Summer… I love the garden produce of summer. Especially blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. I like to buy them in large batches and use them in all sorts of baked goodies. Especially these flaky, melt-in-your-mouth, Cream Cheese and White Chocolate Pinwheels. I even ventured to create some 4th of July fireworks inspired puff pastries. I’ve included a few fun photos of my “fireworks” at the end of this post.
I make no apologies for this recipe. This is really, really good. My personal favorite is the raspberry variety. When you pair the tart fresh taste of a perfectly ripe raspberry with the buttery, decadent taste of puffed pastry —ummmm… so, so, good.
Cream Cheese and White Chocolate Pinwheels with Berries Ingredients
- 1/4 Cup fresh blueberries
- 1/4 Cup fresh strawberries
- 1/4 Cup fresh raspberries
- 1 Box of two pieces of ready to bake Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets (defrosted)
- 1/2 Cup cream cheese
- 1/3 Cup powdered sugar
- 1 Cup white chocolate flavored almond bark
- Cookie icing decorating tubes in desired colors (to create the “fireworks” variety)
Yield is 8 pinwheels.
Directions for Cream Cheese and White Chocolate Pinwheel Pastries
Step 1: Defrost puff pastry sheets for 40 minutes. Unfold the pastry sheets once they are partly defrosted. Thawed sheets should still be cold.
Step 2: After 20-30 minutes of defrosting the pastry sheets, break up the almond bark and place it in a double boiler to melt it. A double boiler is a pot with boiling water in it – with another pot inside of it used for melting candy melt or chocolate. Keep a close eye on a double boiler – too much heat can burn chocolate. For tips on using a double boiler see my post on Pepperidge Farm Sweet Rolls for a Superhero Breakfast. Just an FYI, some versions of candy melt or almond bark can also be melted in the microwave.
Step 3: Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Step 4: Using a knife cut each pastry sheet into four squares.
Step 5: Prepare the cream cheese by heating it in a small bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add the powdered sugar and mix throughly. Feel free to add more cream cheese or powdered sugar to suit your personal taste for the balance between savory and sweetness.
Step 6: Use a spoon to distribute approximately one teaspoon of the sweetened cream cheese mixture onto the center of each puff pastry square.
Step 7: Leaving a 1″ circle of un-cut space in the center of each pastry square, cut outwards from the center towards all four corners of the square.
Step 8: Tuck the left corner of each triangular piece towards the center creating a pinwheel shape from the puff pastry. Keeping tucking corners until all four corners for each pastry have been pulled to the center.
Step 9: Place your pinwheel pastries into the oven (pre-heated to 400 degrees) to bake for 6 minutes. You will add your berries of choice halfway through baking. I like to use strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.
Step 10: Depending upon your oven, these pastries will bake up in 12 to 15 minutes. I like to add the berries halfway through baking to help the fruit hold its shape. Pull the pastries out of the oven at the halfway point, add your berries, and then put the pastries back in the oven to bake for 6-7 additional minutes.
If you’ve never used a ready-to-bake puff pastry before, just know that Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry is made with the same basic ingredients as pie pastry, but the dough is folded multiple times to create layers. When baked, steam makes the layers rise about 8 times higher. So you get a light flaky crust every time you use it.
Step 11: Once baked, set the pastries on the counter to cool for a few minutes. In the meantime, load your frosting applicator with the white chocolate flavored almond bark and set it aside to cool for a few minutes as well.
Step 12: Drizzle on the white chocolate.
You can plate these delicious pinwheel puff pastry treats with fresh berries for a lovely brunch or dessert.
4th of July Fireworks Pastries
I love the vibrant colors of the berries against the flaky white crust of the puff pastry. Just for fun, I decided to also create some 4th of July Fireworks inspired puff pastries as well. Here is my attempt at creating a “fireworks”display – please let me know what you think in the comments!
I think these “fireworks” would be so fun for a Fourth of July party, or any other gathering where party-goers are celebrating with red, white, and blue.
More Party Inspiration
Are you planning a party? Hosting a family get-together? I think you’ll love some of these fun ideas for puff pastry treats and snacks created by my mom-blogger friend Mariah at FormulaMom.com. The wide variety of dishes she created included mini-banana cream pies, cinnamon french fries, pizza bites, burger bites, candy cupcakes and more. Her birthday party fare proved that puff pastry can be used for a wide range of appetizers, desserts and main dishes. Perfect for almost any occasion!
Where to find Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry
Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry can be found in the freezer isle of grocery stores nationwide.
If you’d like even more ideas for easy recipes for entertaining explore the Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry website at Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry. There you can find a rich recipe box and an engaged community to inspire and help you plan your next party menu.
- ¼ Cup fresh blueberries
- ¼ Cup fresh strawberries
- ¼ Cup fresh raspberries
- 1 Box of two pieces of ready to bake Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Sheets (defrosted)
- ½ Cup cream cheese
- ⅓ Cup powdered sugar
- 1 Cup white chocolate flavored almond bark
- Cookie icing decorating tubes in desired colors (to create the "fireworks" variety)
- Defrost puff pastry sheets for 40 minutes. Unfold the pastry sheets once they are partly defrosted. Thawed sheets should still be cold.
- After 20-30 minutes of defrosting the pastry sheets, break up the almond bark and place it in a double boiler to melt it. A double boiler is a pot with boiling water in it – with another pot inside of it used for melting candy melt or chocolate. Keep a close eye on a double boiler – too much heat can burn chocolate. For tips on using a double boiler see my post on Pepperidge Farm Sweet Rolls for a Superhero Breakfast. Just an FYI, some versions of candy melt or almond bark can also be melted in the microwave.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Using a knife cut each pastry sheet into four squares.
- Prepare the cream cheese by heating it in a small bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds. Add the powdered sugar and mix throughly. Feel free to add more cream cheese or powdered sugar to suit your personal taste for the balance between savory and sweetness.
- Use a spoon to distribute approximately one teaspoon of the sweetened cream cheese mixture onto the center of each puff pastry square.
- In sequential order pin the legs of the pinwheel puff pastries
- Leaving a 1″ circle of un-cut space in the center of each pastry square, cut outwards from the center towards all four corners of the square.
- Tuck the left corner of each triangular piece towards the center creating a pinwheel shape from the puff pastry. Keeping tucking corners until all four corners for each pastry have been pulled to the center.
- Pin the same side of each leg of the pinwheel to the middle
- Place your pinwheel pastries into the oven (pre-heated to 400 degrees) to bake for 6 minutes. You will add your berries of choice halfway through baking. I like to use strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.
- Depending upon your oven, these pastries will bake up in 12 to 15 minutes. I like to add the berries halfway through baking to help the fruit hold its shape. Pull the pastries out of the oven at the halfway point, add your berries, and then put the pastries back in the oven to bake for 6-7 additional minutes.
- If you’ve never used a ready-to-bake puff pastry before, just know that Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry is made with the same basic ingredients as a pie pastry, but the dough is folded multiple times to create layers. When baked, steam makes the layers rise about 8 times higher. So you get a light flaky crust every time you use it.
Have any summer favorites?
How do you celebrate summer? Have any special plans for using berries in a summer-inspired dish? Please leave a comment below and join the conversation. I love hearing from my readers.
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This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry.
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Originally Published June 24, 2015.
