Iso: recipes for fancy cookies or pastries

I need ideas and recipes for cookies or pastries that are easy
to eat, but make a statement when you see them.
One idea I had was miniature cheesecakes. Any
other ideas. Thanks

I was just thinking about this. I saw some beautiful pastries on Food Find and wished I could make them. I have a few recipes I have to find. I'll try to post them. I hope others can help.

These are great:

LEMON TASSIES
1/2 c. butter, softened
1 (3 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp. butter, melted
2 lg. eggs
2/3 c. sugar
Whipped cream for garnish or powdered sugar

Beat butter and cream cheese in mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add flour and beat until crumbly. Shape dough into ball. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 1 3/4 inch miniature muffin pan cups with vegetable cooking spray. Pinch off pastry 1 tablespoon at a time and press into prepared pans. Mix lemon juice, butter, eggs and sugar into bowl. Divide evenly among cups. Bake 25-30 minutes. Remove from pan while slightly warm. Cool. Top with whipped cream and serve immediately or sprinkle with powdered sugar if they are not going to be eaten immediately.

This is a tried and true recipe. Have been making these for the past 15-20 years. Always a winner and a nice presentation. I have posted this one before. Really not hard to make - not as much fussing as it may seem. Dough is fairly easy to work with.

Walnut Walkaways

Serving Size : 36 Preparation Time :0:30

1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
1 egg
3-4 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon orange or lemon peel (I use orange)
1 cup walnuts -- chopped medium fine

Soften dry yeast in warm water.

Cut butter into flour & salt with pastry cutter. Add yeast mixture. Blend together. Add egg. Blend together.

Roll out the dough 1/2 at a time to 9"X13".

Combine cream cheese, sugar and orange peel. Beat until light and fluffy.

Spread 1/2 cheese mixture on each rectangle. Sprinkle with 1/2 C. chopped walnuts.

Starting with 13 in. side roll up rectangle. Place seam side down on lightly greased cookie sheet. Cut Roll 1/2 way through lengthwise with sharp knife. Repeat with other half.

Bake 350 degrees for 20-25 min. Cool. Frost with thin confectioners sugar frosting. Cut diagonal 1/2 to 1 in. slices.

Description:
"Flaky and delicious! A winner!"

Serving Ideas : You may want to cut each diagnal slice in half.

Note: Do not have let rise (pastry type, not a raised dough). Could try pecans instead of walnuts, but I prefer the walnuts in this one.

Yes, i have a very impressive one called Neopolitan Cookies.It's a yellow, green, and pink layered almond flavored cookie having each layer "glued" together with thinned apricot jam and with a chocolate fudge icing. A pastrie shop in Boca Raton, Fl. used to sell them and i was friends with the baker, but i'll have to hunt up the recipe for ya! I won't be able to find it till tomorrow, bu i'll post it when i do.
Deonia

bump

bump

CHOCOLATE MOUSSE NAPOLEONS WITH STRAWBERRIES & CREAM
1/2 pkg. frozen puff pastry sheets (1 sheet)
1 c. heavy cream
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1 c. semi-sweet chocolate pieces, melted and cooled
2 c. sweetened whipped cream OR whipped topping
1½ c. sliced strawberries
1 square (1 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate, melted (optional)
Powdered sugar

Thaw pastry sheet at room temperature 30 min. Preheat oven to 400°.
Unfold pastry on lightly floured surface. Cut into 3 strips along fold marks. Cut each strip into 6 rectangles. Place 1" apart on baking sheet.
Bake 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire rack.
Beat cream and cinnamon with electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold in melted chocolate pieces. Split pastries into 2 layers, making 36.
Spread 12 pastry layers with chocolate cream and top with 12 pastry layers. Top with whipped cream, strawberries and remaining pastry layers. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 4 hr.
Drizzle with melted chocolate and sprinkle with powdered sugar just before serving.
Yield: 12 Napoleons.

*For 2 cups sweetened whipped cream, in chilled bowl beat 1 cup heavy cream, 2 tbsp. sugar and 1/4 tsp. vanilla until stiff peaks form.

WHITE CHOCOLATE MOUSSE PUFFS
1 pkg. frozen puff pastry shells
6 squares (1 oz. each) white chocolate
1 ½ c. heavy cream
1 square (1 oz.) semi-sweet chocolate, melted

Bake pastry shells according to pkg. directions. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire rack.
Microwave white chocolate and 1/4 cup cream on HIGH 2 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring halfway through heating. Stir until smooth. Cool to room temperature.
Beat remaining cream with electric mixer at medium speed until soft peaks form. DO NOT OVERBEAT. Fold half of the whipped cream into chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining whipped cream just until blended. Spoon into pastry shells. Drizzle with melted chocolate. Refrigerate 1 hr.
Yield: 6

*How to drizzle chocolate: Place chocolate in a heavy-duty zipper-style plastic sandwich bag. Close bag tightly. Microwave on HIGH 45 seconds or until chocolate is melted. Fold down top of bag tightly and snip a tiny piece off one corner (about 1/8"). Holding top of bag tightly, drizzle chocolate through opening.

BLUEBERRY & CUSTARD STAR PUFFS
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed 1 T. sugar
1 (3 3/8-oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding 1 pint fresh blueberries (about 2 c.)
1 c. milk 1 T. chopped fresh mint (optional)
1 8-oz. container sour cream ½ t. grated orange peel
1 pint fresh blueberries (about 2 c.) Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400ºF. On a work surface carefully unfold puff pastry; with a rolling pin roll pastry out 1/2 inch wider than its original dimension. Using a 3-inch star-shaped cookie cutter*, cut out 12 stars. With a spatula transfer stars to an ungreased baking sheet 1 inch apart. Bake until puffed and golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer stars to a wire rack; cool slightly. Using a sharp knife cut stars in halves horizontally; cool completely. To prepare sauce: In a medium bowl place pudding mix and milk. Using an electric mixer, beat until mixture is smooth, about 2 minutes. Fold in sour cream; refrigerate covered, until thickened, about 15 minutes. In another medium bowl combine blueberries, sugar, mint and orange peel; refrigerate covered, until ready to serve. Using a small strainer sprinkle tops of stars with powdered sugar; set aside. To serve: On each dessert plate place 2 star bottoms; spoon on 1/3 cup sauce and 1/3 cup blueberries; top with 2 reserved star tops.

Oh, sorry about the format on that last recipe. It has 2 ingredients on each line.

Almond Puff Loaf
First Layer
1/2 cup butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup water

Second Layer
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract

Topping
2/3 cup jam or preserves
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
First layer: In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine the butter, flour, and salt, working the butter into the flour with a pastry blender or fork, your fingers, or a mixer. Mix until everything is crumbly, then stir in the water. The dough will become cohesive, though not smooth.
Divide the dough in half. Wet your hands, and shape each piece of this wet dough into a rough log. Grease a baking sheet or sheets that'll allow you to stretch and pat the logs into 11 x 3-inch rectangles on the sheet, leaving at least 4 inches (but preferably 6 inches) between them, and 2 inches on each side. These puff up in the oven (hence the name), and you need to leave them room for expansion.
Second layer: In a medium-sized saucepan, bring the water and butter to a boil. Stir until the butter melts, then add the flour (and salt, if you're using it) all at once. Stir the mixture with a spoon till it thickens, begins to steam, and leaves the sides of the pan; this will happen very quickly. Transfer the dough to a mixing bowl, or the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat it at medium speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute, just to cool it down a bit.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition; beat until the dough loses its "slimy" look, and each egg is totally absorbed. Mix in the almond extract.

Divide the batter in half. Spread half the batter over one of the dough strips on the pan, covering it completely. Repeat with the remaining batter and dough. With a spatula (or your wet fingers) spread the batter until it completely covers the entire bottom layer of dough. Smooth it out as best you can.

Bake the pastry in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until it's a deep golden brown. (continued)

Remove it from the oven, and transfer each pastry to a wire rack.

Topping: Spread each warm pastry with about 1/3 cup of jam or preserves. (Any flavor is fine, but our favorites are raspberry and apricot.) Sprinkle the toasted almonds atop the jam. By this time, your beautifully puffed pastries are probably starting to sink; don't worry, this is all part of the plan.

Icing: Stir together the sugar, vanilla, and enough milk or water to form a thick but "drizzleable" icing. Drizzle the icing atop the pastries. Cut into squares or strips to serve. Yield: 16 to 20 servings.

Incredibly easy to make, yet tastes and looks as though a professionally trained pastry chef might have labored over it for hours.

Yield: 20 servings

Kahlua Tarts

6 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. flour

Cut cream cheese and butter into flour as for pie crust. Pinch off 48 equal pieces of dough. Press into ungreased mini tart pans, pressing up to rim to form a shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min., until lightly brown. Carefully remove to wire racks to cool.

FILLING:

1/4 c. cocoa powder
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. powdered sugar
1/4 c. kahlua or other coffee flavored liqueur
Grated chocolate (optional)

Beat cocoa and butter until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and Kahlua and blend well. Spoon filling into pastry bag and pipe into cooled shells. Sprinkle with grated chocolate if desired.
NOTE: A ziploc bag may be substituted for a pastry bag. Just snip off a corner.