One of my favourite weekend treats is to pick up something sweet from the local boulangerie (Victoire) or pasticceria (Bertoni). From Victoire, it's usually a rhubarb tart or palmier, or from Bertoni, it's a ricotta zuccerati or squashed Nutella donut.
And while the chances of my making a rhubarb tart or zuccerati at home are zilch, palmiers are really easy to do. They are rolled slices of puff pastry, with sugar or sometimes a savoury cheese embedded in them. The ones I made for the French dinner are small and many, though you can also make larger ones - the ones at Victoire are about 15cm (5 inches) long, and I admit that I sometimes struggle to eat it in one go... (for shame)
Palmiers
makes 50
Ingredients
1/4 cup raw sugar or white sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
375g (or 1 x 25cm/10in sheet) ready-rolled puff pastry
20g unsalted butter, melted
Method
1. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar on a clean work surface and place the pastry on top. Then sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar.
2. Press the sugar down into the pastry by moving a rolling pin over the pastry. Cut the pastry sheet in half, then brush each half with some of the melted butter.
3. Roll up the each long side of a piece of pastry until they reach the middle. Try and roll as tightly as possible. Repeat with the other piece of pastry.
4. Brush the rolls with the remaining melted butter, then wrap the rolls in plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, until firm.
5. Preheat oven to 200 C / 400F.
6. Remove pastry from the fridge and slice each roll into 1cm (1/2in) pieces. Place 2cm apart on a paper-lined baking sheet, and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly golden. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Palmiers will keep in an airtight container for 1 week.
Recipe adapted from Petits Fours (Murdoch Books)
Ingredients, including some very puffy Careme pastry
The cinnamon sugar mixture is embedded into the puff pastry, which is then brushed with melted butter, rolled, chilled, then sliced.
The palmiers are light and flakey, with delicious caramelised bits
And they are elegant enough to serve on a petits fours platter.
Oh my goodness, Bel, that next to last photo of the Palmiers really shows how flaky and perfect they are-so nice. And it's funny that this is one of your favorite things to pick up from the bakery on the weekends. When I lived in Spain, Palmiers and coffee were what I ate almost daily at the bakery below my flat. Yeah (smile)...
ReplyDeleteoh for a minute i swear i saw eggplant palmiers and got excited that you'd combined two of my favourite things in one! palmiers are always a lovely treat - and the more sugar crystals, the better! i love your caramelisation too :)
ReplyDeleteOoh, they really are elegant! :)
ReplyDeleteDo you think you can notice a difference taste wise and 'puffiness' wise between Careme puff pastry and others (eg. Pampas)? There's a big price difference!
hi April @ My Food Trail - yes, there is a price diff! I bought the Careme at the Good Food Show, and there is only one sheet of pastry in the box! But Careme is SO much puffier than Pampas, it's worth paying extra for it for something special.
ReplyDeleteI know your little secret... :P It's very good to know that the recipes in this book are reproducible and stunning. I recently made the greek cookies from the book and starting flipping through the other pages and saw a few familiar things..
ReplyDeleteI love palmiers and their caramelised bits *drools*
That is so so beautiful! They are definitely elegant enough for the platter
ReplyDeleteThese palmier puffs look so pretty! I could have finished 5 at one go! No kidding.
ReplyDeleteI like your rolling pin and postcode :) The palmiers look enticing - can I ask where I can get Careme puff pastry?
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm sure you can whip up some eggplant palmiers to keep Helen happy? :D
Oh, how I love flaky pastry...*shame* And your mini rolling pin is just too cute!
ReplyDeleteWe've got very similar tastes! I love the zuccerati from Bertoni (is it in the new cookbook?!?!) - and your palmiers look fantastic.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are fantastic. I could eat an entire batch of these without blinking.
ReplyDeleteI lovee this stuff!
ReplyDeleteThanks, lovelies, for your comments!
ReplyDeletePhuoc'n Delicious - yes, the recipes in the book are fab (love your Greek shortbread).
foodwink - Careme is available in lots of places. I think Norton St Grcer hall has it, and there is also a list of stockists on caremepastry.com. PS: Shall you inform Helen when the eggplant palmiers will be ready?
Trissa - do you have the book? It looks great, and it shouldn't be hard to go get it autographed!
My kids LOVE palmiers. I have never baked them myself but have a recipe saved to try it. It looks so easy. Delicious.
ReplyDeletePalmiers have this sweet thoroughly addicting taste that I just can't get enough of. I'm so impressed that you made them yourself! Need to try these.
ReplyDeleteThey look absolutely adorable Bel! :-)
ReplyDeleteWow, what a nice and easy way to make palmier...have to try it soon, since I have some puff pastry sitting in my freezer...great photos :-)
ReplyDeleteThey look fantastic Bel! I was lucky enough to try some of the Careme bread and a tart when I was in SA and they were fantastic! :)
ReplyDeleteOooh that pastry looks just lovely! Mmmm... buttery goodness :)
ReplyDeleteI love Palmers! The little hearts :) Yours look delightful!
ReplyDeleteThe caramelised bits are making me giddy.
ReplyDeleteA 15cm palmier?? Wow! I want one!! haha....
ReplyDeleteI had palmiers once, when my mum baked them from a box- the ones which you just have to put in an oven. I loved them but somehow never had them again =( These look so yummy- even better than the ones from the box =) So I'll definitely have to make palmiers some time.....!
These look amazing. I have never stumbled upon your site before but am really glad I did. I will be back for sure. The cinnamon touch on the palmiers would make me eat the whole batch.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely adore palmiers! Mmm been a loooooong time since I made some. Might have to go buy myself some puff pastry soon =)
ReplyDeleteThat looks simple and easy to make. Would be lovely with a cup of coffee...yum.
ReplyDeleteOh, I was wondering what these were when I spotted them on the petit four post. Cinnamon, sugar, butter and pastry sounds like a great treat!
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincidence that you've made these and I've just had one here in Paris!
ReplyDeleteI made savoury palmiers a couple of times - with cheese and finely chopped spinach sprinkled on - they worked really well as a savoury finger food at a cocktail party. I ate a gorgeous sweet palmier just today at one of my favourite local cafes here in the Western suburbs of Adelaide - El Choto. I love the look of these - so simple and the end result look so buttery and flakey - the Careme really does seem worth it (I've been meaning to try it - especially as it's produced in the Barossa).
ReplyDeleteThese look great! My family is always looking for great recipies to try out, we will definitely have to try this recipe, and some of your other recipies too! Thanks and great blog!
ReplyDelete