Empanadas Dulces

Got a little crazy the other night, and decided that after much observation and time spent trying to absorb the culture around the traditional empanadas here, I was going to begin my experimentation phase and play a little with some new savores (flavors).

I had a birthday party and a dinner ahead of me, and without a doubt I needed to bring something special to each as a thank you for the social invitation.  In toying with the idea of preparing some sort of dish for the occasions, I thought long and hard on what would be appropriate.  I could bring something 'traditionally American', but that mescla (mix) of cuisine options was way to vast to wrap my head around, (although their impression of our typical food is just McDonald's and Burger King, which would have included an hour bus ride to the next city over, and more pesos than I was willing to drop on less than average salty, dripping in grease french fries... and so no... that really wasn't even a thought that crossed my mind) but I also thought about how I would love to share something to really represent my home...  But no, I couldn't pick.  Plus I've been doing all this Castellano food exploration during my stay here, so I thought, I may as well give it a whirl and see what they themselves think of my understanding of their traditions.  So I landed on empanadas.  A great tapas type of food that can be served with anything, along side anything and at anytime... Perfect, seeing as I didn't know how either night really were going to play out!  & Opting for the sweeter empanadas was perfect.  A way around having to provide an appetizer or dinner for everyone at either event.

First and foremost, when preparing empanadas you need to keep several things in mind.  This is an art.  Something done for years by people en los campos and by the mothers of every household, and therefore not something you are going to jump right into and be perfect at.  It takes practice & patience and if you knew my mother, she'd tell you straight away, that after making a couple deformed looking pastries, it's something that you can easily get frusterated with.  But don't let it!  Don't let it get to you!  Just put on some soothing music (I dig Pretty Lights or Dread Mar I myself, but whatever you fancy at the moment) and know that whatever the shape, the taste lies within!!!!! haha So you're not going to fuck it up that bad with a little misshapen body!
*Do note though, that the easiest mistake to make this process way more difficult than it needs to be is overstuffing!  Do not put as much filling in as you think, you can always add more once you've closed off one end if you feel like it's lacking!

Ok!  For starters, I made 6 of each, so this is what I needed: 
2 packs of tapas para empanadas -horno (these can be found at many specialty stores, but are also becoming more and more popular, so you may even be able to snag um from your local grocer -BUT make sure you get the ones for el horno, or for the oven, not the ones to fry!)

1 green apple
2 bananas
10 medium strawberries
1 500g container dulce de leche repostero (there's also the more caramel-like kind that can be eaten with fruit/on toast or whatever that can work fine too, in fact, most people choose that kind, but the repostero is thicker & used usually more in baking and cooking as far as I understand)
1 100g chocolate bar (to your liking -I like dark chocolate myself, but I also made some with a milk because many people like the sweeter creamier taste of milk) *AND try not to eat any when you're making these, or maybe have another bar close by if you may be tempted, because it's hard not to, and I skimped on the ones in the end because I may or may not have nibbled a square... (:


1 beaten egg
1 TBSP cinnamon
2 TBSP sugar
and then...
a tad of oil/spray stuff to oil the pan...
1 oven
1 baking pan
1 pot holder (DO NOT GRAB THE PAN WITHOUT ONE TANTO!)


The gist:
So you have your lightly greased pan ready, and your oven on 'medium-high' temperature (I literally don't have a thermometer or a reader on mine here, so I put it on high to heat up, then turn it down slightly... haha It doesn't really matter, you just need to make sure you keep a close eye on them if you're not sure how quickly their going to bronze!).  So from this point, you're going to carefully take one of your tapas and put your dallop of filling into it's center.  Dip your finger into a cup of water (only a drop literally!) and moisten only the inside rim of the dough (this is going to help it stick together when we press, because sometimes it wants to stay separate).  Then, gently fold the circle piece of dough in half and firmly press the edges together, until they are stuck as one.  Begin in the center of the newly created half moon, and work your way to each end.  This is where you can stuff a bit more filling in if you'd like, but really, don't force it, or they'll explode and ooze in the oven!

Once you have the edges all pressed together this is where the artisanal work comes into play.  Fold the corner edge up over onto itself to form kind of a triangle in the corner.  Then, take the newly created corner-edge, and do the same, pressing it firmly back into itself.  Continue in this manner all the way around the edge of the empanada creating a braided look around the half moon.  Place on the baking sheet and complete the same process with all the rest!  (extra hands are always nice at this part -unless you're a perfectionist and bothered by the way others may deform your dulces... you may want to steer away from asking for help/inviting helping hands)

 

The empanadas are now all aligned on the sheet (spacing isn't crucial, but leave at least a couple cm's between each for expansion) and all you have left to do is paint a bit of your scrambled egg mixture on the top of each one, and then dash them each with some sugar to caramelize!

Put your empanadas in the oven for about 15 minutes (checking on them all the while because we may be playing with very different temperature schemes here!) until they are golden brown and a tad crispy on top & boopity-bing, boopity-bop! (:  Let them cool for a good 6 minutes before burning your whole mouth off, but I dig 'em even more pipping hot!  


Specifics:

Banana, Chocolate y Dulce de Leche

These were the first ones I made, and my personal favorite.  I just dig how sweet the banana gets, and it's mushy self against the flaky and crispy outside casing of the empanada just works beautifully!  Anyway, with a spoonful of dulce de leche carefully smeared in a line down the middle of the tapa, I then stuck in 3 squares of chocolate and added 2 or 3 slices of banana.

Frutilla, Chocolate y Dulce de Leche
(Strawberries, Chocolate & Dulce de Leche)
These vibrant and zesty empanadas were the farthest from any creation my audience here had seen, but they were quite a hit!   Again I began these empanadas by smearing spoonful of dulce de leche carefully in a line down the middle of the tapa, I then stuck in 3 squares of chocolate and added 5 or 6 chunks of strawberries.

Manzana, Canela y Dulce de Leche
(Apples, Cinnamon & Dulce de Leche)
These empanadas were the favorite of all who gave them a shot,  turning out to taste an awful lot like mini little apple pies!  In a bowl I combined my one sliced (or julienned, whatever you fancy) apple first with my cinnamon to taste (I've never been one to measure, but I shook my mini bag of spice 4-6 times, generously covering the top of my mixture!  It's your deal, so do the spicing as you wish!  Get crazy wit it if you want!) and then I globbed in about two heavy spoonfuls of dulce de leche.  Once I sifted around the mixture and made sure the apple slices were all generously covered in the gooey goodness, I dalloped a large spoonful into the middle of the tapa and began folding around it.  
*Again, if I had extra space now, once I've secured one end, that's when I would stuff a little more in... Notttttt in the beginning!

Buen Provecho!