Oh So Fruity Breakfast Pastry

Too much cream? Not enough cheese? Oh, too sweet, but can it be sweet enough?

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Let's face it, breakfast pastries are one of two things - Too sweet or too cheesy. I have honestly never been a fan of fruit pastries. For me, they are either too doughy or too filling. There has not be the "perfect" one. So, I avoided them.

That's right...I AVOIDED BREAKFAST PASTRIES!

That was until I found the perfect combination of ingredients and...especially, what to use for the dough. When looking for the right dough, it was important for it to not have the dense consistency where you could be full on three bites and most importantly, it should not overpower the flavor and texture of the cream cheese and fruit filling. After all, it is oh so fruity.

Often times, either pie crust or dough similar to cinnamon rolls are used. But, to me, pie crust does not have the right texture and the dough overpowers the main event of the pastry. Here, I use pastry puff sheets.

Pastry puff sheets are so easy to work with and it's fun to watch bake in the oven. The sheets are a rectangle when you take it out the box and you can cut it into any shape you want - square, smaller rectangles, rounds, hearts, whatever your heart desires!

The sheet is maybe a few millimeters thick but as it bakes, it expands into this flaky pastry shell. It satisfies the desire to bite into dough but it's light and airy texture is just enough to make you feel like your having carbs and about to enjoy a very delicious fruit pastry.

They are also quick in the oven - at most, it will take 23 minutes for these amazing things at a temperature of 375.

For the filling, this is where it gets tricky. You don't want something too sweet. But, also, too much cheese can be either gross for some or tart for others. Getting the right balance between the cheese and the fruit spread is key.

The secret ingredient is LEMON. Lemon tames the tartness of the cream cheese and it maintains that taste after cooling. Just use a small squeeze of lemon. Just because the lemon "tames" the cream cheese, doesn't mean the hard work is done there.

How much fruit spread? How much cream cheese?

Well...I found that 1 tablespoon of cream cheese isn't enough. But, two is too much. I tried 1 1/2 tablespoon and it seemed like the perfect amount. That was because when it came to the fruit spread, it's important not to load on the fruit spread where it covers the cheese.

After all, it is a fruit AND cheese pastry...an Oh So Fruity Breakfast Pastry!

Fruit Spread can be found right next to jam and jelly in your local food store. It's different from jam and jelly in its name, literally. Fruit spread is so easy to spread. If you use jam for this pastry, you can guarantee that you will be break the pastry puff before it's even done because you will have to press so hard on the jam to get it to spread.

Fruit spread is such a silly item to me. That is because when you spread it on whatever it is you want to eat, whether it be toast or pastries, its deceiving. You will think you need more. But, trust me, chances are it's the fruit spread, not you, and you don't need to add more. I made that mistake the first time I made these. I just kept adding more and more and boy! Was that thing so sweet in the end!

With all that being said, on these pastries, my recommendation is to start in small amounts first and see what your taste buds like. After some testing, there was more happy faces when I used just 1/2 a teaspoon of the fruit spread. This amount is only for the baking process in the oven.

Have you ever wondered how the pastries get shiny?

After the baking process, once the pastries come out of the oven, you add one more coat of the fruit spread. It makes the pastry not only shiny, but adorable.

From there, once the pastry cools, it is all about the decoration with the icing. If the pastry is not cooled down, the icing will melt.

Then, you can enjoy the Oh So Fruity Breakfast Pastry!

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Take that pastry, heat it up if you prefer, on summer days, take it outside with a nice cup of coffee and enjoy the touch of sweetness to the morning! On winter days, cozy up with a blanket and a cup of hot tea and let this pastry remind you that the day will be sweet!

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Thank you for reading! I appreciate your support and time to read my first blog post as Cafe Nessa. Please give me a like on this post if this is something you would buy to add to your dessert/breakfast options.

Stay happy,

Vanessa