There’s no doubt that food plays various roles in our lives, including nourishment, and as a source of comfort, enjoyment, social connection, and cultural expression.
I recently had the pleasure of sharing culinary delights with some colleagues and ‘Joulutorttu,’ or ‘Christmas Tart,’ came up in conversation.
Indeed it is that time of year when food traditions run deep and one’s cultural heritage is reborn if only for a few days or weeks.
The Christmas Tart is a unique Finnish pastry filled with a fruit jam, shaped into a star or pinwheel, and dusted with icing sugar. What makes it so special is the perfect balance of flaky crust and sweet filling.
The fruit jam filling is the interesting part. Many traditional recipes call for ‘luumuhillo’ or plum jam that is made from simmering dried plums (yes, prunes) in water until they soften to a thick jam-like consistency. I recall my husband recoiling when I first introduced the concept, but he loves them now!
The pastry is ah-mazing. Be warned, a warm kitchen in the Australian summer can make it fiddly work. There’s nothing quite like waking up early when the day is typically at its coolest to attempt the production line.
Preparation
Joulutorttu recipes generally call for home-made pastry to be made the day or night before baking.
Of course, there are short cuts to making the pastry yourself. Frozen pastry works quite well, and you just need to let it defrost before construction time. But like with many shortcuts there’s the potential to compromise on the overall taste and texture. I have tried all the variations of frozen Puff Pastry: regular, butter, and Light (reduced fat). I’d have to say that the Butter Puff Pastry gets you the closest result to the homemade version.
I also recommend making the plum jam ahead of time so it can cool. Hot jam will soften the pastry more than one would like.
Plum Jam
I’ll be honest. Before writing this blog, I’d never followed a recipe for this part. I’d watched my grandmothers and mum make it, and developed a sense on how it needs to look and feel. I usually follow the bucket-chemist method: no strict measurements.
I decided to measure it out this time and came up with the following:
Ingredients
230g pitted prunes
1 metric cup, 250ml water
Steps
- Place prunes and water in a saucepan.
- Bring to the boil, then drop the temperature and allow to simmer until the prunes become a thick, jam-like consistency.
- Optional: use an electric food processor or blender to give the jam a smooth finish.
Note: if you notice your prune mixture is drying out before the prunes have sufficiently softened, add a few tablespoons of water into the mix. Repeat this as often as necessary.
I like the authenticity of the prune jam. Others like to add some flavour dimension to the jam, with suggestions below from The Queen of Delicious:
- Apple sauce
- Orange
- Spices such as cinnamon, ginger
- Rum or cognac
If you think that stewed prune filling might not be your jam, here are some variations I’ve either tried or seen:
- Apple
- Apricot
- Berries
PASTRY
I’ll be sharing two recipes for the pastry here. When you make the pastry dough you may realise why it needs refrigeration time, as it can feel sticky and sludgy.
Pastry 1
This first recipe has been circulating in our Finnish community for years, and the one I tasted very recently. It’s also twice the volume of the second recipe, so you’ll need to double the jam filling.
Ingredients
600ml cream
600g plain flour
500g butter (softened)
2 tsp fresh yeast OR 2.5gms (3/4 tsp) dry yeast
Steps
Simply mix all ingredients until well combined. This can be done by hand or by electric stand mixer on a low setting.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Pastry 2
This second one is more familiar to me as a hand-me-down recipe. It doesn’t call for yeast, which I find a bonus as I don’t use yeast much otherwise.
Ingredients
300ml cream
650ml (2 2/3 cup) plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
250g butter (softened)
Steps
- Whip the cream until soft peaks form.
- Combine baking powder and plain flour. Stir these gently into the whipped cream.
- Rub the butter into the flour and cream mixture.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Egg Wash
An egg wash is used to glaze each star before placing in the oven. This helps to give the pastry a golden, brown colour.
Ingredients
1 egg
1 tbsp milk
Steps
- Beat egg and milk together
Making & Baking the Stars
- Prepare some baking trays by lining them with baking paper.
- Roll out a portion of dough onto a lightly floured surface, to a thickness of approx. ½ cm.
- Cut the flat dough into squares, using a ruler or cutter (see my tips below regarding size of square).
- To make the traditional star shape, use a sharp knife to make cuts from each corner about halfway to two-thirds towards the middle of the square.
- Guide a spoonful of jam onto the middle of the square, approx. ½ to 1 tsp.
- Lift every alternate split corner towards the middle, over the jam filling to create a star shape.
- Place on the prepared baking trays.
- Repeat these steps until you’ve worked through all your dough and filling.
- Preheat oven to 200˚C.
- In a small bowl, beat together 1 egg and milk. Brush the top of each Joulutorttu with the egg wash.
- Bake in the oven until golden, approx. 7-10 minutes.
- Allow to cool and dust with icing sugar.
Suitable to refrigerate or freeze in an airtight container
Other tips
1. Flaky Pastry
I find that doing the following steps in warm weather means I need to refrigerate the dough again before handling it, so I tend to skip this part, but if you’d like to create a flakier crust to your pastry, give this a go:
- Roll out your dough onto a lightly floured surface until approx. 1 cm thick.
- Fold the dough into thirds by folding on third toward the centre, followed by the other side toward the centre.
- Roll the dough out again. Turn, and fold into thirds again along the other side.
- Roll out the dough to approx 1/2cm thick and cut into squares (as above in step 3).
2. Square Size
I like petite, so tend to use a 6x6cm cutter to create relatively small stars. I’ve seen several suggestions for 8x8cm. The size is up to you. Obviously, the overall yield is higher for smaller, individual-sized pastry.
3. Oven
I don’t like the warmth of the heating oven interfering with my pastry work, so I pre-heat the oven just before I glaze each pastry with the egg wash.
4. Switch the Filling to be a Topping
Swap steps 5 & 6 above.
- Lift every alternate split corner towards the middle of the square pastry.
- Place a spoonful of jam in the centre of the star shape, to sit on top of the folded-in corners.
Health Value
Festive tradition
Social connection
Food for enjoyment
For my fellow humans with Diabetes
~15g carbs per star when recipe makes 24 star pastries
(Please email me if you want more carb counting details)
Mindful Eating Moment
Consider the different textures and flavours you experience in your mouth as you eat your Joulutorttu.
Enjoy!
