Blueberry Turnovers (Bláberjahorn)
The weather is a bit unusual this time of year because the snow has come early to Portland area this December. Last Sunday it dumped about 3 inches of snow and as a result schools were cancelled and I ended up not going to work either. As some of you might wonder why with such small amount of snow all activities got cancelled? Portland area, west of Willamette river, has many different elevations. Snow makes it too treacherous to drive on hills and school buses couldn’t go up the hills to pick up children. It’s the third day of no school, I’m guessing it will be closed for the rest of the week as well because the weather prediction is for more snow today and tomorrow. Christmas break may become a three-week break instead of a two-week break as usual. I’m not sure if the children have to make it up at the end of the year, I certainly hope so because I have to make up for my work days next year.
Because I have too much time on my hand, I’m going to write a post about my blueberry turnovers that I made this past week. The idea was to use up all my frozen blueberries and I found a perfect recipe from the book, The Great Scandinavian Baking Book (first edition). It may seems like an old repertoire from me, what to do with leftovers and finding a recipe from library’s books. Do you know that people are starting to borrow more from the library since the economic downturn? I’m glad I don’t find it out just now, I’ve been using the library since I’ve lived in the US. If it’s not a coveted cook/baking book, I’d never buy anymore books 
Back to the turnovers. The recipe calls for fresh, preferably wild, blueberies. Since I used frozen blueberries, I wanted to make sure my turnovers didn’t get drench with blueberries juice while being baked. I discovered that draining the blueberries in the refrigerator for a few days would solve the problem. My turnovers didn’t get soggy at all thanks to that. The only problem that I encountered was that rolling the dough to 20×20 inches was very hard to do. My pastry mat wasn’t that big and since the dough was so big, it’s a little hassle to throw some flour underneath the dough. You have to constantly roll, lift, throw some flour, turn repetitively until you get the size required. I couldn’t get that big, so I gave up by the time my dough reached 18×18 inches. The thinner you roll the dough the better the crust would be, but I found out that mine was pretty good! They are the kind of pastry that are not too sweet for either breakfast or afternoon break.
So here is the recipe, I hope you will be tempted to try them:
Blueberry Turnovers (Bláberjahorn)
Makes about 25 turnovers
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup chilled butter
1 egg, beaten
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 to 4 tablespoons ice water
Filling:
1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries, or frozen blueberries, thawed and drained completely
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoons cornstarch
Glaze and topping:
1 beaten egg
Slivered almonds
Pearl sugar or coarsely crushed sugar cubes
In a mixing bowl or in the workbowl of the food processor with the steel blade in place, combine the flour and sugar. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch dice and add to the flour. Cut butter into flour using a pastry blender or process using on/off pulses until butter is the size of peas.
In a small bowl, blend the egg, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons water. Add to the flour mixture and mix just until the flour is moistened and pastry holds together. Press into a ball. Chill if necessary.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and roll out to make a large square about 20×20 inches. Using a ruler as guide, cut with pastry wheel into 4-inch squares. You will have 25 squares.
Preheat oven to 400 degree F.
Mix the blueberries, sugar, and cornstarch. Divide the blueberries among the squares. Fold over berries to make triangles, enclosing the berries. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with slivered almonds and sugar. Bake 13 to 15 minutes until golden.
Source: adapted from The Great Scandinavian Baking Book by Beatrice Ojakangas
Who wouldn’t be tempted to try these beautiful little pastries! They are just gorgeous. I like getting cookbooks at the library as well. Between the internet and that, you are right that it takes a special cookbook for me to go out and buy it…of course there are a few!
thanks for stopping by Suzy!
Comment by Suzy — December 18, 2008 @ 9:09 am
I have this book borrowed from the library too—what a coincidence. I happen to like her recipes and they are pretty straightforward and yummy. I haven’t tried this one though so I will have to give it a go. Beautiful pictures!
hi Annie, i also like her recipes. even though this book doesn’t have a single photos (except for illustrations) i just couldn’t resist the recipes.
Comment by Annie — December 18, 2008 @ 10:07 am
These look amazing! The filling looks perfect.
thanks Lisa, i like it too.
Comment by lisaiscooking — December 18, 2008 @ 2:08 pm
your photos are absolutely beautiful. and these sound amazing! i’ve never attempted anything like them before but i’m feeling inspired. thanks for sharing!
Megan, thanks for the compliment and for stopping by here.
Comment by megan — December 18, 2008 @ 9:41 pm
Udah kebayang deh enaknya, itu baru liat photonya aja
hiya Ret, emang enak beneran
Comment by retno — December 19, 2008 @ 1:18 am
I’ll have to see if my library has this cookbook! Blueberries and almonds in pastry – yum!
hope your library has it!
Comment by Shari — December 21, 2008 @ 8:31 pm
these look amazing!
they were Missy!
Comment by missy — December 29, 2008 @ 7:19 pm
aku mau nyobaaaa….
doain yaaa….
udah jadi belum?
Comment by lesca — January 14, 2009 @ 4:04 pm