Blueberry Cream Cheese Turnovers
(and ten baking challenges to try while social distancing!)
What a crazy and eerie time this is around the world. I remember hearing about Ebola and the swine flu, and I think it’s easy to think you won’t be impacted for whatever reason (hygiene, geographic location, etc…). But when things like the Coronavirus start impacting countries around the world and suddenly people are flocking to the nearest retailer to stockpile and hoard on supplies like toilet paper and kitchen essentials, you can’t help but pay closer attention.
While I’m a believer that we shouldn’t be stockpiling and hoarding mass amounts of anything (and impacting those who may not have the resources to do so), I tend to keep a 1-2 weeks supply of many things in my home just as a mother and baker. And as for social distancing, I think it’s very necessary, and let’s face it. I don’t need any incentive to stay home and bake! Knowing that many of us are home for the next little while, I put together a list of baking “challenges” that would be great to try if the mood so strikes you.
Before we get to that though, I want to share my blueberry cream cheese turnover recipe because these are DELICIOUS. I shared a photo of them over on Instagram last week, and it’s only taken me an absolute age to get around to writing out the recipe thanks to a newborn and toddler! But here we are. And you totally need these in your life.
A few details about these blueberry cream cheese turnovers:
- My recipe calls for one batch of puff pastry. I always make my puff pastry from scratch, but I recognize that’s an all-day effort. If you do want to make your own, I would make it at least a day ahead of time as it is time-consuming. My favorite puff pastry tutorial is by Erin McDowell. You can watch the full tutorial she did for Food52 here. A rough puff pastry also works perfectly fine for these!
- If, like me, you always forget to take out cream cheese to soften, take it out at the beginning of the recipe. By the time the blueberry filling cools and you’re ready to assemble, it should be sufficiently soft.
- You can use fresh or frozen blueberries. If using frozen, you’ll want to let them thaw prior to using. An easy way to do this is to place them in a ziploc bag (or utilize the bag they come in if purchased that way) under warm to hot running water for 5-10 minutes or until nearly thawed. It is critical with frozen blueberries that you drain the juices once thawed.
- Don’t try to assemble these while the blueberry filling is still quite warm or hot. Puff pastry “puffs” due to the butter in the dough that turns to steam in the oven. A hot blueberry filling will begin to melt that butter prior to the oven, resulting in turnovers that are not as puffy or flaky.
- You’ll also want to not overfill these during assembly. It will make assembly difficult, and we don’t want that. It’s also important not to skip out on that last chill prior to the oven. Making sure the butter in the puff pastry is quite cold means more steam and more flaky layers!
- Lastly, if you prefer to use a different fruit or want to leave out the cream cheese, go right ahead! This is a versatile recipe where different fruits and fillings can easily be substituted.
Now onto the baking challenges for those of you that will be home for the next little bit! I love the satisfaction of mastering a new technique when baking, or making something new that turns out well. There’s never been a better time to expand your baking skills. Here are 10 ideas:
Puff Pastry
Seriously, now is the time to try making it from scratch. It can be used for so many things – turnovers, chicken pot pie, palmiers, etc… It can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days and frozen for up to a month. This is my favorite tutorial on how to make it.
Sourdough Starter
The one thing a starter needs is time! And now that we seem to have lots of it, this is a great opportunity to create a sourdough starter. Sourdough is truly having a moment right now and deservedly so. My favorite sourdough resources are Elaine from foodbod SOURDOUGH and Bryan Ford from Artisan Bryan.
A Layered Cake
Sheet cakes are a breeze and oh so delicious, but there’s something grandeur about a layered cake! Now is a great time to brush up on those stacking and frosting skills. Two blogs I love for truly scrumptious cake recipes are Sugar & Sparrow (I followed her recipe for the caramel apple cake I made for Ronan’s 2nd birthday, and it received rave reviews!) and Call Me Cupcake (this one is a favorite!). You can also check out my cake board over on Pinterest for more inspo!
Marshmallows
I admit this is one I still need to try so I’ll be adding it my list! Dreary weather and a pandemic totally calls for hot chocolate and marshmallows. I’ll be trying this recipe by Zoë François when I make mine.
Meringue
While I’m talking about fluffy things like marshmallows, I can’t not talk about meringue! Now that I’ve made it a few times, meringue seems relatively simple to me, but it was rather intimidating at first. There’s French meringue and Italian meringue, and it’s high time you make some if you haven’t already (and extra bonus is that it requires minimal ingredients!). Here’s a tutorial by Kitchn for simple meringue cookies.
Macarons
Meringue leads me right to macarons! I spent an entire day making batch after batch of macarons, and it resulted in only a handful that I would deem “successful”. At the time, I had an old oven, and now that I have a new gas range, it’s high time I try to make some more.
Donuts
This is one category that I most definitely buy more often than I bake. Yeasted donuts have quite a few steps, and frying donuts is definitely not something I prefer to do all the time. But given that time is what we have, this would be a fun one to try. Of course, there are so many delicious baked donut recipes too, and my kiddo has never been picky about a donut either way! The last donut recipe we made were these Simple Vanilla Buttermilk Baked Donuts, and they were delicious.
Bread
Nothing beats homemade bread. I repeat. Nothing beats homemade bread. The only thing that does is homemade bread and butter. There’s a special art to making bread – knowing when the dough is the right consistency, determining when the gluten has formed, etc… It’s a worthwhile effort you should definitely try and one that also doesn’t require many ingredients, most of which you probably already have on hand. I have this Hokkaido Milk Bread on my radar to make this week. Check out my Pinterest bread board too!
Jams, Curds + Butters
While these aren’t things to bake, they are used both in and on baked goods all the time. Most jams, curds and butters require few ingredients, can be stored for quite a while and can be made quickly. Here’s just a few recipes to spark your imagination.
- Cashew Butter Recipe
- Easy Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
- Fresh Lemon Curd
- Strawberry Balsamic Jam
- Orange Lemon Marmalade
Milks + Hot Beverages
This is another category that isn’t something to be baked, but I think this one is particularly fun – both for yourself and for kids too! From homemade hot chocolate to different kinds of milk, these are some tasty options to wash down all those delicious things you’ll be baking this week.
- Cinnamon Almond Hot Chocolate
- Homemade Almond Milk
- Homemade Strawberry Milk
- Chai Concentrate + Chai Latte
- Quick & Easy Homemade Oatmilk
Phew! Are you ready to hop into your kitchen now? While I know all of us wish for time off under different circumstances, here we are. And truly, I think it’s so important we make the most of it. I hope this list inspires you to try something new in the kitchen this week! And if you do, I want to see it. Tag me over on Instagram so I share your creations. Much love!
Blueberry Cream Cheese Turnovers
Ingredients
- 1 batch homemade puff pastry (or 1 package of frozen puff pastry), chilled but not frozen See my comments in the blog post for the tutorial I recommend for making puff pastry from scratch.
For the blueberry filling:
- 3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 1/2 tbsp corn starch
- 1 dash salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
For the cream cheese filling:
- 1 package cream cheese (8 oz)
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 3/4 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp sour cream
Instructions
To prepare the blueberry filling:
- Before prepping the blueberry filling, make sure to take out your cream cheese from the fridge and let soften at room temperature. I notoriously forget to do this so this is your reminder!
- Wash your blueberries. If using frozen blueberries, you will want to let them thaw prior to using. An easy way to do this is to place them in a ziploc bag (or utilize the bag they come in if purchased that way) under warm to hot running water for 5-10 minutes or until nearly thawed. It is critical with frozen blueberries that you drain the juices once thawed.
- In a medium saucepan, add the water, granulated sugar, lemon juice, corn starch and salt. Whisk together until corn starch and sugar are mostly dissolved.
- Next, add your blueberries and cook over medium heat until mixture gently boils. This should take about 3-4 minutes (only stir occasionally). After a gentle boil is reached and filling has thickened, remove from the heat and add the vanilla and lemon zest. Gently stir. Allow to cool for 10-15 minuts at room temperature then place in the fridge to continue colling. Note that you do not want to assembly these turnovers with warm or hot filling as that can melt the butter in your puff pastry prior to placing in the oven which will result in a less flaky and more flattened turnover.
For the cream cheese filling:
- In a medium bowl, mix together softened cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla extract and sour cream. Set aside.
Assembling the turnovers:
- Prior to assembling, preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Roll out your puff pastry into 8 5×5" squares approximately 1/8"-1/4" thick. One at a time, place a square on the baking sheet and spoon 1 heaping teaspoon of blueberry filling and 1 medium teaspoon of cream cheese filling into the center of square. Fold the square over to form a triangle, pressing the edges lightly with your fingers to seal and then going back over the edges with fork tines to seal further. Please note that if you use too much filling, it will make assembly difficult. Continue with each square until all are on the the baking sheet. Once assembled, place back in the fridge for another 15-20 minutes.
- After the final chill, remove the turnovers from the fridge and brush with egg wash. Then lightly sprinkle granulated sugar on top. This will create a thin extra crispy layer on the turnovers. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the puff pastry has "puffed" and the turnovers are golden brown.
