Quick Chocolate Palmiers

Palmiers - those gorgeous little light French biscuits!  Visiting French supermarkets on holidays with my grandparents was always a treat - everything looked (and smelled) so different!  Their biscuits were always far superior, I thought, and I fell in love with the little crisp palmiers.  My affair hasn't waned, but my ability to make them was never tested.    However, with the advent of ready-rolled puff pastry, palmiers can be made and eaten in an incredibly short time!  They can be sweet or savoury (perhaps not at the same time) - I made the chocolate ones below using some left over chocolate which had hardened in a bowl and got that unattractive whitish bloom.

Tested at a Tea and Cake choir rehearsal, they were in definitely tune with the singers!

Quick Chocolate Palmiers

Quick Chocolate Palmiers

1 pack ready-roll puff pastry (preferably the all-butter version)

Caster sugar

6oz dark chocolate

Take the pastry out of the fridge for about 10 minutes to allow it to warm up so it doesn’t crack when you unroll it.   Melt the chocolate (if you are using it).  Preheat the oven to 200 deg C and cover at least 1 baking tray with non-stick parchment. 

Un-roll the pastry gently on its paper and spread with melted chocolate.  Now shake caster sugar all over the chocolate.   Mark the centre of the short edge on either end (don’t cut the pastry, though!).

Put the longest side towards you and roll it up towards the centre mark, making a tight roll at the beginning.   Turn the pastry round so that the unrolled side is now towards you and roll up this side until the two rolls meet in the middle.  This creates the classic shape.   Now roll it all up tightly in the paper and chill for approx. 20 minutes (or stick it in the freezer). 

To get a cleaner cut, wipe flour on a sharp knife before cutting the roll into very thin slices, approx. .5cm/ ¼”.   Put onto the baking sheets, allowing space to spread a little.   Bake for about 12 minutes – check!!!!  The pastry should be golden and crisp.  When you take them out, dredge with more caster sugar and allow to cool.     

I gather this works well also with cinnamon and Nutella, plus there are endless savoury versions.