Jul 17 2008
Raspberry, goat cheese and almond empanadas
Published by Laylita at 11:04 am under All, Breakfast and brunch, Cheese, Desserts, Empanadas, Fruit, Kid friendly, Pacific Northwest, South America
Who can resist freshly picked raspberries at the farmer’s market? I didn’t grow up eating raspberries, but I did have a few different varieties of moras or blackberries growing in the mountains near our farm, so it’s very hard for me to resist any type of good looking berry. I love the combination of raspberries, goat cheese and almonds; it is mix that works well as a savory mix – think of a salad with some spinach or arugula and these ingredients – or as sweet filling for empanadas. I made these for an empanada brunch – I had the classic empanadas de viento or fried empanadas stuffed with cheese, empanadas mendocinas stuffed with meat picadillo, a new experimental empanada stuffed with spicy shrimp and mango (recipe coming soon) and these sweet empanadas; I served these last and they received raving reviews, Nicolas thought these were the best ones he ever had, another friend gave an eloquent description of how the texture was just perfect, I felt like a proud mom.
On the assembly side of these sweet empanadas I’ve discovered that it is a lot easier to make small empanadas, the sweet dough is a lot more fragile than the standard savory empanada dough, so making the empanada discs smaller makes them easier to assemble and the disc is less likely to crack. I’ve also noticed that with desserts- especially if like me you stuff everyone with several courses of food before you get to dessert - sometimes people like having something small and for those who have more room for dessert they can just eat twice as many empanadas. I’ve also come to accept that sweet empanadas stuffed with any kind of fruit are likely leak a little bit and in the case of these the goat cheese and raspberries had a few almost explosion like results – basically the top part look like a small eruption took place – but it actually made them look more appealing by offering a small glimpse into what was hiding inside the empanada and I was even asked if I made them this way on purpose.
Ingredients:
15-18 medium or 25-30 small sweet empanada discs made from basic sweet pastry dough
12 oz raspberries
11 oz plain goat cheese, room temperature
½ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs orange zest
½ cup sliced almonds
1 egg, yolk and white separated and lightly whisked
¼ cup demerara sugar to sprinkle on top
Preparation:
- Combine the goat cheese, sugar, vanilla, orange zest in a bowl, mix well.
- To assemble the empanadas place a spoonful of the goat cheese mixture, a couple of raspberries and a few almond slices on the center of the empanada disc.
- Brush the edges of the empanada disc with the egg whites.
- Fold the empanada discs and seal the edges, use a fork to help seal the empanadas.
- Lightly brush the top of the empanadas with the egg yolk; this will give them a nice golden glow when baked.
- Sprinkle the almond slices on the top of the empanadas, do this immediately after you brush them with the egg yolk, it will help the almond slices stick to the empanada.
- Sprinkle each empanada with a little bit of the demerara sugar.
- Chill the empanadas for at least 30 minutes or until ready to bake, this will help them seal better.
- Bake the empanadas in a pre-heated oven at 375 F for 20-25 minutes or until golden.
- Serve warm.
Ay, mami! Me gustan.
I kind of like the way the slightly ruptured ones look. I think I am going to try this with dark, magenta plums.
Apologies if you’ve covered this ground before in other posts, but what is your feeling on baked vs. fried empanadas?
Hi Michele - using plums sounds like a great idea! On baked vs. fried empanadas, I like both, I make a lot of baked empanadas, but there are some types of traditional empanadas (at least in Ecuador) that simply have to be fried like empanadas de viento: http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/03/18/empanadas-de-viento/ or empanadas de verde, which are made from green plantain dough - http://laylita.com/recipes/2008/01/15/empanadas-de-verde-con-queso/
These are so beautiful. I will give them a shot next week. I have a little social to go to and these will be perfect. thanks!
I am all about all things goat cheese - these look fantastic.
WOW this is a print and a make and fast.
Cheers
Cathy
http://www.wheresmydamnanswer.com
A wonderful combo! Those sweet empanadas would not last long at my table…
Cheers,
Rosa
You make it look soo easy:) I love the fruit, goat cheese and nut combination. I made a salad the other day with hazelnuts, apple, bacon, and goat cheese! mmmm.
these sound delicious. a wonderful sweet style for the beefy, chickeny original I’m used to.
Definately my next food endeavor!
Oooh they look so good. Great photo too.
I love your blog! The recipes combined with the great photos make for one great read. I married a Frenchman too. It must be true that the way to a frenchman’s heart is through his stomach. I made dinner for Laurent on our third date and haven’t been able to get rid of him since - 8 years (not that I’m complaining
I’m kind of a newbie to this whole baking thing… plain goat cheese = chevre?
Just gorgeous. Through and through. Your blog is such a feast for the senses…I can almost taste and smell your food. Thank you!!!
I’m definitely going to try these next Christmas.
They look amazing, and I love your choice of filling.
Wonderful! These look delicious. I’ve never tried goats cheese, sounds like an interesting combination.
These look sooooooo good. They look so cute and a great combination.
eeee! these are so cute! sweet empanadas are a nice twist. love the pics.
I love sweet empanadas, and this sounds like a wonderful recipe!
Oh, wow! What special empanadas! I love the sound of the ingredients.
Paz
Literally killing me…want to eat my computer…now…
I’ve just found your blog from your guest post at Paz’ blog and now I can’t stop reading your wonderful recipes and looking at your beautiful photographs. I’m saving this one right now to make for company.
se ven deliciosas! gracias! ya se lo que voy a hacer para navidad.
thanks for all the wonderful recipes Laylita! I’ve been searching for a capirotada recipe. My grandmother used to make hers with raisins, cheese,and cinnamon (no nuts). Would you be able to post a recipe for capirotada? i would appreciate it sooo much! Thank you!
Just wanted to let you know i went ahead and tried your recipe. A word of advice, make sure and cut some slits to let air out, mine exploded
But, my friends ate it anyway and they said the flavor was definitely there. Will try again. Thanks for the recipe!