Strawberry Almond Foldovers

First of all Eid Mubarak to all my Muslim followers. Eid has passed away more than a week back but its still the month of Eid, so better late than never. 

Eid in Dubai this year was a lot of fun for me. Now that we have a bigger social circle here, we got to meet lots of people over Eid. Eid morning started with Eid prayers after which, a One-dish Eid breakfast was organized at a friend's place in my apartment building. All the Pakistani families in our building were invited and each one of us took one dish each to the party. The menu was traditional and scrumptious and meeting everyone made it even more special. Rest of the day was also spent visiting guests and the next day, in entertaining guests. All in all, it was a good festive ocassion.

Now to the recipe; I tried out this recipe in Ramzan for an Iftar party at my place. I really wanted to share it then but couldn't take out time to write. Now that Ramzan is over and so is the festivity of Eid, here I am sharing this unique recipe with you all.

 
Usually the snacks that are prepared for Iftar are savory. When I saw this recipe on a cooking show, I immediately decided to try it out for the Iftar party since it was a lightly sweetened snack and since it involved baking, I just had to try it.

Strawberry Almond Foldovers is an interesting recipe, just as its name suggests, in that the dough of these foldovers is salty while the filling is sweet, hence resulting in a perfect combination of sweet and salty. The dough is also quite different than the others that I have tried since it has cream cheese in it. When baked, the cream cheese gives the foldovers a unique smell, which reminds one of bakery items.

This recipe serves as a perfect compliment with a cup of tea or coffee and can be baked and stored in airtight containers. Also, for people with diabetes, this can be a good recipe as the dough of these foldovers is salty and the strawberry jam filling can be replaced with sugar-free jams that are easily available in markets.

Try out this one and I guarantee you that you will give it a permanent place in your list of hi-tea items. Oh and one last thing, I have adapted this recipe from Shireen Anwar's program Masala Mornings. Enjoy!

Strawberry Almond Foldovers

Ingredients:

Flour 2 cups
Cream cheese (spreadable) 200 gms
Butter 200 gms
Vanilla essence 1/2 tsp
Strawberry jam 8-10 tbsp
Flaked almonds as needed
Egg white (beaten) 1
Sugar (granulated) for sprinkle

Method:

• In a mixing bowl, add butter, cream cheese, flour & essence and beat on low speed (for 2-3 minutes) till the dough resembles bread crumbs; do not over-beat.
• Mix with hands till the dough is smooth; if it is too soft, add little flour.
• Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Lightly flour a clean surface and roll the dough about 1/4 inch thick.
• Cut rounds with a cookie cutter.
• Put approx. 1 tsp jam in the center and fold to form a semi-circle.
• Brush with egg white on top, put almond flakes and sprinkle with granulated sugar.
• Bake at 190C for 15 minutes or till golden brown.

Tips:
 

• If the dough is too soft to roll, add flour and roll again.
• Do not fill too much jam in the center; otherwise it may leak out during baking.
• Mash the jam if has fruit chunks in it.
• Different jam flavors can be used for variation.
• Colored sugar can be used for decoration.