Croustades Filling Recipes

LEMON FILLING

Steps:

• In 1 1/2-quart saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually stir in water. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils. Boil and stir 1 minute longer; remove from heat.
• Stir in butter and lemon peel until butter is melted. Gradually stir in lemon juice and food color. Press plastic wrap on filling to prevent a tough layer from forming on top. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until set.
• Leftover filling can be tightly covered and refrigerated up to 5 days; do not freeze. Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature to soften; stir before using. Store cakes or pastries filled with Lemon Filling covered in refrigerator.

JAM-FILLED CROUSTADES

Steps:

• Dough: In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over milk; stir until dissolved. Let sit until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in vanilla seeds. In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the dough-hook attachment, mix together 4 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and 1/2 stick butter on low speed until butter is incorporated and mixture resembles coarse meal, 3 to 4 minutes. Add yeast mixture; mix until dough just comes together. Add eggs and yolk; mix until just combined, 2 to 3 minutes (do not overmix).
• Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, making sure to include any loose bits left at bottom of bowl. Gently knead to form a smooth ball, about 30 seconds. Wrap tightly in plastic; refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to overnight.
• In the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together remaining 3 1/2 sticks butter and 2 tablespoons flour. Shape mixture into a 12-by-10-inch rectangle on a piece of plastic wrap. Refrigerate 15 minutes or up to 1 day. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to an 18-by-10-inch rectangle, a little over 1/4 inch thick, keeping the corners as square as possible. Remove any excess flour with a dry pastry brush. Remove butter mixture from refrigerator and let stand at room temperature until it is the same consistency as the dough. With a short side facing you, place butter mixture over two-thirds of the dough. Fold the unbuttered third over as you would a business letter, followed by the remaining third. This seals in the butter.
• Roll out dough again to an 18-by-10-inch rectangle, then fold into thirds as described above; refrigerate 1 hour. This completes the first of three turns. Repeat rolling and folding process two more times, refrigerating at least 1 hour between turns. To help you remember how many turns have been completed, mark the dough after each one: make one mark for the first turn, two for the second, and three for the third.
• Wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate at least 4 hours and up to overnight. Dough can also be frozen, tightly wrapped in plastic, up to 2 weeks (thaw in refrigerator overnight before using).
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to a 20-by-16-inch rectangle, trimming edges if necessary. Using a ruler, cut into twenty 4-inch squares and transfer to one of three parchment-lined baking sheets, leaving an even amount of space between squares until you have two sheets with 7 squares each, and one sheet with 6 squares.
• Working with one square at a time, fold in half to form a triangle. Using a sharp pizza wheel, make a cut parallel to one of the short sides of the triangle, about 1/4 inch from the edge, stopping about 1/8 inch from the opposite short side. Make a second cut parallel to the opposite short side, about 1/4 inch from the edge, stopping about 1/8 inch from the first line. (Make sure lines do not meet.) Unfold triangle back into a square and brush egg wash along edges. Fold outer cut corners over to opposite inside corners. Press borders down to seal. Repeat with remaining squares. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
• Filling: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Fill center of each square with 1 tablespoon jam, then lightly brush dough with egg wash. Bake, rotating sheets from top to bottom halfway through, until deep golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool completely. Pastries are best served the same day.

MINI REUBEN CROUSTADES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Croustades: Cut two 2-inch circle from each slice of bread. Press into mini muffin tins. Brush with melted butter and bake at 350° F 12 to 15 minutes or until bread is lightly toasted all over. Cool. Store in airtight container or freeze until ready to use.
• Reuben Mixture: Combine corned beef, sauerkraut and Russian Dressing in a small bowl. Stir to combine.
• Fill Croustades with Reuben mixture just before baking. Top with shredded Swiss cheese and bake at 350° F for 10 minutes or cheese is melted and Reuben mixture is until heated through. If desired, garnish with chopped chives. Let cool 5 minutes before serving. Yield: 36 appetizers.

MUSHROOM CROUSTADES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter (or spray with butter-flavored Pam) 48 mini-muffin tins.
• Cut a 2-inch round from each slice of bread and press into muffin tins. Bake for 6 to 7 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from tins and cool on a wire rack.
• In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add onions and mushrooms and cook until tender and the moisture from the mushrooms has evaporated. Sprinkle with flour; stir thoroughly, reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add cream and stir constantly while bringing to a boil. Add wine, reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
• Remove from heat and stir in cayenne pepper, parsley and green onion. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Spoon mushroom filling into croustades and place on a large cookie sheet. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Heat in oven for 10 minutes or until bubbly.

LITTLE CROUSTADES FILLED WITH GRAVADLAX AND SOURED CREAM

Steps:

• Begin by placing the slices of bread on a flat surface and rolling them with a rolling pin to make them as thin as possible. Next stamp out rounds using a 2¼ inch (5.5 cm) plain cutter. Melt the butter in a small pan containing the garlic and a seasoning of salt and freshly milled black pepper. Now brush the little bread rounds on both sides with melted butter and then press them into the tins firmly. Bake them for about 15-20 minutes or until crisp and brown. Cool them on a wire rack and store them in an airtight tin for up to 2 weeks. To fill them for serving, simply pile the finely chopped gravadlax into each one and top with a little of the sauce that comes with it. Add a blob of soured cream and a dash of cayenne pepper.