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Raspberry Turnovers
Cut circles of puff or flaky paste three inches in diameter, having the paste not more than one-eighth of an inch thick. Moisten half the edge of the circle with cold water and in the center lay a teaspoon of thick raspberry preserve. Fold one half of the circle over the other, making edges meet. Press closely and mark with a fork dipped in flour. Brush with beaten egg, prick, and chill before placing in the oven. Dust with granulated sugar before serving. If desired, decorate the top of each with a single preserved berry or a candied cherry. Other fruit may be used in the same way.
A straightforward hand pie whose only difficulty is keeping the filling inside. The original omits oven temperature and time, so both need supplying.
- Oven temperaturePuff paste wants a hot oven, 425F, dropping to 400F once the pastry has risen. Bake 15-20 minutes, until the layers are set and deep gold rather than merely coloured.
- Flaky pasteIn this period "flaky paste" generally means a rough or half-puff dough with the fat worked in as flakes rather than folded in a formal book. Commercial all-butter puff pastry, rolled to the specified one-eighth inch, may be used instead.
- The chilling step is the hingeThe instruction to chill before baking is not optional. Cold pastry holds its seal and rises in layers; warm pastry slumps and the preserve boils out through the seam. Twenty minutes in the refrigerator, or ten in the freezer.
- Thick preserve onlyA loose jam or a syrupy conserve will run. Use a stiff, well-set preserve, and keep to the stated teaspoon per circle — overfilling is the usual cause of leaks.
- SealingMoisten only half the edge as directed, fork-crimp firmly, and set the turnovers seam-side well clear of one another on the sheet so escaping juice does not glue them together.
- Prick after the egg washThe order given is brush first, then prick, which leaves the vents open; egg brushed over an existing hole would tend to seal it. One or two small slits are enough.
- YieldThree-inch circles from a standard sheet of puff pastry give roughly nine to twelve turnovers, each a two-bite pastry rather than a dessert portion.
- FinishingGranulated sugar is dusted on after baking, once the pastry has cooled a little, so it sits on the surface. Sugar applied before baking will caramelise and darken.
Turnovers belong to the long tradition of pastry folded over fruit and eaten out of hand, and cookery pages of the period often used them for trimmings of puff paste and a spoonful of preserves. The Delineator was a women's magazine built around dress patterns, and its recipe columns share that sensibility: a base method followed by variations, here signalled by the closing line that any other fruit may be used the same way. The decorative single berry or candied cherry reflects a period fondness for garnishing even small pastries.