Raspberry Puff Turnovers

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Yield: 13 to 14 medium (4 1/2") turnovers
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Ultra-flaky, buttery pastry encloses a tart-sweet, homemade raspberry filling in these tempting turnovers. Read our blog about these turnovers, with additional photos, at Bakers' Banter. … More »

Raspberry Puff Turnovers

star rating (23) rate this recipe »
Hands-on time:
Baking time:
Total time:
Yield: 13 to 14 medium (4 1/2") turnovers
Published: 01/01/2010

Ingredients

Dough

Filling

  • 3 tablespoons Instant ClearJel® or cornstarch
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3 cups raspberries, fresh or frozen
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 large egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, to seal pastries (optional)
  • *If you use cornstarch, you'll want to dissolve it in cold water, rather than stir it into the sugar.

Tips from our bakers

  • For a pretty, glittery top crust, brush turnovers with milk, and sprinkle with coarse (sparkling) white sugar just before baking.

Directions

1) To make the crust: Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking powder.

2) Cut the cold butter into pats, and work it into the flour mixture till it's unevenly crumbly, with larger bits of butter remaining intact.

3) Stir in the sour cream. The dough will be craggy, but cohesive.

4) Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface, and bring it together, if necessary, with a few quick kneads.

5) Pat the dough into a rough square, then roll it into an 8" x 10" rectangle.

6) Dust both sides of the dough with flour. Starting with one of the shorter (8") ends, fold it in thirds like a business letter, flip it over (so the open flap is on the bottom), and turn it 90°.

7) Roll the dough into an 8" x 10" rectangle again. Fold it in thirds, wrap in plastic, and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes (or overnight) before using.

8) While the dough is chilling, make the filling. Mix the sugar and ClearJel till well combined. If you're using cornstarch, mix it with enough cold water to dissolve.

9) Add the sugar mixture to the raspberries, tossing to combine. Stir in the vanilla and cinnamon (and the cornstarch/water mixture, if you're using cornstarch).

10) Heat the mixture in a saucepan over very low heat, stirring, till the berries soften and fall apart. The mixture will be thick and jam-like, even though it doesn't really warm up much; this will take under 5 minutes. If you use cornstarch, cook and stir till the mixture bubbles and thickens. You can prepare the filling up to several days before; cover and refrigerate till you're ready to use it.

11) You can also do this in a microwave; heat till the berries soften, then stir till they fall apart and the mixture thickens, like jam.

12) When you're ready to assemble the turnovers, preheat the oven to 400°F. Roll the chilled dough into a 16" square. Cut sixteen 4" squares, for small, triangular turnovers. For round turnovers, use a turnover press to cut nine 4 1/2" rounds. Re-roll the dough scraps, and cut 4 or 5 additional rounds, as many as you can get out of the scraps.

13) If desired, for a tighter seal, brush two adjoining edges of each square (or half of each circle) with 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water.

14) Place about 2 teaspoons filling slightly off-center in each square. Or about 4 teaspoons slightly off-center of each round; a level tablespoon cookie scoop works well here.

15) Fold the turnovers in half. If you've cut the dough in squares, fold in half diagonally, to create triangular turnovers. Press the edges with a fork to seal.

16) Place the turnovers on a baking sheet, preferably one lined with parchment to catch any spills. Bake in the preheated 400°F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they're a deep, golden brown; you may see some of the filling beginning to ooze out.

17) Remove the turnovers from the oven, and cool on a rack. Serve warm, or at room temperature.

Yield: about 16 triangular turnovers, or 13 to 14 round turnovers.

Reviews

1 23  All  
  • star rating 05/15/2012
  • rnease from KAF Community
  • Ran across this one last week, and had to order the ClearJel, pastry presses, and coarse sugar. All that arrived today, so tried this out. Yum, Yum. Didn't have any intention of using raspberries, but was dying to try it with blackberries, and it didn't disappoint! Will be definitely making this one again, next time with blueberries. I think I will also do more folds, as the crust was not quite as puffy as I would have liked. Still, would have given it six stars if possible.
  • star rating 11/22/2011
  • elpanadero76 from KAF Community
  • This is a quick and easy recipe. The dough was easy to prepare, I made the filling from fresh raspberries. The girlfriend liked it. And shes picky!
  • star rating 06/23/2010
  • Baker from outside Philadelphia
  • Have to say that I'm not all that impressed. The dough was good--easy to make, flaky. I'm not happy with having used 3 cups of freshly picked raspberries and not even using a third of it for the filling. I'm also not crazy about the cinnamon taste--I wish I had left that out. Overall, blah.
  • star rating 03/14/2010
  • Foodiewife from Monterey, CA
  • This dough is amazing! It really does puff up and is very tender. I'll be posting how I made these, on my blog-- along with some tips. I omitted the cinnamon, wanting to use almond extract-- since I used a frozen berry mixture that had pitted cherries. I bought the turnover press kit from you, and I had some trouble with it at first. I finally figured out to make sure that there's enough flour, face down, when I fill the pastry. Pressing it together was another challenge- not overfilling it! The key, for beginners, is to keep the pastry nice and cold. Mine puffed up beautifully and as soon as I edit my photos, I'll post them. I used ClearJel and your sparkling sugar-- I bought everything you talked about when you first posted it. These are delicious! Next time, I will double the amount of dough.
  • star rating 03/01/2010
  • Megan from NH
  • These turnovers turned out beautifully! The dough was easy to put together and resulted in incredible flakiness. There is a lot of leftover raspberry filling, which I'm looking forward to spreading on english muffins. Everyone on the receiving end of these turnovers was very impressed!
  • star rating 02/03/2010
  • bunny from new york
  • very easy to make with just a few seconds in my food processor but most important it is love by all who eat it . I stuffed mine with cream cheese . the puffy layers are so pretty and very yummy.
  • star rating 12/20/2009
  • Beau from Sharon, Vt.
  • This is a fabulous quick method for puff pastry. I used the KA cutters for turnovers and they are great. I took the pastry, cut it with the smallest mold and stuffed the turnovers with savory fillings. I ended up making 5 recipes of the dough and made appetizers to give to friends instead of cookies this year. I froze the turnovers and heated at 425 for 15 minutes and they were elegant, delicious, easy puff appetizers. My friends were thrilled to get these instead of cookies because everyone has guests at the holidays and these hot bites make an impressive start to the evening. This puff pastry recipe is now a staple in my kitchen. I do warn people not to overwork the dough or it won't puff up.
  • star rating 11/24/2009
  • Saffron from Canada
  • I JUST finished eating one of these and they are SO SO good! My only difficulty was that I didn't roll the dough out quite as much as I should have and had difficulty as the filling wanted to escape! Not quite as pretty but just as yummy!
  • star rating 09/18/2009
  • Robin from Baltimore, MD
  • I never made puff pastry before and have to admit, I was a little intimated. But this is great! Comes together quickly and seems like you spent all day doing it. I definitely recommend it.
  • star rating 08/04/2009
  • Smriti from Redmond
  • I used the turnover pastry recipe to make some savory turnovers filled with potatoes and peas. They turned out so flaky and crisp that my whole family was raving about how professional they looked and tasted! You can see them here: http://svabhava.blogspot.com/2009/07/veggie-pattiespuffs.html
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