【Purple Yam Puff Pastry Cake】

【Purple Yam Puff Pastry Cake】
by MaomaoMom

Thinking of puff pastry, images of these light, flaky and buttery treats like apple turnovers appear in our mind, making our mouths watery. The important main ingredient in puff pastry dough is butter. Making puff pastry is a long and tedious process that takes several hours to prepare. It requires rolling, folding and resting the pastry several times before you can continue the recipe. For that reason, many people even some chefs on TV prefer to use the puff pastry bought from supermarket.

Chinese baking has similar puff pastry treats such as the famous airy flaky egg tarts which are served in most Chinese restaurants as Dim Sum. Traditionally, Chinese puff pastry dough is made from lard and flour. However, in my recipe I use mostly corn oil as a healthy alternative. If it is done right, the result is amazing. You can truly enjoy these multi-layered and flaky delights without much guilt.

Prepare time: 1.5 hours
Cook time: 25 minutes
Level: Medium
Serves: 12 servings

Ingredients:

Purple yam filling:
1) 2 large purple yams (550g);
2) 3 tbsp sugar (42g), 2 tbsp condensed milk, ¼ cup corn oil (53g);

Puff pastry:
3) 1 cup unsifted all purpose flour (160 g), 2 tbsp fine sugar (28g);
4) 1/3 cup + 4 tsp water (88 g), 1.5 tbsp lard (22g), 1.5 tbsp corn oil;
5) 2 tsp all purpose flour;
6) ½ cup + 3 tbsp unsifted cake&pastry flour (97g), ¼ cup corn oil (53g).

Directions:

Purple yam filling:
1: Peel off the skin of purple yam (picture 2), rinse with water and dice into 1 inch cubes. Place them in a medium size bowl. Add water in InstantPot pressure cooker to the 2-cup mark. Place the bowl on top (picture 2) a steam rack. Cover the lid and turn the pressure valve to the Seal position. Press the “Steam” button and set 12 minutes of cooking time. When the program is done, wait another 5 minutes. Slowly release the pressure then open the lid (picture 3).

2: Transfer steamed yam into a non-stick sauté pan on medium heat, add all ingredients of Ingredient 2) (picture 4). Mash and stir until the yam produces no water vapor (picture 5). Let it cool then divide into 12 equal portions. Form into balls (picture 6) with your palms and set aside.

Dough:
3: Combine all ingredients of Ingredient 3) in a container, and mix well (picture 7). Mix all ingredients of Ingredient 4) then pour the mixture into the same container to form soft dough. The dough can be quite sticky. Add 2 tsp flour and knead to form smooth dough (picture 8). Cover with a damp cloth and let it stand for 20 minutes.

Oil paste:
4: Combine all ingredients of Ingredient 6) in a small container (picture 9). Mix well with a spoon (picture 10), then cover and set aside.

Puff pastry:
5: Rub some corn oil on both hands and working surface. Knead the dough a few times and divide into 12 equal portions. Roll out each portion into an oval about 10 cm long, and smooth on 1/12 of oil paste (picture 11). Fold the dough twice: fold the bottom third up and the top third down (picture 12). Turn 90 deg., press down and roll out into a 4×12 cm rectangle (picture 13). Again, fold the bottom third up and the top third down (picture 14).

6: Roll the dough out into a 12×16 cm rectangle (picture 15). Fold from left to right to form a slender roll (picture 16). Roll from bottom to top (pictures 17 and 18). Cover with food wrap while working on the remaining 11 portions.
7: Press down the dough and roll out into an 8 cm circle. Place a purple yam ball (picture 19) on top. Carefully cover the filling and seal the edge (picture 20). Place it upside down inside a 7 cm round cookie cutter. Gently press with fingers to 1.3 cm thick (picture 21). Repeat for the remaining 11 portions.
8: Preheat oven to 375F, place 12 pieces on a parchment paper lined baking sheet (picture 22). Bake for 22 minutes. Cool before serving.

Tips：Leftover can be stored in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Prior to serving, heat in the microwave oven for 40 seconds and bake at 350F for 7 minutes.

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