Saturday, April 13, 2013

Palmiers / Elephant Ears

Hi everyone!

Thanks for being patient when I took a short hiatus from my blog to enjoy the gorgeous weather we've been having.  This post is all about making palmiers (or elephant ears) with puff pastry.  I use frozen pastry, but if you prefer to make it from scratch, more power to you!





The recipe I use is from the Barefoot Contessa, but altered slightly by me.

Ingredients:

2 frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed (don't thaw it too long, or it becomes too soft to work with)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt


Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and kosher salt.

On a board of rolling sheet, pour one cup of the sugar and salt mixture.

Unfold one sheet of puff pastry and place onto the sugar mixture.

Pour 1/2 cup of the sugar mixture on top of the puff pastry, spreading it evenly.

Roll the dough with a rolling pin until it is 13 x 13 inches, and the sugar is pressed into the pastry on both sides.

Beginning on one side, roll the dough as tightly as possible until it reaches half way across.  Do the same for the other side until they meet in the middle.



Slice the dough roll into 3/8-inch slices


Place the slices, cut side up, on a baking sheet.  (For easy clean up, line the sheet with parchment paper or a silpat, because the melted sugar will really stick to the pan and smoke - I found out the hard way!)

Bake the palmiers for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the sides are beginning to brown, like this:



Then turn them over with a spatula and bake for another 2 to 3 minutes.  Be VERY careful at this stage, because the palmiers can quickly become overdone and burnt.  Also, the sugar becomes molten and can burn you really easily, so don't touch them with your fingers.




Remove and cool on a rack for 10 minutes.

Repeat the steps above for the second sheet of pastry.

These sweet, flaky bits of dough are so yummy, and are really easy to make - I'm sure they will become a favorite recipe!

Enjoy,
- Sugar Baby

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