions (possibly overnight, plan ahead)
1 large egg
flour for rolling out dough
coarse sugar (demera, turbinado or decorative coarse white sugar)
creme fraiche, lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream to serve, optional

To make filling:  In a medium saucepan, stir together the berries, sugar, liqueur (if using), lemon juice, zest, cinnamon and salt.  Heat over medium high heat until the berries start to to release their juices and start to bubble, about 2 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring gently every now and then so the berries release more juices and soften but hold their shape for the most part (this did not happen for me, so the jalousie was kind of flat, but still lovely), another 10 minutes or so.  Remove from heat.  If your fruit is still intact, use a slotted spoon and remove most of the fruit and place it in a bowl.  Dissolve the cornstarch in 3 T of water.  Whisk into the berry juices still in the pan.  Bring mixture to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon until thickened, at least 2 minutes.  Since my fruit broke down I skipped the removing the fruit and brought the whole mixture to a boil with the cornstarch slurry.  This is how I had too much filling but ended up with some jam.  If you removed the fruit, mix the juices and berries back together.  Taste to see if you need a little more sugar.
To assemble jalousie:  line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl or measuring cup, make an egg wash by beating the egg with 1 T water.

Unfold the puff pastry dough on a lightly floured surface and pinch together any seams if split.  Lightly flour top of pastry or rolling pin and roll out dough into a 12 x 14-inch rectangle.  Cut rectangle in half lengthwise to form two 6 x 14-inch rectangles.  Move one of the rectangles onto the lined baking sheet.

Use a pastry brush and brush a 1-inch border of egg wash around the perimeter of the dough.
Arrange the fruit in a 4-inch wide strip down the length of the dough leaving the egg wash border free of fruit as much possible.

Lightly flour the remaining piece of puff pastry and gently fold in half lengthwise.  Do not crease the fold.  Using a sharp knife, cut 1 1/2-inch long slashes about 1-inch apart along the folded edge of the dough leaving at least a 1-inch border on the remaining three sides.  Do not unfold the dough.  Using a long spatula, carefully lift the folded strip and position it over the fruit-topped dough, matching up the outside edges.

Gently unfold the top piece of dough over the filling, matching up the outside edges.  Press the edges together with your fingertips to seal.  Then use a fork to crimp the edges all the way around the pastry.

Chill assembled jalousie for 15-20 minutes.  Just before baking brush the top with a very light coating of the egg wash.  Sprinkle with the coarse sugar.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Bake for 15 minutes and then rotate the baking sheet.  Continue baking until pastry is puffed, a deep golden brown on top and light gold brown on the bottom, about 10-15 minutes more.  Remove from oven and transfer pastry to a wire rack to cool (you can just carry it on the parchment, set it on the rack and pull the parchment out from underneath the pastry, voila!).  Serve the jalousie slightly warm with creme fraiche, lightly sweetened whipped cream or ice cream as desired.  Can reheat at 325 degrees in teh oven if necessary.

unfold the dough 

roll out and divide into two equal rectangles

brush border with egg wash

spoon filling on center strip

folded and sliced pastry top on half of filling and bottom pastry

unfolded top pastry matching-almost edges

crimp edges with fingers and then decoratively with fork

my jalousie and the one I shared

in the oven

In a medium saucepan, stir together the berries, sugar, liqueur (if using), lemon juice, zest, cinnamon and salt.  Heat over medium high heat until the berries start to to release their juices and start to bubble, about 2 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring gently every now and then so the berries release more juices and soften but hold their shape for the most part (this did not happen for me, so the jalousie was kind of flat, but still lovely), another 10 minutes or so.  Remove from heat.  If your fruit is still intact, use a slotted spoon and remove most of the fruit and place it in a bowl.  Dissolve the cornstarch in 3 T of water.  Whisk into the berry juices still in the pan.  Bring mixture to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon until thickened, at least 2 minutes.  Since my fruit broke down I skipped the removing the fruit and brought the whole mixture to a boil with the cornstarch slurry.  This is how I had too much filling but ended up with some jam.  If you removed the fruit, mix the juices and berries back together.  Taste to see if you need a little more sugar.