Apple and custard pastries

I've made this once before (in late December). And the photos last time were nicer! :( Oh well. Sigh.

I was going with a theme of apples and custard. They compliment each other nicely :D Mmmm. I remember how yummy this tasted last time. I love apples with custard! I actually had something else in mind though.. but seeing as I had puff pastry on hand from making spinach and cottage cheese triangles, I decided to make apple and custard pastries. ;)


Apple and custard pastries
Makes 16 apple and custard pastries

3 small-medium Red Delicious apples, peeled and diced
2 1/2 cups milk
4 tbsp vanilla custard powder (I used White Wings gluten free vanilla custard powder)
2 tbsp sugar

4 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed

Dissolve 4 tbsp custard powder into 1/2 cup of the milk. Heat the remaining milk in saucepan with the sugar until nearly boiling. Gradually add the custard milk whilst mixing constantly. Simmer for a few minutes until thicker. Leave to cool down (it will harden some more)

Cut each puff pastry sheet into 4.

Spoon some custard, add some diced apples and seal the puff pastry tightly. Use a fork to make indents to ensure closure when baking.


Bake at 165C in a preheated oven for about 30-40mins or until golden brown.


Serve warm or cooled.
And it's delicious served warm with some vanilla ice cream!


Okay. Now.. I actually peeled 10 apples. I only used 3 of them in here, so where are the remaining 7?

You'll find out tomorrow. :P

Spinach and cottage cheese triangles and vol au vents

And this is what I bought the cottage cheese for. I was supposed to use ricotta cheese, but then I bought cottage cheese instead. It looked like it had practically the same texture anyway. Didn't really make a difference. So here it is. Spinach and cottage cheese triangles and vol au vents. The vol au vents were purchased from the supermarket and all I did was fill them in. Vol au vents are small cases of puff pastry that are filled with something savoury and served as canapé/finger food.


Spinach and cottage cheese triangles and vol au vents
Makes 27 small triangles, 4 large triangles and 6 vol au vents

150gm baby spinach leaves, chopped roughly
600gm cottage cheese
1/2 red onion, diced (I used the leftover onion from yesterday)

salt and pepper, to suit taste

6 vol au vent casings
4 sheets of frozen puff pastry, thawed (I used Borgs 30% reduced fat puff pastry sheets)

In a large mixing bowl, combine spinach, onion and cottage cheese. Add salt and pepper to suit taste.


Cut the puff pastry sheets to however you like. I cut 3 sheets into 9 squares per sheet (to get 27 small squares) and 1 sheet into 4 squares (to get 4 large squares). Do not be greedy with the filling as it will ooze out and not close properly (I had a problem with this. I think the small triangles are too small and there's so little filling..)

(Use the tip of a fork to make indents to ensure closure of the pastry)

Fill the vol au vents with spoonfuls of the mixture.


Bake at 165C in a preheated oven for about 30-40mins or until golden brown.


Serve immediately.

See how the small triangle barely has any filling?

... whereas the vol au vent has plenty!

As you can see, I actually prepared more than was baked. The rest are put back into the freezer so that when someone wants to eat them, they can just thaw and bake them. :)