Every year in early spring, the pixie cook Fredsome travels to a small village in France to make pastries with his grandmother, Grandmaman Fredette. Fredsome does not generally walk around with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. His go-to is more like a stamp in his stomp and a scowl. But this is the one time of year when he can’t help but smile.. The smell of fresh-baked, buttery dough and spending time with Grandmaman Fredette are two of his favorite things in the world.

As Fredsome strolled up the long and winding cobblestone road to his grandmaman’s cottage, a little blue bird swooped down and tugged on his chef’s hat.

“Shoo! Scat! Get out of here!” snapped Fredsome. He was not the type of pixie to get excited about the idea of a blue bird on his shoulder.

“Tweet! Tweet, tweet, tweety tweet!” insisted the bird, as it tried to drag Fredsome off the path and into a raspberry bush. Nestled deep within the raspberry prickles, Fredsome spotted a sky-blue egg which had fallen out of the bird’s nest above.

“I don’t have time for this,” grumbled Fredsome. “You have the wrong cook,” he said, as he pulled away from the bird.

Just then, his Grandmaman Fredette’s voice popped into his head, “Fredsome, remember. Kindness costs nothing and means everything.”

He sighed and grabbed a handful of Pixie Spice, the key to any pixie cook’s magic. He sprinkled the Pixie Spice to cast a spell, causing the egg gently floated out of the bush and back into its nest.

Now as you know, raspberries ripen in the summer’s sun. But remarkably, Fredsome discovered some radiant, red raspberries that had been tucked behind the egg. A dash more Pixie Spice and a snap of his fingers freed the raspberries from the bush.

He wrapped the berries in a cloth and continued up the path, positively beaming with excitement. Not only would he get to bake pastries with his beloved grandmother, he had the perfect gift of scrumptious raspberries to surprise her.

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Recipe for Fredsome’s Kind-hearted pastries

These classic French palmiers with a swirl of raspberry are the perfect treat to make with someone you love. Little Cooks can help make this recipe too. Use our handy key to see which steps we recommend for different age groups. Always use your judgement on what your child helper can most safely help with and please remember to watch out for little fingers around knives and hot ovens.

* = 2 - 4 year-olds / ** = 5 - 7 year-olds / ***8 = years old +

Time: 45 minutes / makes 16 pastries.

Ingredients

1 sheet of thawed puff pastry (homemade or store-bought)
¼ cup of sugar
½ carton of fresh raspberries
¼ tsp of cornstarch

Tools

Cookie sheet
Parchment paper
Rolling pin
Spoon and fork
Measuring cups and spoons

Directions

** 1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.

* 2. Spread a piece of parchment paper on your workspace.

* 3. Sprinkle ¼ cup of sugar on top in a rectangle shape. Pat it down to make it a thin layer.

* 4. Lay pastry on top of sugar and press down so the sugar sticks. Sprinkle remaining ¼ cup of sugar on top

* 5. Roll a few times with a rolling pin but it doesn’t need to be too thin. Keep the rectangle shape.

* 6. Use a fork to mash ½ carton of raspberries with 1 tsp sugar and ¼ teaspoon cornstarch.

* 7. Spread on top of puff pastry with the back of a spoon, leaving about ½ inch around the edges

** 8. Fold the edges on the long side of the rectangle (a.k.a. hot dog style) – about 1/6 of the way in on each side. Fold the same size in a second time, and then a third time until you have two thin strips facing each other. Then fold those two sides together to make one long, log-shaped pastry roll.

** 9. Tip out the extra sugar and wrap in the parchment paper.

* 10. Pop it in freezer for 15-20 minutes until stiff but not frozen.

*** 11. Use a sharp knife to cut the pastry log into 16 slices.

* 12. Place the slices onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread out the sides and make them into a “V” shape.

*** 13. Place in oven and bake for 10 minutes. Flip and bake for an additional 5 minutes until golden and crispy.

* 15. Remove from the oven. Let the pastries cool for a few minutes and then enjoy them with milk, hot chocolate, coffee, or tea. Bon appetite!

Fredsome’s tips

In a jam?: You can use raspberry jam instead of fresh raspberries. Simply spread a few spoon-fulls on top of the pastry instead of the raspberry paste and skip the extra sugar on the top (step 4).

Sweet and spicy: You can mix some cinnamon into the sugar and skip the raspberries altogether. The baking time reduces so flip them at 7 minutes and cook for a total of 10 minutes.

Fredsome's Kind-hearted Pastries