Strawberry Rhubarb Empanadas [Mexico]

Strawberry and Rhubarb... a killer combination:




Okay, back to work.

To make the empanadas you'll have to first make the pastry.

Ingredients-

Pastry Dough:

3 cups flour
0.5 cup white sugar
1 cup butter
2 eggs
0.25 tsp salt
3-4 tbsp cold water

Strawberry Rhubarb Filling:

3 cups of rhubarb

3 cups strawberry

1 cup sugar

2 tbs apple juice (orange juice works too)

1 tbs cornstarch

1 egg

0.5 cup brown demerara sugar

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and eggs (one at a time). Use a food processor on a low setting to mix the ingredients, and add the cold water as necessary. Knead until you get a moderately firm dough.

The dough'll be too soft at this point, so separate it into two batches, flatten, wrap in plastic, and stick in the fridge to chill for an hour or so. You may want to use this time to start on the filling (below).

When you're ready, bring the dough to a flat surface and use a rolling pin to roll the dough out. You want it to be reasonably thin- thin enough to fold, but not so thin as to tear when stuffed.

Wilde Oscar says: As it warms, the dough'll stick to everything so make sure the surface you're rolling on and the rolling pin are well coated with flour. This'll help keep the dough from sticking and making a mess.

Once you've got the dough flattened, use something with a round shape, 8-10 cm in diameter, to make circular rounds. If you haven't got a cookie cutter of the right size, a small bowl works well.

Wilde Oscar says: Letting the dough get too warm causes it to melt out of shape. It's not a bad idea to put the rounds back in the fridge to cool as soon as you've made them instead of letting them melt while you roll and re roll the dough.

To prepare the filling:

Chop the rhubarb and strawberries into small pieces. Toss them into a saucepan and add the cornstarch and apple juice. Mix well.

Optional: [to make sure rhubarb cooks] On low/medium heat, allow the filling mix to heat up, very slightly, for a minute or two. You really don't want to over do this.

Stick the mixture back into the fridge to cool completely- warm filling will melt the dough and make a mess. The filling must be cold when you start.

When you're convinced that the dough and filling have chilled, pull them out of the fridge. Line your baking pan with parchment paper, and lay the dough circles on it. Crack the egg and separate the white from the yellow. Whisk them both.

Brush the whites on the edges of the disk, pour a small amount of filling on the lower half, and fold. Use a fork to seal the edges.

Brush the whisked egg yellow onto the outside of the empanada to give it a nice shine.

Sprinkle the demerara sugar on top.

Wilde Oscar says: If you run out of filling before you run out of disks, be creative. White nectarines dipped in the run off liquid of rhubarb and strawberry makes a killer filling as well. Depending on the fruit, you may not need to heat the mix to soften. White nectarines were fine uncooked.

You can go ahead and place the finished empanadas into an oven preheated to 160C.

As the heat warms the filling faster than the dough cooks, you might find mini eruptions in the dough causing some spill out. This isn't a problem, but if you want them to come out without the little red volcanoes, put the empanadas back in the fridge for 30 mins to chill before you bake them.

Let them cook until they're a golden brown colour. About 10 minutes. Pull them out and eat them hot with loads of ice cream.

Empanadas actually are Spanish and Portugese in origin, but were carried down to Latin America where the stuffing, shape, size and glazes changed. The Mexicans got it right, I think, changing the filling from savory stuff like pork, fish, and vegetables, to fruity desserts. They also were the ones who decided to add whipped cream and serve them for breakfast. Brilliant