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I saw this recipe on Pinterest (via a Facebook post)…which is practically a virtual cookbook, and decided to make the jam straws with both raspberry jam and apricot jam. The only thing is…not all recipes are created equal, this is something I’ve learned from dear Pinterest and so has my friend Brooke.

I have to be honest – this didn’t go as nicely as the recipe might have suggested.
The instructions seemed simple enough:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment and set aside.
•  Allow puff pastry to thaw as directed on the package.  Dust work surface with flour and lightly dust rolling pin with flour. Roll out puff pastry until about 2″ larger on each side.  Cut crosswise into two rectangles.
•  Heat 1/4 cup of jam in microwave for15-20 seconds, just enough to loosen the consistency.
•  With a pastry brush, coat one piece of puff pastry with half the jam.  Cover jam-coated piece with the remaining plain piece of puff pastry and gently roll together with rolling pin – not too hard, or your jam will squish out.
•  Slice into long strips and twist, then place on parchment lined pan.   Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool before removing from the pan.  Sprinkle generously with powdered sugar.
•  Repeat process with second sheet of puff pastry.

I’m not saying the recipe was bad – just that my personal experience wasn’t one to remember.

I’m pretty sure it involved grunts, under-my-breath mutters, a sink filled with shreds of wax paper, and possibly even a tear or two rolling down my cheek.

The first problem was the jam:  my raspberry jam wasn’t quite as red, maybe because it’s sugar-free jam, or maybe because the universe was playing a cruel joke on me.  Next up: trying to roll the the top sheet of pastry dough firmly enough so it would stick, but not so firmly that I was making jam squeeze out the sides. FAIL. Then came the cutting and twisting…there’s not much to say except that I’m clearly not adept at twisting pastry dough into pretty spiral twists.

I could have gotten past all that – I’m sure with time and more patience I could master the first half of the recipe. However, the part that drove me to madness was the end result. After nicely bubbling and baking they were ready to be taken off the lines baking sheets. All the gooey-goodness of the jam bubbled onto the parchment paper and the straws were “glued” to it.  I had to pry each one off the sheet and use a microscopic eye to get all the little shreds of paper stuck to them.

The result? A sink full of flaked puff pastry and parchment paper shreds and a bunch of jam straws that looked like they had been through a weed eater. 

Luckily I salvaged enough to take a cute picture to show you (and a few extra to enjoy with classmates).

Oh well, you live and you learn. I DO think I’ll make these again, next time I’m going to try them without the liner, and just arrange them directly on the baking sheet.