Squares of puff pastry folded over a spoonful of arequipe or guava paste, sealed with egg, sprinkled with sugar and baked. Twenty minutes, and there is nothing to make from scratch.
The two fillings
- Arequipe is Colombian dulce de leche: milk and sugar cooked down slowly until it caramelises. Sold in jars everywhere.
- Bocadillo is guava paste, cooked so far down that it sets into a solid block you can slice. It is usually sold wrapped in dried bijao leaves.
Both are pantry items in Colombia and neither is worth making for four pastries.
Use less than feels right
This is the mistake everyone makes. Both fillings liquefy completely in the oven, and a pastry with two generous spoonfuls in it splits along the seam and empties itself onto the tray.
A tablespoon per square, kept away from the edges. What looks mean going in looks correct coming out.
Seal twice
Egg first, then fork. The beaten egg brushed along the edges is the glue, and the fork pressed along the seam is the reinforcement. Doing only one of the two is how they open.
The same egg then goes on top for the glaze, so beat one and use it for both jobs.
Cold pastry, hot oven
Puff pastry works because of layers of butter trapped between layers of dough. When the cold butter hits a hot oven it releases steam, which pushes the layers apart. That is the whole mechanism.
Warm pastry has already lost the distinction between butter and dough, so it bakes flat and greasy. If it has gone soft while you were filling, put the tray in the fridge for ten minutes before baking.
They come out molten
Sugar at that temperature burns badly and both fillings are almost entirely sugar. Let them sit for a few minutes, however good they look.
More sweet things
- Arequipe — if you do want to make it yourself.
- Bocadillo — the guava block.
- Dedos de queso — the same guava paste, with cheese.
- Hojaldras — the other Colombian pastry.
Arequipe Pastries FAQ
Colombian dulce de leche: milk and sugar cooked down slowly until it thickens and caramelises. It is sold in jars in any Colombian shop and there is no reason to make it for a batch of four pastries.
Bocadillo, the solid guava paste sold in blocks wrapped in dried leaves. The translation makes it sound like ripe guava fruit, which would not work: you want the firm paste that can be sliced.
Too much filling, or an incomplete seal. Both fillings liquefy in the oven and push at the seams. Use about a tablespoon per square, keep it away from the edges, brush the edges with egg and then press with a fork.
Yes. Puff pastry rises because cold butter trapped between layers of dough turns to steam in a hot oven. Warm pastry bakes flat and greasy. If it softens while you work, chill the filled pastries for ten minutes before baking.
Yes, and it is common. Two with arequipe and two with guava paste from the same sheet of pastry, which is what the quantities in this recipe assume.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry (fresh or fully thawed; frozen pastry cracks when rolled)
- 2 tablespoons arequipe (Colombian dulce de leche, sold ready made)
- 2 tablespoons guava paste (bocadillo: the solid block, cut into thin slices)
- Wheat flour (for dusting the surface)
- White sugar (sprinkled on top before baking)
- 1 beaten egg (for sealing the edges and glazing the tops)
Notas
Instructions
- The puff pastry should be fresh or fully thawed. Lay it on a floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin.
- Roll on both sides, dusting with flour as you go so it does not stick. Be careful not to work it too thin.
- Once it is rolled out, cut the pastry into four squares, and put a spoonful of guava paste or arequipe on each.
- Brush all the edges with the beaten egg, then fold the pastry over the filling from corner to corner, making a triangle.
- Press the edges with a fork to seal them.
- Brush the top of each pastry with more beaten egg and sprinkle sugar over.
- Put them on a buttered baking tray and bake at 180°C (350°F) for about 20 minutes, until golden.
- Let them cool for a few minutes before eating: the filling comes out of the oven extremely hot.
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