“I realized this week that I just cannot do it all, so I will choose to do what I can, fabulously.”
— Clinton Kelly
In school, I’ve heard a lot of pep-talks. From teachers, coaches, mentors, etc. They all go along the lines of “work hard,” “always do your best,” “never give up.”
 |
| spread |
I am a firm believer in all of these things, and I take pride in doing my best and really putting my heart into things that I care about. However, I’ve realized is that no matter how hard I work, it is physically impossible to do it all. And that’s OK.
Moderation is a tough concept to grapple with, especially for a young person like me. I want to learn things, I want to be able to do things, and I want to understand things. And I’m impatient.
 |
| slice |
In Japanese, there’s this word, tekitou. In English, it translates to “halfhearted.” However, to me, the word means quite the opposite. “Halfhearted” has such a negative connotation. To me, tekitou means doing the things that I love and care about wholeheartedly, and in regard to living a balanced life (and not driving myself totally crazy), not sweating the little details in all of the other things I have to do, and remembering that not everything has to be picture perfect.
 |
| twist |
So onto the recipe, there’s nothing quite like homemade pastry. But ask anyone who has rolled out their own puff pastry — it’s an ordeal and a half. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Sometime’s it’s OK to cut a few corners. Especially in the baking world. Like for instance, (this is for all of you food bloggers and avid bakers out there), how many times have you actually taken butter out of the fridge an hour before baking to let it “soften to room temperature? I’ve never done this (except for the one time I simply forgot to put it back in the fridge after buttering my toast). I always just give the stick a 30 second zap in the microwave. Tekitou.
I’m always in the mood for some buttery, flaky, Nutella-swirled goodness. And although I am often in the mood to play with dough as well, my schedule doesn’t always allow for making homemade puff pastry.
Here’s a quick-and-dirty little recipe for beautiful, Nutella twist pastries. They look like I slaved for hours over them — rolling and folding puff pastry. They taste all insane, buttery and chocolatey, and take minutes to twist together. Win win win. I finished my math homework, and got to make these awesome little twists of goodness. Tekitou.
 |
| powdered sugar always classes things up |
How were you tekitou today?
With love, Erica
Ingredients
1 box frozen puff pastry (thawed)
Nutella
1 egg
powdered sugar for dusting
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Roll out your defrosted puff pastry into a 2mm thick long, rectangular shape. Spread a thin, even layer of Nutella onto the pastry. Roll the puff pastry up jelly-roll style from the long end.
Using a sharp knife, slice the roll in half vertically, exposing all of those layers of Nutella. Cut each half into fourths.
Hold one piece of puff pastry from both ends and start twisting it, turning each hand in opposite directions until you have a tall spiral shape. Hold one end of the strip in place with a finger, and roll the rest of the spiral around it until you get a small spiral. Tuck in the last end underneath the pastry, making sure you do so tightly so it won’t uncurl during the baking process.
Repeat with the other sheet of puff pastry. Place each spiral about 3 inches apart from one another on the prepared baking sheet.
Lightly brush each pastry with beaten egg. Bake in the preheated oven for 14-18 minutes, or, until the puff pastry has turned into a golden brown.
© Cannella Vita. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without my permission/linking back to Cannella Vita. If you want to republish this recipe, please link back to this post.
These look absolutely divine, I will definitely have to try them!
Thanks Krissie! Let me know how yours turn out if you end up making them!
It's true, everyone cheats when they haven't the time! For example, I do that every year with mincemeat for mince pies because I don't have a cupboard filled with the necessary, expensive bottles of alcohol and I'm not going to spend money on them just for that.
These look divine. Can't go wrong with Nutella and buttery pastry! I can't wait to try, thanks.
I'm glad you agree that it's ok to cut a few corners sometimes! Thanks Natasha!
these are the most delicious thing I've seen today!! Oh my woooord!
Thank you!
Hi ..I wish to make this wonderful dessert…but an unsure how much to roll out the pastry. Will you give me an idea of the dimensions of the rectangle ? Thank you so much for your time and for the recipe.
Yes of course! Thank you so much for asking. Roll out the pastry until it is about 2mm thick — so keep the dimensions of the puff pastry about the same, just enlarge it by about 2 inches or so. I hope this clarified things — the beauty of this recipe is it's not very exact, so no matter what your rectangle's dimensions are, it should turn out yummy!
ohmygosh Erica, these look amazing! and they're soo pretty!! 🙂
Thank you Abby!
Oh heyyy there, girl! This looks absolutely delish–if you've caught sight of the Cocoa Swirl and Cookie Butter in the Trader Joe's aisles, that sounds like it might be just the thing to experiment with in these lovely twists. Loving the idea!
Oh my gosh! What an awesome idea. I've never tried Cocoa Swirl Cookie Butter; however, you better bet that I will next time I stop by Trader Joe's! That sounds insanely good…
Erica! These look SO good that I'm actually sitting here drooling, thinking about how fast I can get all my work done so I can make these. I definitely need to make these as soon as possible. Pinned!
Thank you so much! Since they are so quick and easy to make (such a "cheat" recipe) — you can whip these up in no time!
Making these for guests tonight! Hope I can make them as pretty as yours 🙂
Making these for guests tonight. Hope I can make them as pretty as yours 🙂
Hi Jenna! Thanks so much 🙂 I am sure yours will be as pretty as mine (if not prettier!). Let me know how they turn out!
Hey I was wanting to add alcohol to the nutella for my bday…
Any ideas of alcohol to a cup of nutella?
And which spirit would work best?
Thanx a bunch
Probably something like Kahlua would work nicely!
I made these and I almost ate my fingers after. So simple yet so delicious!
I'm so glad you liked them!
When you say "cut each half into fourths" do you mean to cut them into 4 more pieces making this recipe yield a total of 8 pastries, or do you mean to cut them once more making the yield 4 pastries?
Yes! The latter, yielding 4 pastries.
Perfection!
I would LOVE to make these.. However there is only one of me and as good as they look I don't think that i'd be able to eat all 8 in one sitting! Do you think it would be possible if I froze the rest and once I'm ready for the them, to defrost and bake them then?
I made these last night with one sheet of prerolled puff pastry – I even forgot the egg and they still turned out well. Nice one!
I made these last night with 1 sheet of prerolled puff pastry – I even forgot the egg and they still turned out well. Nice one!