Of all the things I love about writing a blog—and there are many, from seeing a record of my kitchen accomplishments to moving another bucket list item to the “done” column to hearing the stories from others who have tried my dishes—the best benefit of all is meeting new friends. I had the most wonderful opportunity to do just that when my husband, Les, and I traveled by car for our recent vacation. Our trip was slated to take us up I-95 through Virginia, D.C., Maryland, Delaware and into New Jersey, and I was thrilled that my blogging pal, Bernadette, was open to a meet-up. She had mentioned many times on her own blog, New Classic Recipe, that she was a resident of the Garden State, and fate was on our side because we were able to meet just one quick exit off the highway, on our way up to the northern part of the state.
I first came to know about Bernadette because she began commenting on some of my posts near the end of 2020, most notably the Oysters Rockefeller Pizza, and when I checked out her blog (WordPress is good that way, encouraging you to check out the bloggers who like your pages), I found myself also mesmerized by stories of her travels and food adventures, and especially the Italian recipes, including this one for fried, stuffed olives. We began following each other’s blogs, but I didn’t expect I would meet her one day.
At least, not until a couple of weeks ago. 😊
Once our travel plans became clear, I reached out to Bernadette privately, and she was terrific to recommend places near her that we could connect in person, and I’m so glad that we did! We gabbed over lunch—about food and blogging, about family and friendship, and the time just went so fast, as Les and I were suddenly back in the car and on our way to the rest of our action-packed vacation.
Before we parted, my new friend surprised me with a gift bag that contained two jars of handmade preserves, which I treasure. One of them is fig, which we will most certainly dig into when the holidays arrive, and the other is blackberry-prosecco. As much as I have enjoyed slathering the latter on my breakfast toast, I wanted to make something delicious and special with it, both to honor my new friend and to show appreciation for this (literally) sweet handmade food gift. This recipe is simple to make because it relies on store-bought puff pastry, but it has a little bit of “wow” factor, thanks to a pretty shaping method that is very easy to do. And the blackberry-prosecco preserves offer just the right kiss of sweetness on top of a cream cheese cushion.
My intention for these pastries is to serve them for breakfast or brunch, and because September is Better Breakfast Month, it seems apropos to do so. But honestly, there’s no reason these could not also be served as a light dessert, perhaps even with a glass of prosecco, in a friendly nod to the prosecco in Bernadette’s preserves.
Wait, why not both? 😉
Ingredients
1 sheet refrigerated (or frozen, thawed) puff pastry
3 oz. cream cheese, slightly softened
1 heaping Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
6 tsp. favorite fruit preserves
1 egg (+ 1 tsp. cold water, for egg wash)
Instructions
Either of my friend’s homemade preserves would have been delicious in these pinwheels. 
Combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. 
Roll out the pastry, just enough to smooth folds and wrinkles. 
Use a sharp knife or pizza wheel to trim away the edges. This will ensure a better “puff” on the pastry. 
Cut the pastry in six equal-ish “squares.” I think we can agree that it’s a good thing I don’t build houses, right? 😉 
I placed a bottle stopper in the center of each square, and used a knife to cut diagonally toward it from each corner. 
Fold every other point toward the center, overlapping slightly. 
Press the center quite firmly to keep the pastry from separating while baking. I used the stopper for this, also. 
Divide the sweetened cream cheese equally among the pinwheels, and use the back of the spoon to make an impression. 
Top each pinwheel with about a teaspoon of preserves, and then lightly brush all the exposed pastry with egg wash. 
Bake the pinwheels for about 18 minutes. Rotate the baking pan halfway through. 
Piping hot from the oven!
- Preheat the oven to 400° F, with oven rack in the center position.
- Remove puff pastry from package and roll out on a lightly floured counter or board. Use a rolling pin to gently press out any folds in the pastry and aim to keep the pastry sheet in a mostly square/rectangle shape.
- Using a pizza wheel, trim the edges all around and cut the pastry into six roughly equal size squares. Arrange the squares on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. It is not necessary to have much space between them.
- Use a paring knife to cut diagonally from the corners of each pastry square toward the center, but keep about 1½ inches of the center fully intact. Fold every other point toward the center, slightly overlapping them in the middle. Press down firmly on the centers with your thumb to ensure the pastry stays put.
- Divide the sweetened cream cheese mixture among the pastry pinwheels. Each should have about 1 tablespoon. Gently press the center of the cream cheese with the back of a spoon to create an impression. Fill each impression with a small spoonful of your favorite preserves.
- Brush all exposed pastry dough with egg wash. Bake for about 18 minutes, or until pastries are puffy and golden. Rotate baking sheet about halfway through the time, for even browning.
- Cool pastries on the baking sheet for about 2 minutes before transferring to a rack to cool.
Comfort du Jour 
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