... in sheep's clothing

Dateline: San Francisco, CA; 7:56 PM

Per this tweet, I’ve successfully made Pop Tarts.  Oops, pardon my grammar - I meant “can’t wait to see how this dough  comes out.”  I wanted to bake something new to me, and this perfectly satisfied my desire!  They are inspired by the ones that (hopefully still) can be found at Flour Bakery in Boston (and coming to Cambridge!).

Mine didn’t turn out quite like that.  I don’t have the type of pastry cutter they used to cut the edges.  Mine did turn out flaky and delicious nonetheless.  You can check out all the action on Flickr.

Home Made Pop Tarts

(recipe adapted from BigOven.com)

• 550g (4 cups) All Purpose flour
• 1 cup butter, chilled, cut into 1/2” cubes
• 3/4 vegetable shortening, chilled
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vodka
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 16(ish) Tablespoons jam/preserve of your liking

Egg Wash

• 1 large egg
• 2 Tablespoons heavy cream

- Pour flour into a large bowl and whisk to get rid of any lumps, then add the butter and shortening.  Use a pastry blender or two knives to blend together until some of the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, but there are still recognizable chunks of butter, about 4 minutes of blending.

- Add sugar, baking powder, salt, egg, vodka, and cold water.  Mix with large wooden spoon, adding the water gradually, until there are no longer any large pockets of flour in the dough.  Wrap the dough in plastic, forming a 4” by 8” rectangle, and chill for at least 30 minutes.

- Heat the oven to 375 degrees before you are ready to begin baking.  After allowing the dough to chill, divide it into four equal portions (use a scale!), keeping one portion out and putting the rest back in plastic in the refrigerator.   Make the egg wash - beat egg and heavy cream together in a small bowl.  Dust the top of the dough with flour, flour your rolling pin, and roll the dough out on a very well floured surface into a 12” x 16” rectangle.  I used a silicone mat as a template to determine how large to make my Pop Tarts.  Cut into 8 equal sized rectangles.  Spoon jam into the center of half of the dough rectangles, leaving about 1/2” around the edge.  Brush the edges around the jam with the egg wash.  Flip the un-jammed dough onto it’s partner and press down along the edges.  Use a fork to crimp edges down and seal the jam inside.  Transfer to a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Poke a few holes in the top of the pastry, then lightly brush egg wash over the top of the dough.  Place in the oven for 30 minutes, turning half way through.  Let cool for 10 minutes.

- As one batch is baking, you can prepare the next through brushing the egg wash over the top, unless by that point the first batch is done baking.  Otherwise, place the waiting pastries in the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, and repeat with the remaining larger pieces of dough.

The Pop Tarts really are better if you let them cool down for a while, rather than scarfing them down, still steaming, into your greedy mouth.  Either way they are exactly what I wanted.  The original recipe called for a confectioner’s sugar glaze, which I would have made if I had any.  I’ll get some tomorrow to make it true to the ones that can be found at Flour.  I filled my Pop Tarts with raspberry jam, what I think is a 3-berry jam my mom made, and apricot preserves mixed with a touch of lemon juice.  They are all mouthwatering.  I think filling them with something savory (goat cheese and herbs, Parmesan, bacon), or other sweets like chocolate and nuts, would also be outstanding.  S’mores!  The possibilities are endless.