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Pastissets de moniato
Sweet potato pastry half-moons
Pastissets de moniato: Valencian Christmas half-moons of olive-oil pastry filled with spiced sweet potato
As Christmas nears, bakeries and home kitchens from Valencia to Alicante turn out trays of pastissets, little half-moon pies of crumbly olive-oil pastry wrapped around a filling of sweet potato cooked with sugar, lemon and cinnamon, finished with a snowy dusting of sugar. They are eaten with coffee or a glass of mistela after the big family meals, and also for All Saints in November. The pastry traditionally includes a splash of sweet mistela wine; orange juice works just as well for an alcohol-free version. A common mistake is overfilling, which splits the seams in the oven; a heaped teaspoon is enough. Chef's tip: chill the filling until firm before you shape, so it sits neatly in the centre and is easy to seal.
- Total time
- 95 min
- Difficulty
- medium
- Serves
- 24
Ingredients
For the filling
- 1 ⅛ lb orange-fleshed sweet potatoabout 2 medium
- 3 ½ oz caster sugar
- 1 lemon zestfrom 1 unwaxed lemon
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
For the pastry
- 14 oz plain flourplus extra for rolling
- 1 ¾ oz caster sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- ½ cup mild olive oil
- ¼ cup mistela or other sweet white wineor orange juice for alcohol-free
- 2 ½ tbsp water
To finish
- 3 tbsp icing sugarfor dusting
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan). Prick 1 ⅛ lb orange-fleshed sweet potato all over and bake on a tray until very soft and oozing syrup, 45 to 60 minutes. Peel while warm and mash smoothly.
50 minStep 2: Put the mash in a pan with 3 ½ oz caster sugar and cook over a low heat, stirring, for 8 to 10 minutes, until thick enough to hold a spoon upright. Stir in 1 lemon zest and 1 tsp ground cinnamon, cool, then chill until firm.
10 minStep 3: For the pastry, mix 14 oz plain flour, 1 ¾ oz caster sugar and 1 pinch salt in a bowl. Pour in ½ cup mild olive oil, ¼ cup mistela or other sweet white wine and 2 ½ tbsp water and stir, then bring together with your hands into a soft, smooth dough that feels like play dough. Don't knead it more than a minute or it turns tough.
3 minStep 4: Heat the oven to 350°F (325°F fan) and line two trays. Roll the pastry thinly, about 3 mm, on a floured surface and cut out 9 cm circles, re-rolling the scraps once.
Step 5: Put a heaped teaspoon of filling on one half of each circle, fold over into a half-moon and press the edges with a fork to seal.
Step 6: Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until firm and pale gold at the edges; they should stay fairly light on top.
19 minStep 7: Dust with 3 tbsp icing sugar while still warm and leave to cool on a rack. They keep for a week in a tin.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 120 kcal
- Protein
- 1 g
- Carbs
- 18 g
- Fat
- 5 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does pastissets de moniato take?
- About 95 minutes in total: 45 minutes to prepare and 50 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 24 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegetarian?
- Yes. It has no meat or fish.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of orange-fleshed sweet potato?
- Sweet potato, same weight (sweeter, cooks a little faster).
- What can I use instead of caster sugar?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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