RASPBERRY FILLING

This recipe for raspberry filling can be used a dozen different ways. You can use it in puff pastry turnovers like the photo below, or between cake layers, inside cupcakes or donuts, on french toast, on ice cream, on cheesecake and on and on. It is a great basic recipe that only takes a few minutes to put together and can easily be doubled.

(1) 12 ounce bag of frozen raspberries (not in syrup)
½ cup + 3 tablespoons of water
¾ cup white sugar
1 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons cornstarch
¼ cup cold water

Gently simmer the raspberries, water, sugar and lemon juice for 15 minutes, in a small heavy bottomed pan. After 15 minutes, you can push the berries through a sieve if want a seedless filling (I leave the seeds in).

Bring the strained berries back to a full simmer. Dissolve the cornstarch in the ¼ cup of water and whisk it into the simmering berries. Bring it back to a boil, and simmer for another five minutes. Cool/chill completely. It will thicken as it cools.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the above raspberry turnovers, I just thawed a sheet of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry dough for 45 minutes and then floured my board a little. I unfolded the dough and rolled it out flat (about 2" bigger than right out of the box). I cut the sheet into 6 pieces and put a dollop of raspberry filling into the center and folded the dough over (wetting the edges) and crimping them. I cut small vent holes in the top of the turnovers and baked them on an ungreased sheet at 400 for 15-18 minutes (or until they were golden).

You can drizzle a glaze on them if you want, or just dust them with powdered sugar. Hubby likes them "unadorned". They are light as air, crisp and flaky, just right for breakfast or an instant dessert.