Pear Cranberry Napoleons

But really- who doesn’t love a Napoleon? (You know, the dessert made with layers of puff pastry and other things that aren’t good for your arteries but so very good for your soul?)

This is a bit of a slacker Napoleon recipe, so raise a glass to that point first and foremost (meaning, you don’t have to make the mille-feuille pastry on your own, or even learn how to pronounce it). Secondly, it’s a kick ass dessert. And that’s all you really need to know.

You might recall that I recently made the Apple Cinnamon Strudel with Cinnamon Whipped Cream (an astounding success, unless you’re thinking of the version I made which was a disaster of even greater proportion). Yes, that dessert involved puff pastry too. I extolled the virtue of the Dufour brand (and no, I’m not even being paid to peddle their pastry wares) in that post, and I’m going to sing their praises again. Puff pastry is just so tasty and fun at the same time. I really must try to make it on my own one day… maybe when HBO starts putting out less compelling shows that take up three hours of my life every week. Buy Dufour if you can find it or arrange to mortgage your house to buy it, and if you can’t then it’s fine to buy Pepperidge Farm brand or whatever. Just make sure you buy puff pastry, or you won’t experience the fun part of this dessert. And that’s clearly a huge part of why we all love dessert.

PUFF PASTRY:

1 sheet puff pastry (the whole sheet if using Dufour brand, and 1 sheet if using Pepperidge Farm brand)

1 egg

1 tablespoon water

FILLING:

1/4 cup butter

5 pears, cut into 1/2″ pieces (preferably D’Anjou)

1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)

1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Pinch of salt (if using unsalted butter)

1 tablespoon Grand Marnier, or other orange flavored liqueur (optional)

Whipped cream (optional topping)
1. Preheat the oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small bowl, beat the egg and water together.
3. PUFF PASTRY: Unfold the thawed (but still really cold!) puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a large rectangle (approximately 15 x 10″ in size) and cut into smaller rectangles about 5 x 3″ in size*. Transfer the pastry rectangles to the prepared baking sheet and brush with the egg mixture.
4. Bake for 15 minutes, or until the pastries are puffy and golden brown. Remove from oven and and let puffs cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Using a serrated bread knife, split each puff pastry rectangle into two layers and set aside.
5. FILLING: in a large skillet or saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in pears, brown sugar, cranberries, cinnamon and salt, cooking for about 5 – 10 minutes (until pears are tender). Stir in Grand Marnier (if using) during last minute of cooking, and remove skillet/sauce pan from heat.
6. Scoop about 1/2 cup of pear/cranberry filling onto the bottom layer of the baked puff pastry pieces. Top with the puff pastry top layer and serve with whipped cream (if using).
Tips:
- *Cutting the puff pastry dough doesn’t have to be a perfect, exact science, but you do want them to look like an adult cut them. So- take your large 15 x 10″ rectangle and cut it lengthwise so you have two 15 x 5″ pastry pieces. Then cut them into smaller rectangles that are 5″ long and 3″ wide. You should end up with 10 pastry rectangles. (If not, who cares.)
- If you are using Dufour brand of puff pastry you will have more to deal with than another brand (other brands have two sheets per box, so using one of theirs gives you less pastry to play with). Roll the Dufour brand out to a longer rectangle and make another couple of rectangles, or just sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the pastry and bake as is for a yummy quick treat.
- The time it takes to cook the pears totally depends on how ripe they are to begin with. Sometimes they take 5 minutes, sometimes 10. Just take a little bite of a pear piece as you cook them so you don’t end up with pear mush (ew, baby food puree). If the pears are soft-ish, stop the cooking. You get it.
- Ice cream would go really freaking well with this dessert. I’m thinking vanilla because I just can’t picture chocolate with pear. BUT- how about rum raisin?
- Enjoy!
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November 17th, 2013 | More Sweets Please | No Comments | Tags: Fruit, Pies, Unidentifiable!