cherry  almond  pastries

Every summer my fridge is overflowing with fresh cherries and I love to make this fun and easy breakfast. It makes my husband happy because it satisfies his sweet tooth and I am thrilled because it is awesome with coffee.

Makes 8 pastries

For the filling
About 2 cups of bing cherries
2 teaspoons of almond extract
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of water

Additions
1 box of frozen puff pastry (2 sheets of the pastry come in each box)
Raw sugar (found in the baking aisle or the specialty foods section)
Almond paste (found in the baking aisle or the specialty foods section)
Egg wash (Simply 1 egg beaten with a little water)
Parchment paper

Let's start off with the cherry filling. You might think I am crazy for removing all of the pits from these cherries but it doesn't take as long as you might think. Use a good knife to smash the cherries with. Believe me it will be your best friend in this process. And who wants to use canned cherries anyway? Fresh is the way to go. Place the pitted cherries in a small pot.

Add in the almond extract, brown sugar and water.

Place the pot on low to medium heat. Let the cherries simmer for 20 minutes. During this time the filling will thicken and reduce down. Place the filling in a bowl and let it cool down in the fridge for at least a few hours. I like to make the filling the night before so that way in the morning I can just get up and quickly assemble the pastries.

I have made puff pastry before and while it came out fabulous that was before I had kids so pre-made puff pastry in the freezer aisle is one of my best friends. The night before you are going to use it remove it from the freezer and place it in the fridge so that will thaw out slowly. On a floured surface unfold the pastry and roll it out to remove the folds. Cut the pastry into 4 squares.

Next you are going to cut L shaped angles around the outer edges of each square as I have done above. Grab the almond paste and place about a teaspoon of it in the center of each square.

Next place about 1 tablespoon of the cherry filling right on top of the almond paste. Try to not to grab too much of the syrup otherwise it will just ooze out of your pastry as it bakes. Grab 2 opposite corners of one of your precut pastry squares and press them together tightly towards the center. Grab the other 2 corners and join them with the other two pinching all of them together tight. Place the pastries on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. If you have any cherry filling left over you can easily freeze it and use it later for a pancake or crepe topping.

Grab the egg wash and with a pastry brush or your fingertip spread the egg wash all over the pastry. This will make the pastries golden brown as it bakes in the oven. Next take the raw sugar and sprinkle it all over the pastries.

Bake the pastries in the oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. When you remove them from the oven let them cool for at least 20 minutes (the cherry center is molten hot.)

Enjoy!