Finnish Christmas Stars (Pinwheel Tarts)

Cooked with Love by Genna Greeves, HeartLight Center New Mexico Community Liaison

“My Papa and mom’s dad, Oliver, was always proud of his Finnish heritage. Our family Christmas tradition was to have a potluck dinner with family on Christmas Eve at my grandparents’ house, and then we would all come back to their house the next afternoon to eat leftovers and open presents together. He always made these tarts for this gathering and I remember him making them meticulously and proudly putting them out to eat.”

Finnish Christmas Stars (Pinwheel Tarts)

Ingredients for Pastry:

1 c. ricotta cheese

1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

2 c. flour

½ tsp. sea salt

¼ c. ice water

 

Ingredients for Jam:

1 c. prunes, pitted and chopped

½ c. sugar

Squeeze of lemon juice

Water (enough to cover prunes)

*Can also put pre-prepared fruit preserves in the middle instead.

Powdered sugar to taste

 

Instructions:

In large mixing bowl, use beaters to beat butter and ricotta together, 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

Add flour and salt and mix well. Dough will be dry.

Slowly drizzle on some of the water and beat again. Add enough water to make a cohesive, well-mixed dough.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap, place in fridge, and chill overnight.

While dough is chilling (minimum 3 hours), make jam.

Place prunes in small saucepan and cover with water. Add sugar and lemon juice.

Bring the pan to simmer over medium heat on stove. Continue until mixture has reduced significantly and has jam texture.

Remove from heat and cool. Can be put in fridge and used cold.

When ready to use dough, remove from fridge, let sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover baking sheets with parchment paper or cooking spray.

Lightly flour work surface. Roll out dough about ¼ inch thick.

Use pizza cutter or knife to cut dough into 3×3 inch squares.

Make four ¾ inch cuts in each square. Each cut should be diagonal from the corner to the middle.

Scoop ½ tsp. of jam on to the center of each tart. Take one corner, fold to center. Fold every other corner to meet in middle, forming a star shape.

Transfer tart to baking sheet.

Bake for 8-11 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

When tarts are cool, dust with powdered sugar to taste.