Puff pastry is very popular in Israel, for both savory and sweet baked goods. It replaces phyllo and yufka in making burekas and braided over sweet fillings for quick desserts.
And the same goes here, the sophisticated looking braid is really one of the quickest cakes you can make. Simply spread the almond mixture in the center of a store bought (preferably all butter) puff pastry and braid the sides on top. In 10 minutes you’ll be done and the cake will be in the oven.
Almond and cherry braid
Course: Cakes and cookiesCuisine: Israeli, JewishDifficulty: Easy8
servings15
minutes30
minutes45
minutesThis almond and cherry braid is made with store bought puff pastry, making this one of the easiest and quickest cakes to prepare.
Follow the instructions and photos below to easily understand how this is done.
Note
I used Italian Amarena cherries in syrup, but you can use any candied or preserved cherries. It’s also very tasty to replace the cherries with candied orange peel, or just omit them all together.
I am always using bitter almond extract in almond pastries, as it add the extra strong almond aroma and flavor. You can get the extract online, or use regular almond extract instead.
INGREDIENTS
- For the almond filling
6 oz. almond meal
6 oz. powdered sugar
2 tablespoons hot water
1 few drops of almond extract (preferable bitter almond extract, see note above)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
- For the cake
20 Amarena cherries in syrup (see note above)
1 lb. puff pastry, preferably all butter, very cold
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon water
DIRECTIONS
- Put all the almond filling ingredients in a large bowl and use a spoon or a whisk to mix until well combined.
- Strain the cherries from the syrup. Keep the syrup to serve with the cake, if desired.
- Put parchment paper in the center of the work surface and put puff pastry on top. If it is already rolled into a triangle of about 16 inch by 8 inch just place it on the work surface with the short side close to you. If the puff pastry is divided into 2 squares, attach the two squares by pressing them together with your fingers to create one large triangle. Place it with the short side close to you.
- Use a knife to mark (not cut! Just lightly mark) two lines to divide the rectangle into three equal parts lengthwise. Spread the almond mixture in the center third. Arrange the cherries on top.
- Cut slightly diagonal 1/2 inch strips on both sides of the almond filling.
- Fold the strips one on top of the almond paste and on top of each other to create the braiding pattern and to cover the filling completely.
- Use the parchment paper to transfer the braid, with the paper, into a rimmed baking sheet.
- Mix egg yolk with water and use a pastry brush to brush the braid. Transfer the braid to the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Turn oven to 400 F degrees.
- Bake braid for 30 minutes or until the pastry is dark-golden and fully baked. Transfer to a cooling rack and serve warm with some of the cherry syrup, if desired.
- the braid keeps covered in the fridge up to a week. Reheat at 325 F degrees for a few minutes before serving.
