Spiral Pumpkin Twists with Maple Cream

I saw this recipe and decided it would be perfect to use up some pumpkin butter (leftover from that panzanella dressing). I couldn’t find circles of puff pastry anywhere, so I used the standard square sheets and made do. I’m giving you the original recipe here, but know that you can use pumpkin butter instead of making your own filling, and I think this would be great with apple or pear butter, too. If you don’t have lactose-free cream (I didn’t, as I’m in Texas), you can use a vegan whipping substitute or forgo the cream altogether.

For the spiral pumpkin twists
2 12"-sheets of round puff pastry (see note above), thawed
½ cup pumpkin purée
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
½ tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 pinch salt
1 large egg yolk

For the maple cream
½ cup lactose-free cream
1 Tbsp. maple syrup

Preheat the oven to 400 °F. Place a piece of parchment paper on your work surface. (It’ll be easier to assemble this directly on the parchment paper and then move the whole thing to the baking sheet; I’d recommend against using a silpat here, in order not to damage it when cutting the sun rays.) Unroll the first piece of puff pastry and lay it flat on the parchment paper.

In a small bowl, mix together the pumpkin purée, brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt. Spread the pumpkin purée in an even layer all over the puff pastry, stopping about ½ inch from the edge. Place the second round of puff pastry on tip, pressing it down slightly to push out any air bubbles. (At this point, if you find your pastry to be too soft, you can transfer it to the freezer for 5 minutes before moving on to the next step, although this was not necessary for me.)

Set a small drinking glass in the center of your puff pastry circle and start by cutting the pastry in 4, starting at the edge of the glass and going outward. (I used a rolling pizza cutter for this and it worked perfectly.) Then slice each quarter into 2, and slice each eighth into 3. I find that it looks like a sun with 24 rays. You can adjust this as you see fit, as long as your rays aren’t too narrow or wide. Once you’Ve made the cuts, you may find it easier to move the parchment paper to a baking sheet.

Twist each strip gently, supporting the dough along the entire length to avoid breakage. Try to give each strip 5 or 6 twists, whatever looks good to you. Don’t hesitate to trim the ends if needed. Remove the glass and brush the entire thing with egg yolk; transfer to the freezer for 10 minutes. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until evenly golden brown (I recommend 20 minutes, to make sure all the dough is cooked through.)

Meanwhile, combine the cream with the maple syrup and whip until soft peaks form. Serve alongside the spiral twists, so you can dip each sunray in it after you break it off. Bon appétit!