After enduring several years of pandemic hardships, we finally see a trend of easing. After waiting and waiting, this year's Christmas can finally host more friends and family to celebrate together!
It's a gathering of friends and family, and besides fine wine, delicious food is a must. This time, I recommend everyone to try a very simple yet festive recipe — Mushroom Puff Pastry Christmas Tree. As the name suggests, it's wrapped in puff pastry. I used the kind that comes frozen from the supermarket, but if you want to take it up a notch, making your own puff pastry is certainly more authentic.
For the filling, I made a cream cheese mushroom puree. First, I mashed the mushrooms into a puree, then sautéed them until the moisture evaporated, and finally mixed them with cream cheese. This filling isn't too heavy, yet it has a delightful earthy mushroom aroma that's very tasty. The most fun step is twisting the edges of the puff pastry — each twist becomes a branch of the Christmas tree. After baking, guests can enjoy pulling apart each twisted piece according to their preference, which is a lot of fun.
In addition to the mushroom filling, everyone can unleash their creativity and make other types of fillings, such as cheese and salmon or even sweet fillings like jams or hazelnut spread. One thing to note is that store-bought frozen puff pastry sheets are typically square-shaped. However, for a more elongated Christmas tree shape, I recommend rolling the puff pastry into a rectangular shape. This will result in better-looking cutouts. In my demonstration, I rolled the puff pastry into a 40x25cm rectangle. Also, don't waste the trimmed pastry edges. Cut them into strips, and you can bake them alongside the Christmas tree for a delightful addition.
Ingredients
Puff Pastry | 2 sheets |
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Mushroom | 400g |
Garlic | 3 cloves |
Rosemary | 1 sprig |
Cream Cheese | 60g |
Salt | 1 tsp |
Ground Black Pepper | 1 tsp |
Egg | 1 bulb |
Sesame | to taste |
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