turnover!

On a recent facebook quiz all about me, I asked if people knew what my favorite dessert was. I made the multiple choice easy for anyone who knew me by throwing in lots of un-vegan options, so the logical answer had to be Cherry Turnovers!

Now this may seem strange, but my favorite turnovers are accidentally vegan, and from a local grocery store called Keil’s. The filling isn’t too sweet, nor does it have an all too vibrant color most store bought fruit fillings have. The pastry around it is flaky and delicate and rich (not oily or greasy though), and definitely doesn’t taste healthy.  So, after a lucky find at my local Whole Foods of a three ingredient (oil, flour salt) frozen puff pastry, I decided to make my own.

As you can see, I don’t know how to work with puff pastry. It didn’t exactly “puff” up as I was expecting, and I’m sure that’s no fault of the pastry itself…more my inexperience. For the filling I used frozen cherries, as at the time they were far from in season, and stirred them up with sugar and a bit of cornstarch. Normally I would use lemon juice to brighten up the flavors, but it was late and I didn’t have any, so I added almond extract instead. The extract worked well, and I would use it again, but it definitely needed the tartness of the lemon juice.

In the end they tasted good, but nowhere near as delicious as the store bought version.  I guess I’ll keep visiting Keil’s when I get a craving for cherry turnovers and stick to desserts I can make better than a store!