Joulutorttu (Christmas Star Biscuits) is a traditional Finnish recipe for a classic star-shaped biscuit (cookie) with a prune jam filling that's typically prepared over Christmas. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Finnish version of: Christmas Star Biscuits (Joulutorttu).
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Soft and flaky pasty surrounds a flavourful prune jam in Joulutorttu, festive Finnish Christmas Star biscuits.
For best results, refrigerate this dough for 2-3 hours before shaping and baking the biscuits.
Ingredients:
For the Pastry:
230g salted butter, softened
225g ricotta cheese
250g unbleached plain (all purpose) flour
To Prepare the Biscuits:
125ml Luumuhilloa/prune jam, or other thick jam
1 egg, lightly beaten
Powdered sugar, (for dusting the finished biscuits)
Method:
For the Pastry: In a large bowl beat together butter and ricotta cheese with an electric hand mixer. Add the flour, and mix until a soft dough comes together.
Divide the dough in half. Shape each half into a ball and wrap each ball in clingfilm (plastic wrap). Refrigerate for 2-3 hours (up to overnight), until firm.
To Shape And Bake: Pre-heat your oven to 200°C.
Lightly flour your work surface and roll out one section of dough to a rectangle (roughly 30 x 22 cm) that is about 3mm thick.
Cut the dough into 7.5cm squares.
In each square, make four cuts, one from each corner, each going 1/2 - 2/3 of the way to the centre of the square.
Spoon 1 teaspoon of jam in the centre of each square.
Fold every other corner of each square over the jam. Use the beaten egg wash to moisten the corners slightly and lightly press to seal the corners together over top of the jam.
Transfer your pinwheel biscuit to a parchment paper lined baking tray, arranging the biscuits 3cm apart.
Repeat this process with the second half of the dough.
Lightly brush the tops of the biscuits with the beaten egg then transfer to the centre of your pre-heated oven, baking for 10-12 minutes until golden.
Remove the biscuits from the oven and let them cool on the baking tray for 5 minutes, before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Once the biscuits have cooled, dust them lightly with powdered sugar.
Store the biscuits in an air-tight container on the counter for 3-4 days.
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