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Recipe: Mum’s jam and cream puffs are the perfect dose of baking nostalgia we all need

This week’s recipe comes in the form of an ode to my mum, a nod to a classic and a super simple recipe that feels called for when it’s too warm and sunny outside to be standing around in the kitchen.

Simply put, these puffs consist of pastry, jam and cream in a sort of sandwich style, but they really are so much more.

These are not at all fussy, lack any complexity and can be pulled together with just basic ingredients.

You can make your own rough puff pastry if you like, but don’t feel obligated as you can also purchase readymade from the shop.

Jam and cream puffs.
The jam and cream puffs.

This recipe serves 12 and can be made in around 25 minutes, plus cooling time. The bake time alone is just 10 minutes.

As I mentioned, the jam and cream puffs are an ode to my mum, so without further ado, here’s my letter to her…


Dear mum,

Barely a recipe, but a happy memory, the first thing I learned to bake and a bite of joy – for both the whipped cream/jam combination, and for the nostalgia.

I know that you will always refer to these as Nana Pom’s jam puffs, but I never actually met the lady. To me, these will always be your jam puffs; created ever lovingly, and often frantically, for bake sales, church events, random Saturday afternoons and I’m fairly sure for one of my sister’s birthday’s one year.

It is somewhat of a controversy deciding whether you ought to be better known for jam puffs or profiteroles (again, the birthday ‘cake’ of choice for all of us four daughters, on several occasions).

Florence Stanton and her mum Lyn.
Florence Stanton (right) and her mum Lyn.

 

Think big rectangular, roughly cut bricks of flaky and buttery puff pastry. Just golden enough, slightly singed at the edges if distracted for even a moment. These get sliced in half, releasing buttery steam and a scent that can only mean something good is coming, before being slathered in raspberry jam (always the ‘posh’ kind), and heavy handed scoops of freshly whipped cream.

You created these with us on so many occasions that I’m sure we were able to do them ourselves before we had left primary school. Nothing like being competent at whipping cream and squishing together the filled puff pastry slices. Through these moments in the kitchen, I learned a love of creating, of baking, of eating, of understanding how flavours paired and how to weigh using nothing but my eyes (not always recommended).

These were the gateway to a future of food, of having a mind filled with nothing but ingredients and ‘what to make next’. I owe you more than you know, the origin being none other than these jam puffs.

Young Florence with her sister Grace and mum Lyn.
Young Florence, right, with her sister Grace and mum Lyn.

 

This recipe is incredibly simple but brings with it the unquestionable joy of pairing simple things. Much like crisp sandwiches, a cheesy baked potato, a bowl of soup just heated from a tin, but done so with the love only a parent could, these remind me that the most basic things to make are often the most wonderful and the most comforting. These jam puffs are not only a nod to you, but an ode to true baked joy.

Thank you mum, for what I learned from jam puffs and profiteroles and Victoria sponges, without those I would not have the source of joy that baking and food bring. I know I owe those times in the kitchen with dad, with the other girls, and for all sorts of assorted events, for so much more than just a love of food.

Let’s make some jam puffs!


My mum’s jam and cream puffs

Serves: 12

Delicious jam and cream puffs.
Delicious jam and cream puffs.

Ingredients

  • 350g block puff pastry (pre-made or homemade is fine)
  • Jar raspberry jam/preserve
  • 600ml double cream
  • Optional: 1 egg and 25ml milk for wash
  • Icing Sugar to dust

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180C Fan/200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Line two large baking trays.
  2. Roll out your puff pastry to about ¼ inch – you’ll want to be cutting it in half once baked.
  3. Slice rectangles in a 3×4 pattern out of the rolled pastry, trying to keep them fairly even. Place spaced apart on the baking trays (you may need to do this in batches).
  4. If using pre-made puff pastry: Brush over the beaten egg and a little milk, plus some granulated sugar just before baking.
  5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just golden, and remove and let cool before the next steps.
  6. Whip the cream using a whisk/hand blender. Take care if using an electric tool, it easily gets overwhipped. Set aside once ready.
  7. Pull open the puff pastry rectangles along the long side of the rectangle so that it is in half. You should have the top and bottom part separated.
  8. Spread a teaspoon of jam along the inside of one half, and a good spoon of whipped cream on the other before sandwiching together.
  9. Dust over some sifted icing sugar and serve immediately!

Please note: If you are making this recipe ahead of time, make the pastry the night before but avoid filling until the last minute. Nobody wants soggy, limp pastry.


Florence Stanton is a baking Instagrammer and blogger from Aberdeen.

Check out our bank of recipes, or you can get more baking inspiration from Florence’s website or Instagram page.


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