Joulutortut — Finnish puff pastry stars with prunes

Cut 150 g dried prunes into smaller pieces and put them in a small saucepan. Add all 150 g water and 20 g sugar. Bring to a gentle boil, cover, and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring a few times, until the prunes soften. Keep all the contents of the pan, without draining.

Take the pan off the heat and blend everything with an immersion blender, keeping the head submerged in the prunes. You should have a thick paste that does not run off a spoon. If it is runny, heat without a lid for about 3–5 minutes longer, stirring, until the trail left by the spatula no longer disappears immediately. Do not add water or spices.

Transfer all the filling to a wide bowl, scraping it from the sides of the pan and the switched-off blender head. Spread it out and cool for about 30 minutes, until completely cold. Warm paste would soften the butter in the pastry. Prepare two baking sheets about 38 × 32 cm, lined with parchment.

Preheat the oven to 225°C using conventional top and bottom heat. Work with pastry that has already thawed in the refrigerator and is chilled; thawing beforehand is not included in the recipe time. Roll each 250 g piece between sheets of parchment into a rectangle about 20 × 30 cm, then cut into six 10 × 10 cm squares. Do not dust with flour, and do not trim the edges.

In each square, make a diagonal cut about 3 cm long from each corner toward the middle, without cutting through the center. Lift every other tip and fold them one by one toward the middle, all in the same direction. Press the four tips firmly together. Arrange six stars on each baking sheet in three columns and two rows, leaving at least 2 cm between them.

Brush the tops of the stars thinly with all the weighed 30 g beaten egg, avoiding the cut edges so the layers can rise freely. Divide all the cold filling into twelve similar portions and place them in the centers, over the joined tips. Scrape the remaining paste from the bowl onto the stars. Keep the second baking sheet in the refrigerator.

Bake the first sheet on the middle rack for about 15–20 minutes, until the stars have risen well and the layers and bottoms are golden and dry. Leave the second sheet in the refrigerator until it is ready to bake. After removing the first, put in the second and bake in the same way; do not put the sheets one above the other. Set the hot sheets on a stable heatproof support.

Cool each batch for about 15 minutes, until the filling is no longer scalding hot. Use the weighed 12 g powdered sugar to lightly dust the tops through a small sieve. Serve one star per portion, preferably the same day. Once completely cool, refrigerate any leftovers and use within 2 days; briefly reheat in the oven before serving to refresh the flaky layers.