Freshly Baked Turnovers With Cherry Jelly Recipe

Of all the fruit-filled desserts in the world, turnovers are one of the absolute best — after all, they are quite literally little pockets of goodness. You can incorporate just about any fruit that you want in turnovers, and for recipe developer Jessica Morone, the clear choice was cherries. "Personally, cherries are my favorite fruit, so I love that these feature the sweet and tart flavors of cherries in a flaky pastry," she describes, noting that the use of homemade jelly (as opposed to jam) adds a unique flair to a classic recipe. Another perk? You'll likely have leftover cherry jelly, which means you can use it on toast, pancakes, or even PB&J sandwiches.

Back to the turnovers themselves: This recipe for freshly baked cherry ones is just involved enough, meaning you'll make the simple cherry jelly from scratch, but frozen puff pastry ensures that you won't have to spend too much time in the kitchen making pastry dough. The jelly will need several hours to set, but you can spend that time doing something else. In fact, the ingredient list for this recipe is incredibly minimal — only seven ingredients total, and that's including the turbinado sugar garnish. So, despite yielding such an impressive treat, the workload won't feel overbearing. And, in the end, you'll have freshly-baked turnovers, extra cherry jelly, and plenty of time left in your day; it's a win-win-win all-around.

Only three ingredients are needed for the cherry jelly: tart cherry juice, pectin, and granulated sugar. As for the turnovers, you'll need frozen puff pastry squares (thawed), flour for dusting your work surface, an egg for the egg wash (and for sealing the pastry), and turbinado sugar for garnish.

In a small saucepan, mix together the cherry juice and pectin. Bring to a boil for 1 minute.

Add the sugar to the pan and bring back to a boil. Boil for 1–2 minutes, stirring continuously.

Pour the jelly into a jar, cover, and refrigerate until the jelly has set (which could take anywhere from 4–48 hours).

Once the jelly has set, preheat the oven to 400 F.

Whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Set aside.

Sprinkle the flour onto a clean surface and place the puff pastry squares on top of the flour.

Place 1 tablespoon jelly on each puff pastry square.

Brush two of the edges of each pastry square with egg wash.

Fold the pastry in half to form a triangle. Use a fork to crimp the edges to form a seal.

Cut 2–3 small slits in the top of each turnover with a paring knife.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the turnovers on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of each turnover with the egg wash.

Sprinkle turbinado sugar over each turnover.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20–23 minutes, until they are golden brown.

Let the pastries cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Thanks to the use of frozen puff pastry in this recipe, these turnovers really couldn't be easier to make, and the process of forming and baking them is pretty quick. The only thing that takes a significant amount of time is waiting for the cherry jelly to set. If you simply don't have time to wait a minimum of 4 hours for that process to happen, then Morone advises that store-bought jelly (or jam) will work just as well here and will save you quite a bit of time. 

If you're committed to making homemade jelly for these turnovers but aren't married to cherry being the flavor, you have a multitude of options. "The difference between jelly and jam is mainly that jelly is made from fruit juice rather than the whole fruit," Morone explains. "So, it's pretty easy here to swap in a different type of fruit juice." Certain juices that might work here include orange, cranberry, or apple juice, though you can go wild and select your favorite flavor — just make sure that it's 100% juice. If tiny chunks of fruit are absolutely essential to your turnover filling, then you can opt for making an easy strawberry jam for more of a classic take.

Despite being a simple recipe, there are still some issues you might come across with these turnovers, specifically in regards to the puff pastry. For starters, you need to thaw the pastry before you can handle it, but you don't want it too get too warm as you're making the turnovers. "If it gets too warm, you can pop the dough back in the fridge for a few minutes before you keep using it, or refrigerate the turnovers a bit before baking them so that they puff up well," Morone advises.

Another common issue is leaky filling, and while some ooze is actually desired (if only for aesthetic purposes), you obviously don't want the cherry jelly completely running out of the turnovers as they bake. "Make sure you don't overfill the turnovers or they will pop open while baking. You only want to put in about 1 tablespoon of filling into each turnover," Morone says, advice that will help make sure that filling stays put. Her final tip is to ensure that you seal the edges of your turnovers with both the egg wash and by crimping, which gives your pastry the best chance at staying shut while baking.