From Our Home to Yours This Christmas & Holiday Season...

Recipe of the Month... 

Prune tarts are a common Christmas treat in Finland, the land of most of TraVek's forefathers. This recipe is another one handed down by Grandma, and something that has been enjoyed in our homes forever and something we want to share with our friends and customers.

Finnish Prune Tarts

1 lb butter

Pinch of baking powder

¼ t salt

1 c cold water

1 egg yolk

4 c flour

Mix dry ingredients like a pie crust. Cut in  ½ lb butter. Mix egg yolk and water and mix into dry ingredients. Form the dough into an 8" x 5" rectangle. Refrigerate in a one-gallon ziplock bag for one day (or at least 6 hours).

Lightly dust your rolling surface with flour. Roll the dough into 9x13 or a slightly bigger rectangle. Don't actually divide the dough into thirds, but imagine it is divided into thirds. Spread 2 T butter on the middle third. Fold the bottom third over the center. Spread 2 T butter on top of that. Fold down the top third. You know have another rectangle lump of dough. Refrigerate for another day or at least 6 hours. Repeat this whole process of rolling the dough 3 more times (That means this entire process will take about four days).  Butter that has been sitting out 15 minutes makes it easy to spread.

On day three you want to make your prunes. Take about 13 oz. pitted prunes. Put in saucepan with enough water to cover the prunes. Boil until soft (about 2 hours). Stir occasionally and be careful not to scorch the bottom. You may need to add more water, depending on how dry the prunes are. Once the prune mixture is soft, but not runny, take it out and just put it in the refrigerator until you use it when forming the tarts on the 4^th day.

On day four you will take out your dough and cut it into 4 sections. Roll each section into a  ¼ " thickness rectangle. Cut into 3 ¼" squares. Put each square on an ungreased cookie sheet. Cut slits from near the center to each corner, making sure not to have the slit come too close to the center so they fall apart.

Put a heaping teaspoon of prunes in the middle of each tart. Just as you would put together a little pinwheel, pick up every other edge, bring all four edge corners to the middle and turn. (Look at the picture link below that I found on Google...) When you turn it, make sure the ends stick well so the dough stays together when it's baking.

Bake in 400 degrees F for approximately 15 minutes if thawed. If frozen, bake 20 minutes until very light brown.

Let cool just a bit and then drizzle a very light frosting made of powdered sugar, couple drops of almond flavoring and water. You may also just sprinkle powdered sugar on the top if you don't want to glaze.

Makes 4 dozen.

Prune tarts freeze nicely and are most delicious when fresh out of the oven. If you want to make them ahead of time, form them, put on a cookie sheet and freeze them long enough to be firm. Then you can just put them in a gallon-size ziplock bag and freeze until you bake them just before serving.

This site has some nice pictures of the process. Even though the recipe is a little different, the pictures will give a more clear picture of how to form the tarts. CLICK HERE.