“I’d be so happy to be sitting at my desk, eating a Pop tart and keying away… nothing would please me more.” Ray Burrows
Today I would like to branch out and thank all those who have been following Kitchen Therapy so ardently, trying out the recipes, sending in pictures, and little notes – it means the world! Creating and developing a food blog is always borne out of passion, and rarely provides much in return other then self-satisfaction. It does not earn you money, fame or serve as a platform for other opportunities. It is simply a voluntary place of expression, a desire to share ideas, in this case, to cook and bake. So THANK YOU!!
My schedule is rather busy, with very little free time. I try very hard to discipline myself to devote time to Kitchen Therapy at nights and to cook/bake on Sundays and one free afternoon in the week. However, discipline and I haven’t been getting along, and I do end up procrastinating on assignments with the blog. It is, after all, therapeutic!
In the past few posts, you may notice I’ve been focusing on snacking foods, rather than main dishes, simply because I have been suffering from a wandering mind, and a lack of appetite. Chocolate and coffee seem to be my only good friend at times, and I’ve been forcing veggies down my throat in vain. Let’s hope this month is better, and we can work ourselves into better and healthier eating.
In the meantime, let’s talk about pop tarts! My mother is very strict, and pop tarts were never an option as breakfast. I would wait to go to a gora friends’ house to play so that I could shamelessly ask for one.
So trying to make a pop tart at home was out of the question, so I tricked her by saying I am making something healthy with figs, and sneaked a strawberry one in for myself. (I do realise it’s about time I grow up.)
These “adult” pop tarts are filled with a homemade fig paste, as well as a homemade orange and cranberry marmalade. They are baked in a sweet pastry dough, and then topped with icing and adult-approved toppings. You could serve them as a dessert with some ice cream, or simply have them as is, warm and oozing with flavour. The choice is yours!
Other filling options are: piece of chocolate, Nutella, fruit jams and preserves (I would recommend thickening them with a spoon or two of corn starch), or fresh fruit with some cinnamon and brown sugar.
The icing is a simple white icing, and you can top with any kind of nuts, sprinkles, orange or lemon zest, candied fruit and so on.
[yumprint-recipe id=’64’]
The Recipe
Serves Yields: 10 | Prep Time: 90 mins | Cook Time: 20 mins
Ingredients
- Sweet dough:
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- Pinch of salt
- ½ cup cold butter, diced
- 3 tbsp cold water
- Filling:
- ½ cup fig paste
- ½ cup orange + cranberry marmalade
- Orange + cranberry marmalade:
- (makes ½ cup)
- 3 malta oranges
- handful of dried cranberries
- 3-4 tbsp sugar
- pinch of salt
- Icing:
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 4-5 tbsp milk
- Toppings:
- Candied ginger, orange zest, lemon zest, chopped nuts
Instructions
- Marmalade:
- Wash and scrub the skins of the 2 oranges well and dry well.
- Cut out the orange part of the skins (of only 2 oranges) into thin long slices (leaving out the white part).
- Then peel off the white skins and cut the oranges into thin slices.
- Put them with the peeled zest and all juices into a cooking pot.
- Add the juice of the third orange, and the pulp into it. Squeeze down on all the ingredients in the pot to let the juice flow with the back of a spoon.
- Add the cranberries, sugar and salt.
- Bring the pot to a gentle boil on low heat and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and let cool completely.
- Dough:
- Whisk the dry ingredients together.
- Rub the butter into the flour mixture to create a crumb-like texture.
- Then pour the cold water in to combine the dough.
- Wrap in an air tight foil or cling film and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Assemble:
- Roll dough out and cut into rectangles or use a large shape stamp.
- Place a spoon and half (or depending on the size of your pop tart) of the filling in the centre of the rectangle. Leave enough room on all the sides to seal.
- Brush the sides with some water (do not soak) and seal with the other rectangle.
- With a fork, imprint the sides, pushing the edges together.
- Prick the tart on top.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Bake the pop tarts in a preheated oven at 180°C for 18-20 minutes. The tops should be slightly browned.
- Remove from tray and cool completely.
- Whisk the icing sugar and milk together to create a thick icing glaze.
- Spread the icing on top of the pop tart and garnish with toppings.
- Serve immediately or store in an airtight container.
- Suggestions:
- Top the fig pop tarts with orange zest and almonds flakes.
- Top the orange marmalade pop tarts with candied ginger and chopped pistachios.
- Serve with a dollop of ice cream for a quick dessert option.
