Lemon Turnovers

Makes: 18 turnovers

Time: About 45 minutes, plus time to chill

You don’t often see turnovers with creamy filling, but the contrast with crisp, flaky puff pastry is a no-brainer.

1. Beat together the lemon curd, cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk, and flour until smooth and fluffy. Refrigerate while you prepare the dough.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a rectangle about 24 × 12 inches and about ¼ inch thick, then cut it into 4-inch squares. Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon water and brush this onto one of the edges of each square, then halfway up its adjacent sides. Fill the squares with 1 tablespoon of the lemon curd mixture (do not overfill or the pastries will leak while they bake). Fold the squares in half so that the unwashed sides meet the egg-washed edges to form rectangles. Press or pinch the edges gently to seal well and crimp them with the tines of a fork if you like, then brush more egg wash over the tops and sprinkle with a bit of sugar. Use a paring knife to make a very small cut in the top of each pastry (not too big or the lemon curd will burn) so steam can escape. Arrange the turnovers about 1 inch apart on a baking sheet and chill for at least 30 minutes or up to a few hours.

3. Heat the oven to 400°F. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. Store in an airtight container for up to a day.

CHOCOLATE TURNOVERS These couldn’t be simpler to fill; for a nuttier flavor, use Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread: Chop 6 ounces of chocolate; fill the center of each piece of dough with about 1 tablespoon of chocolate, resisting the urge to overfill.

JAM TURNOVERS Use raspberry or strawberry jam and lemon for something more traditional, or mango preserves with lime for a more tropical taste: Use jam instead of lemon curd and add 1 tablespoon fresh citrus zest.

CREAM HORNS These classic Eastern European pastries are shaped like cones and baked before they’re filled, so you get a nice contrast in texture: Cut the dough into roughly 6 × 1-inch strips and gently roll them to thin them out a bit more. Wrap each strip around a cream horn mold, starting at the tip and slightly overlapping the dough as you work your way up (see illustration above). Press each end gently to seal and transfer the molds to a baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, then bake for about 12 minutes, until the dough is puffed and golden. Remove the molds and cool to room temperature. Fill a pastry bag with Whipped Cream or Vanilla Pastry Cream and pipe enough to fill each horn. The empty horns will keep for a day in an airtight container. If they get soggy, recrisp them for about 5 minutes in the oven at 250°F and cool completely before filling.

Shaping Cream Horns

Roll each strip of dough around a cream horn mold, starting at the tip and slightly overlapping the dough as you work your way up.