Finnish Recipes

The Finnish Christmas Baking season has begun.

And the next generation is learning how to make Joulu Torttuja, the traditional prune filled tarts, I grew up with. They are time intensive, but the taste and aroma are worth it. We made them at my mother's so she could smell them baking, since we had the time with no kindergarten yesterday. She could hardly stand waiting for them to come out of the oven.



Title: Joulu Torttu copyright
Description: Traditional Finnish Christmas prune filled pastry. A tradition in our family.

Filling: 2-48oz. pkgs. pitted punes. Enough water to barely cover. 1 cup sugar. Stir in well. Boil gently 20-30 minutes. Pour all into food processor and puree until smooth. Taste for desired sweetness and add sugar to taste. Pour into cool whip sized bowl.

Pastry: 1 1/3 cup whipping cream, 3 1/2 cup flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 3 cubes butter or margarine (1 1/2 cup)Whip cream and into it mix 1 cup of the flour with baking powder in it. Add soft margarine or butter kneading it in well with your fist. Add rest of flour and knead into the dough mixture until smooth. Form into a ball and wrap with saran wrap. Chill for a few hours or may be frozen and kept for weeks before baking. Never double, if you want more, make two batches.

Directions: Roll out chilled pastry dough. Cut into circle with cookie cutter or top of glass. Gently stretch each one in your hand. Add a tiny spoonful of prune filling into center. Be careful not to get too much. Wet the edges of pastry. Fold pastry over in half. Place close together on cookie sheet. Use parchment paper underneath them. Chill tray in fridge for a few minutes. Baste with a whipped egg for color. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown --about 20 minutes.

Number Of Servings: About 4 dozen.