# Carré confiture



## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

*Carré confiture, puff pastry filled with jam*

This is so nostalgic; when we were kids -say nearly half a century ago- almost every sunday afternoon we had coffee with at least a few of these amongst other pastries. They were never homemade, since we had a few bakeries within walking distance. Also, puff pastry was not commonly found in shops, plus, those bakeries were such artists in making top quality puff pastry. Bakers made large oventrays with enormous puff sheets that covered the entire trays. Later, when cooled, they cut them in squares. Square is English for the French word carré. Confiture is French for jam.

Anyway, nothing more simple than making a few carrés confiture! Buy good puff pastry sheets from your supermarket or if you're in a masochistic mood, make your own.

I use a round one for simplicity (*). Start by cutting a square shape in the middle, but do keep the rest and cut them in small strips like in the first picture. Keep the pastry as cold as possible or it will be hard to work with, especially with the strips you need!!!

Start by putting strips of pastry along the contour of the square (to prevent the boiling jam to overflow the pastry. Add your preferred jam. I used plum jam that I made just a few days ago; http://www.cheftalk.com/t/77349/what-kind-of-jams-are-you-making-its-jam-time#post_473940

You can use plum, apricot, strawberry, rhubarb (oh yes!!).... etc. Use as much jam as to fill the whole square nearly as high as the strips you just put on.

It's a good idea to run a fork over the square surface and punch holes in it to prevent the puff pastry from, well.., puffing. I forgot but it came out well anyway.





  








CarréConfiture1.jpg




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chrisbelgium


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Jun 30, 2014








Use the remaining strips of the pastry and lay them out in a pattern you like. Cut off the parts that hang over. Brush the pastry with a little beaten egg.





  








CarréConfiture2.jpg




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chrisbelgium


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Jun 30, 2014








Bake in the oven at no higher than 180°C/350°F until you have a nice brown crust; 25-30 minutes or longer if required to obtain a nice crust.





  








CarréConfiture3.jpg




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chrisbelgium


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Jun 30, 2014








Cool, cut, et voilà, carré confiture. Sometimes, people brush some extra jam on top which is a bit thinned; it gets nicely shiny but also really sticky. I don't do it as I prefer to bite in the piece; the little fork in the picture had no use for me, I just wanted to look civilized /img/vbsmilies/smilies/cool.gif.





  








CarréConfiture4.jpg




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chrisbelgium


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Jun 30, 2014








(*) Of course you can make larger ones with round or square puff sheets. Buy 2, one for the square, one for the strips.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

You seem to have ESP Chris!

Rummaging thru my "baking fridge" yesterday am and came up with a forgotten package of puff pastry.

Defrosted half and made a sort of cinnamon bun with raisins and toasted walnuts, brown sugar and leftover mix of spices from the Boomer Cake.

Tasty.

THIS is what I will do with the other half.

mimi


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

This is a great post thanks. I have not had good fortune finding pre-made puff pastry in my local stores. Whole foods sells it but it is very expensive.

Nicko


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

I do almost same way only make strips in a lattice pattern  and use apricot or raspberry jams.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

@flipflopgirl Try it, mimi, as you can see it is such an easy recipe. One of my favorite tearooms in town present their coffees many times with a little extra, a little 1 inch square of carré confiture instead of the usual industrial cookie. That's what I call "making a difference" in business.

@Nicko Thanks Nicko. Puff pastry is sold around here in single roll packages in the cooling department, ready for use, or in multiple sheet packages which are mostly frozen. There are 2 kinds; the "all butter" or "pur beurre" types, which is the original made with 50/50 butter and flour, and there's the one made with other types of fat, sort of margarine.

@chefeb Even over here, apricot jam is mostly used in bakeries. Apricot jam is indeed delicious in a carré confiture. But, of course you can use any kind of jam you like at home.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

@flipflopgirl Try it, mimi, as you can see it is such an easy recipe. One of my favorite tearooms in town present their coffees many times with a little extra, a little 1 inch square of carré confiture instead of the usual industrial cookie. That's what I call "making a difference" in business.

Done.

My fave Grand (named for me natch) came to play yesterday and we baked one with the very last bit of http://www.sarabeth.com/Orange-Apricot-Marmalade_p_18.html I have been hording.

Set my little café table with some pretty linens and our special tea time china (some mix and match pieces I let her pick out at a resale shop).

Had a magical time (as usual) and want to thank you for posting this oh so simple yet yummy recipe!

mimi


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