Here's my favorite Christmas baking item. My Mom made them when I was growing up, and if you're of Finnish descent, you likely have had them. If not, don't judge them until you try them. They are amazing!! There's no sugar in them, which I think is what makes them so addicting. I use my aunt Susie's recipe (in the Kurtti cookbook), but there is also one in the Finnish Cookbook (by Beatrice Ojakangas). Susie's recipe has a much simpler pastry (one step rather than two), which is why I chose it. Susie also told me that the original pastry recipe says "add liquid" because it had a shot of whiskey in the pastry. Hmm. I wonder what that tasted like!
Finnish Prune Tarts
1 lb. butter (not margarine) at room temperature
3 c. flour
3/4 c. cold water
1 pkg. dried prunes, cooked and mashed*
Cut 3 cubes of butter into flour. Add liquid. (Chill 15 minutes) Cut dough in half. Roll out (with flour to prevent sticking) into a 16"x16" square about 1/8-1/4" thick. Spread half of the last cube of butter on the dough. Do the same with the second half of dough. Cut each square of dough into 12 squares (or 3" squares, however many you get) Cut in each corner to make slits for a pinwheel shape (or use a tart cutter if you have one). Drop 1 t. of cooked mashed prunes into the center of each little square (I prefer to transfer dough to cookie sheet first) and fold in every other corner to middle, making a pinwheel. Place cookie sheet in fridge until they get cold. I often pull the sheets out of the fridge on Christmas Eve and bake them, then serve them warm. Bake 450*F for 5 minutes, and reduce to 425*F for 15 more minutes. *If they aren't already cut up in the package, cut prunes into small pieces. Then cook on med-low heat with a bit of water and then mash.
Enjoy!!
The notes in brackets are mine. I found if I chill the dough before rolling out, it works better, and then I don't chill it on the pans. But, this changes the baking time. I bake them 11 1/2 minutes at 400*F, and this works out well for my oven. Any longer and the pinwheel tips burn, any shorter and they don't brown yet. I also found that they turn out fine without that last cube of butter added, if you're trying to watch calories (and who of us isn't!)
Oh, and James said to me when I was taking the picture, "that's a weally nice pwate you have da tawts on Mom. Or is it a window? It looks like a window to me!" As a matter of fact, it does!
