Freshly home baked fruit empanadas, do you want some? These are crunchy homemade pastry pockets with a sugary spiced orange filling… And a surprising treat and the perfect bite to go with your afternoon cup of coffee or tea!
Let me guess: when you just read ‘fruit empanadas’…
Did you think of those apple caramel empanadas Taco Bell serves?
I have seen them before but I have never tasted them!
Have you?
Anyway, I was making savory tuna and tomato empanadas the other day for lunch.
But then all of a sudden I started to wonder whether I could also make sweet empanadas with my homemade empanada dough.
I thought fruit empanadas would be a great idea.
Savory & Sweet Empanadas
So I made an extra batch of the empanada dough and I also whipped up a quick orange ‘compote’ or marmalade as a filling for the sweet empanadas.
It was only a bit later while living in Spain that I realised that sweet empanadas do exist here!
Here in Spain the filling for empanadas dulces usually consists of cabello de ángel. Do you know this treat? Cabello de ángel (angel hair) is a transparent threaded jam of Siam pumpkin pulp and sugar.
You can also find version with a sweet potato filling instead.
Or a pineapple marmalade with raisins.
Easy Fruit Empanadas (Empanadas Dulces)
In fact, these sweet empanadas actually look very much like apple turnovers.
The only difference is that turnovers consist of puff pastry instead of empanada dough.
These crunchy home baked little pastries are the perfect bite to go with your afternoon cup of coffee or tea! And what a great idea to do this today.
Because coincidently I also invited a couple of friends for a little chat later in the afternoon.
Afternoon Coffee
Well I can tell you that I couldn’t find one single crumb after they had gone back home.
So I guess these sugary sweet orange empanadas were not so bad after all. And now every time I make savory tuna empanadas, I save some of the empanada dough to make a dessert with it afterwards.
I think that I will give those apple caramel empanadas a try soon!
And make an apple empanadas recipe next weekend. That sounds like another one of those delicious fruit empanadas recipes!
Enjoy!
For The Empanada Dough
Freshly baked fruit empanadas: crunchy homemade pastry pockets with a sugary spiced orange filling... A surprising treat!
- 2 ½ cups plain flour (312 g)
- 8 oz unsalted butter (225 g), cold and diced
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 6 to 8 tbsp water (ice cold)
Add the plain flour, cold butter, a pinch of salt and the sugar to a blender.
Then pulse until you get a dry mixture. Gradually add a few tablespoons of ice cold water. Pulse until you get a firm and not too sticky dough.
Transfer the dough to a clean surface and knead it for a couple of minutes. Add extra flour if the dough is too sticky or wet. Then wrap the dough in a piece of cling film and let it rest at room temperature for 30 minutes.
For the Fruit Empanadas Filling
Freshly baked fruit empanadas: crunchy homemade pastry pockets with a sugary spiced orange filling... A surprising treat!
- 1 large fresh orange peeled
- 4 tbsp caster sugar
- 2 tbsp orange blossom water (optional)
- 1 medium egg beaten
- salt
Chop up the orange and a tablespoon of the orange zest. Then add the orange, zest, sugar and 3 tablespoons of water to a small saucepan. Place this over medium heat and cook the orange for about 8 minutes until the juice starts to thicken and becomes syrupy. Stir regularly.
Then take the pan off the heat and let the cooked orange cool down fully. Roll out the dough thinly and cut out 12 to 15 even circles using a cookie cutter, serving ring or glass.
Place a dollop of the orange filling on each dough circle and then brush the sides with some of the beaten egg.
Fold the fruit empanada and close it. Secure the sides with a fork.
Place the fruit empanadas on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush the top with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle with extra caster sugar.
Bake the fruit empanadas in a preheated oven at 392°F (200°C) for about 25 to 30 minutes. Then remove the fruit empanadas and let them cool fully.
Origin of empanadas
Empanadas are hand sized savory pies that can be found all over South America.
The origins of the empanada are not entirely clear, but it seems most likely that they first appeared in Argentina in the kitchens of immigrants from northern Spain, where the dish’s forebear was a larger, double-crusted pie cut into slices.
However some sources suggest that empanadas originated in Galicia, a region in northwest Spain. The name comes from empanel, or to coat with bread.
Variations of this form of portable meals are found in Cornish pasties, Italian calzone or turnovers.
Sweet empanadas?
Yes, fruit empanadas do exist!
You can make them with a delicious sweet dough that makes a crispy on the outside, buttery and bursting with fruit fillings empanadas. Perfect for dessert, to serve at brunch or as a snack.
You can find recipes for fruit empanadas with different fillings such as apple, pineapple marmalade with raisins, sweet potato filling and more.
Empanada dough
The empanada dough is similar to a pie dough.
It is made with cold butter, cold water, flour and sometimes eggs as well. The technique to making empanada dough is very similar to that of making pie dough. It conveniently uses pantry staples and ingredients you probably already have on hand.
