Raspberry, Almond, and Goat Cheese Empanadas

When you are on a cooking rampage (and blogging about it) holidays are the perfect excuse to make elaborate dishes and experiment with foreign cuisines. In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I expanded my empanada repertoire to include two new varieties: Beef Picadillo Empanadas and these Raspberry, Almond, and Goat Cheese filled dessert ones. I used a slightly sweeter pastry crust recipe (that did not include any vinegar) and made them smaller; a.k.a. more bite-size (and waistline-friendly).

Goat cheese is a curious ingredient. But when it is swirled together with sugar, floral orange zest, and vanilla it makes a luxurious creamy filling. Top it with a few berries and thin slices of almond, seal it up in a mini dough pouch, and hope it doesn't explode in the oven. Nah, not to worry. Explosions are rare- although leakage is guaranteed.

Even after a round of their meat-filled counterparts, these sweet tasty morsels were a delight! Even though I was going loco in a rush to finish them on time, my hurried empanadas turned out cute as a button. Enjoy them warm with a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

INGREDIENTS

1 recipe basic sweet pastry dough (see below)
12 oz. raspberries (fresh or frozen)
11 oz. plain goat cheese, room temperature
½ cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. orange zest
½ cup sliced almonds
1 egg, yolk and white separated and lightly whisked
¼ cup demerara or Turbinado sugar to sprinkle on top

Basic Sweet Pastry Dough:

3 cups all purpose flour (I used half white whole wheat)
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
2 sticks butter (16 Tbsp.), cut into 16 pieces
2 eggs
2-4 Tbsp. cold water

DIRECTIONS
1. Prepare basic pastry crust dough as follows:

1. Mix the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor.
2. Add the butter, eggs and water until a clumpy dough forms.
3. Knead the dough for a few minutes.
4. Form dough into 2 balls, flatten into thick discs, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
5. Roll out the dough into a thin sheet and cut out round disc shapes for empanadas, use round molds or a small plate or up as a mold, you can choose how large based on whether you want small or medium sized empanadas . Use the empanada discs immediately or store in the refrigerator or freezer to use later.

2. Combine the goat cheese, sugar, vanilla, orange zest in a bowl, mix well.

3. To assemble the empanadas place a spoonful of the goat cheese mixture, a couple of raspberries and a few almond slices on the center of the empanada disc.

4. Brush the edges of the empanada disc with the egg whites.

5. Fold the empanada discs and seal the edges, use a fork to help seal the empanadas.

6. Lightly brush the top of the empanadas with the egg yolk; this will give them a nice golden glow when baked.

7. Sprinkle the almond slices on the top of the empanadas, do this immediately after you brush them with the egg yolk, it will help the almond slices stick to the empanada.

8. Sprinkle each empanada with a little bit of the demerara sugar.

9. Chill the empanadas for at least 30 minutes or until ready to bake, this will help them seal better.

10. Bake the empanadas in a pre-heated oven at 375 F for 15-20 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.

Makes about 20 empanadas.

(Adapted from Laylita's Recipes)