There couldn’t be a better time to finally make the homemade version of Pop-Tarts! All to welcome the revival of Gilmore Girls!
The original series ended in 2007, but was brought back by Netflix (not sponsored, she doesn’t love us, hahahahah) and has 4 90-minute episodes. Kind of like Sherlock, right?
I don’t remember exactly how, when and why. But I watched it on that retro/vintage electro called TV, you know? It was on Warner Channel here in Brazil if I’m not mistaken. I believe that the speed of the dialogues was what made me watch it in the first place, and consequently, the story.
One of the most vivid memories is of the episode in which they comment on the Nigellamore specifically, when she fries a Bounty Bar (a coconut bonbon almost a Prestige). Of course I didn’t remember which season it was, but Oracle doesn’t fail: in the 4th and episode 16. In this case, it was the Nigella Bites series.
Tell me what the menu will be for binge-watching the new episodes. I was just wondering if Lorelai and Rory would approve of my Pop-Tarts, after all, it’s homemade and they don’t cook, right? hahahah I think Sookie would like it! 🙂
Banana and Strawberry Pop-Tarts
Makes: 4 – 8 units measuring 10x8cm, depending on the flavors
Ingredients: BANANA FILLING
- 200 g banana passes (chopped)
- 25 mL water (boiling)
- 0,5 g cinnamon powder (less than 1/4 tsp or to taste)
Ingredients: STRAWBERRY FILLING
- 300 g Strawberry jam
- 150 g frozen strawberry (chopped)
- 05 mL vanilla extract (or ~1mL essence; optional:)
Ingredients: MASSA POP-TARTS
- 180 g wheat flour
- 25 g refined sugar
- 1,5 g refined salt
- 110 g butter without salt (chilled; in cubes)
- 20-40 mL water (chilled with ice; 1-2 tbsp)
Ingredients: ROYAL ICE COVERING
- 100 g royal icing mix
- cinnamon powder (optional)
- colored sprinkles (optional)
- Pink gel dye (optional)
1 cup: 250mL | 1 tablespoon: 15mL.
Mode: BANANA FILLING
- Mix the chopped banana and boiling water, mix well. Reserve for 5 minutes.
- Process the banana to become a uniform paste, add cinnamon if desired. If the bananas are too firm, they can damage the processor/mixer. It may be necessary to heat or microwave it to soften it further, if you add more water it will be necessary to reduce the paste again.
- Spread the paste on silpat or plastic, leave it 0.5cm thick and trim to 16x12cm. Cut 8x6cm rectangles, use a damp ruler to avoid sticking to the paste. Makes 4 units of wax, there will be some burrs left over. If it is too sticky, mark the rectangles and place in the freezer. Ice cream is easier to cut and separate.
- Make the final cuts and when storing, there must be plastic between the rectangles so they don’t stick together.
- Place in the freezer until ready to use.
Mode: STRAWBERRY FILLING
- In a wide, non-stick pan, mix the jelly and chopped strawberries. Cook over low heat for 20-30 minutes to reduce and remove excess water. The mix started at 450g and ended at ~245g, a 46% reduction (~210g). The reduction should be between 40-45%. See note about jelly. If it has reduced too much, add water to regain weight.
- Spread the paste on silpat or plastic (if you use this, wait for it to cool for 5-10 minutes so it doesn’t melt), leave it 0.5cm thick and trim to 16x12cm. Cut 8x6cm rectangles, use a damp ruler to avoid sticking to the paste. Makes 4 units of wax, there will be some burrs left over. If it is too sticky, mark the rectangles and place in the freezer. Ice cream is easier to cut and separate.
- Make the final cuts and when storing, there must be plastic between the rectangles so they don’t stick together.
- Place in the freezer until ready to use.
Way: MASS POP TARTS
- In a bowl, combine wheat flour, refined sugar and cold butter. Crumble the butter into the flour with your fingertips to make it resemble crumbs. It will not form a cohesive, uniform mass at this station.
- Add the ice water little by little and mix to bring the dough together. Generally, the maximum amount of water is used, but it depends on the butter and flour used, so it should be done little by little.
- Once the dough is uniform, form it into a rectangle, wrap it in plastic and chill in the fridge for 20 minutes.
- The amount of dough is enough for 4 units of Pop Tarts, if you make both fillings you will need to double the amount of dough ingredients.
Mode: ASSEMBLY AND COOKING
- Heat the oven to 180ºC and line a baking tray with baking paper. Reserve.
- On a floured silpat or plastic sheet, roll out the dough, leave it 0.5cm thick and trim to 20×16. Cut 10x8cm rectangles, for precise sizes you will need a ruler. Pop-Tart measures 10x8cm! Gather the scraps and reopen the dough, yields 08 rectangles which are 04 ready-made units.
- On a rectangle of dough, place a rectangle of filling (banana or strawberry) and cover with the dough. Press the surface well to remove the air, as well as the sides. Use a bamboo stick (chopstick) or something cylindrical to press lightly. You should not use a fork to mark the edges, the original does not have these details. If the dough is too malleable due to the heat, place it in the freezer for 5-7 minutes to firm up and be able to handle it.
- Place on the prepared baking tray and pierce each Pop Tart twice with a fork. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes or until ready to bake.
- Bake at 180ºC for ~30 minutes, it should be lightly browned. Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool.
Mode: ROYAL ICE COVERING
- Make the royal icing according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- For the banana one, I added ground cinnamon to the icing.
- For the strawberry one, I dyed the icing with pink food coloring.
- Pop-Tarts need to be completely cool.
- Transfer each of the icings to a piping bag with a plain tip or a sturdy plastic bag with the tip cut off.
- Leaving a ~0.5cm border of dough, pipe a circle of icing over the Pop Tart. Then, fill the whole thing with the icing, but just enough to cover it, it doesn’t need to be a thick layer. Wait for 3-5 minutes to dry before adding sprinkles so they don’t smear/bleed onto the frosting.
- To consume it, the icing must be completely dry. Store in an airtight container.
- Strawberry jam: I used the Ritter brand. Choose a jam where strawberry is the first on the ingredients list. If it has a lot of sugar, the reduction could turn into a caramel candy instead of a paste and/or be too sweet and without strawberry flavor.
- Royal icing mix: I used Mix. I preferred the mixture for pure convenience, homemade icing would mean I would have to buy other ingredients like powdered egg whites. It’s not worth the work.
