Cherry and Cream Cheese Turnovers

These puff pastry turnovers were inspired by Lara Jean’s baking scene in To All the Boys 2. I’m so sad the series is over! There is baking in every movie but the turnovers is my favorite. Canned cherry pie filling is shown by I opted for frozen cherries, though sour cherries would be great, too. I added cream cheese for an extra element. I like having something to balance the bright tangy fruit flavor of the cherries. A homemade pie crust was used for the dough but for turnovers or pop tarts, I prefer something less heavy, that let’s the filling shine, so I chose puff pastry. Feel free to substitute for other frozen fruit. If using strawberries, since they’re really juicy, I’d add another teaspoon of cornstarch. Happy baking!

Ingredients:

Filling:
16 ounces frozen pitted cherries
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 teaspoons lemon juice + 2 teaspoons zest, divided
1 tablespoon + 2 teaspoons cornstarch, dissolved in equal amount of water
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Pastry:
1 17-ounce package frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 beaten egg, for brushing
Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Directions:
In a saucepan over medium heat, add the frozen cherries, sugar, salt and lemon juice. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the cherries start to release their juices about 5 minutes. Add the cornstarch slurry and cook for another minute or until cherry mixture thickens. Remove from heat, transfer to a bowl to cool completely. Place in a bowl of ice water to speed up cooling.

In a mixer or food processor, beat together the cream cheese, sugar and lemon zest until smooth. Set aside.

On a lightly floured board, roll out one sheet of puff pastry, approximately 10 x 14″ rectangle. With a pastry wheel or knife, trim so the edges are straight to 9 x 13″. Divide into 8 rectangles 2.25 x 3.25″. Place on parchment lined sheet pan and let chill in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Repeat the above with the second sheet of puff pastry. Once you have 8 rectangles, cut a 1.5″ heart or keep it simple and cut 2-3 slits to let the steam escape. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes. If you don’t have room, you can stack this parchment sheet on top of the first one already in the freezer.

Once chilled, on the non-heart rectangles, spread 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese filling, leaving a 3/4″ border all around. Spoon cherry mixture on top, about 5-6 cherries with a bit of the liquid, but most of it I drained so the turnovers wouldn’t be runny. You can save it for serving over vanilla ice cream with the warm turnovers. Brush the border with egg wash. Place heart cut-out rectangles on top gently stretching so the edges meet. Seal the edges by pressing down with the tines of a fork. Brush the tops with egg wash and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar. Place into the freezer for 10-15 minutes to allow the dough to firm up.

Preheat oven to 375°F and bake for 30-35 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly so the bottoms don’t get soggy. Enjoy warm or room temperature as is or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and some of the leftover cherry juice.

You can see my step-by-step video here.

If you make them, I’d love to see! Tag me on Instagram @pastrywithjenn.