Empress Sweetmeats
These regal puff pastry treats feature buttery, flaky layers sandwiched with generous amounts of colorful fruit jams to create a towering dessert. The golden-brown pastries are stacked and then elegantly decorated with a delicate lattice of white and pink icing for a sophisticated finish. Perfect for high tea or special occasions, they offer a wonderful textural contrast between the crisp, airy pastry and the sweet, sticky filling.
Ingredients
- 1 pound Puff pastry dough (Originally 'puff paste'. Use store-bought or homemade.)
- 1 cup Fruit jam (assorted colors) (Use different colors like strawberry (red) and apricot (orange) as suggested by the text.)
- 2 tablespoons All-purpose flour (For dusting the baking sheet.)
- 1 cup Confectioners' sugar (For the icing.)
- 2 tablespoons Milk or water (Liquid for making icing. Quantity estimated.)
- 1 drop Pink food coloring (To create the pink icing mentioned in the text.)
Instructions
- 1Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly dust a baking sheet with flour.
- 2Roll out the puff pastry dough to a generous thickness (about 1/4 to 1/2 inch). Using cookie cutters, cut the dough into diamonds, rounds, or biscuit shapes.
- 3Place the cut pastry pieces onto the flour-dusted baking sheet. Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until they are well-puffed and golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool completely.
- 4Once cooled, separate the pastries into two equal groups. Spread a thick layer of jam on the top of the first group of pastries. Place the remaining pastries on top of the jam-covered ones to create sandwiches.
- 5Mix the confectioners' sugar with enough milk or water to create a thick piping consistency. Divide the icing into two bowls; keep one white and tint the other with pink food coloring. Pipe a cross or lattice shape ('chakdi') on top of each assembled pastry using both colors.