Recipes

Crescents with Rose Petal Jam (Cornulețe cu dulceață de trandafiri)

Irina Georgescu

Author, Tava: Eastern European Baking and Desserts from Romania & Beyond

"We are very fond of these little crescents in Romania and often make more than we need so that we can take them to neighbours, family and friends. Each family has its own favourite recipe, making the dough either with yeast or baking powder, with added butter or oil or using borș, a fermented wheat juice. The most popular fillings are jam, Turkish delight or walnuts. In this recipe, I’m using rose-petal jam, which is exquisite and fragrant and happens to have the scent of Turkish delight. The crescents are so delicate that they melt in the mouth right away."

—Irina Georgescu

Ingredients

Makes around 16

250 g (9 oz/2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, plus extra for dusting
125 g (4 oz) unsalted butter
20 g (3⁄4 oz/scant 2 tablespoons) golden caster (superfine) sugar
1 medium egg yolk
75 g (21⁄2 oz/1⁄3 cup) sour cream
1 tablespoon rosewater
1 teaspoon baking powder icing (confectioner’s) sugar, for dusting

For the filling
150 g (5 oz/1⁄2 cup) Rose-Petal Jam mixed with 1 teaspoon lemon juice
or
9 pieces of rose-flavoured Turkish delight, diced
or
150g plum jam

Method

In a mixing bowl, rub the flour and butter together until they resemble breadcrumbs. Add the sugar, egg yolk, sour cream, rosewater and baking powder, and mix until a dough forms.

Transfer it to a piece of clingfilm (plastic wrap) and bring the dough together by hand without kneading much. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 180°C (non-fan)/350°F/gas 4. Line a baking sheet with baking paper. Lightly flour your work surface.

Divide the pastry dough in half. Keep one half in the refrigerator while you roll out the other to a circle, at least 24 cm (91⁄2 in) in diameter. Place a plate of that size on top of the pastry and trim neatly around the edges. Divide the circle into quarters, then cut each quarter in half again to achieve 8 wedges of pastry.

Place 1 teaspoonful of jam (or a few pieces of Turkish delight) at the wider end of each wedge and roll up. Press to seal the edges and place on the baking sheet.

Repeat with the second half of the pastry dough.

Bake for 15–18 minutes on a lower shelf until lightly golden and just firm enough to the touch for you to be able to lift them quickly onto a cooling rack. They will firm up as they cool.

Serve slightly warm, dusted with icing sugar.