Homemade Flakies with raspberry compote & vanilla cream

Homemade Flakies with raspberry compote & vanilla cream. A nostalgic tribute to the Vachon Flakie, one of my very favourite snack cake treats as a kid.

Ingredients

• Two 12 inch square sheets puff pastry
• Granulated sugar
• 1 egg + 1 tbsp water, (to make an egg wash)

For the Raspberry Compote Filling

• 2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tsp corn starch dissolved in ¼ cup water

For the Vanilla Frosting

• 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
• 1/3 cup softened butter
• 2-3 tbsp milk, (adjust to achieve the proper consistency)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Or If you prefer Vanilla Whipped Cream to frosting

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 rounded tbsp icing sugar, (powdered sugar)
• 1 /2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

To prepare the pastry

1. Whisk the egg and water together to make an egg wash.
2. Lay out one of the sheet of puff pastry on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and lightly brush it with the egg wash.
3. Lay the second sheet of puff pastry on top and chill in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. This will make the pastry easier to cut evenly.
4. Using a very sharp knife, trim the edges square, then cut the pastry into 9 squares (or 16 squares for a mini version.)
5. Spread the squares out a couple of inches a[art on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.
6. Lightly brush the tops with the egg was h and then sprinkle granulated sugar over the tops (optional).
7. Bake for about 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees F until evenly golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

To prepare the Raspberry Filling

1. Slowly simmer raspberries & sugar together for about 10 minutes.
2. Stir in the corn starch mixture stirring constantly and cook for an additional minute. Cool completely to room temperature then in the fridge.

To prepare the Vanilla Frosting

1. Beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
2. Split the cooled pastries horizontally with a sharp serrated knife.

IF You Prefer Vanilla Whipped Cream

1. Just whip together the whipping cream, vanilla and icing sugar to firm peaks.

To assemble the pastries.

1. With a Sharp serrated knife, cut each of the baked pastries in half horizontally.
2. Spread a rounded tablespoon of the raspberry on the bottom pastry portion and a heaping tablespoon of vanilla frosting/cream on the top half of the pastry before bringing the two halves together.
3. Store in an airtight plastic container in the refrigerator.

Notes

Nutritional information provided is based upon the larger sized option of 9 pastries per batch.

Homemade Flakies, A Canadian classic!!

 Back in the day when junk food was still sold in schools, I had one practically every day at Coley’s Point Elementary School back home in Bay Robert’s.

We had Half Moons, Jos Louis and Mae Wests as the familiar snack cakes we knew well. All of them are still popular today.

Flakies were my fave.

A Flakie though was, and still is, made from puff pastry with a layer of apple raspberry jam and a frosting-like cream at the centre. I almost never ate mine intact.

I was obsessed with the filling , so I always disassembled them, eating the top first, then nibbling around the bottom to leave a perfect square of pastry topped with cream and jam!

At that point, it was 4 bites of frosting filled goodness that was my kid heart’s delight. It was a bit odd, I suppose but I’m sure I wasn’t the only kid who ate them that way. I could point to a couple of old school friends…but I won’t. 😉

They came to mind recently when I was thinking of posting a simple recipe to make with little kids who would want to surprise Dad for Father’s Day. My kids and I always made cakes together for Mother’s Day, and I thought perhaps this nostalgic treat would be a great choice. 

You can use my recipe for Shortcut Puff Pastry here, but since sheets of great quality, all butter puff pastry are readily available in your supermarket freezer, it’s far quicker and easier to make these homemade flakies using that. In fact, I used a 1 pound package in this case to make 9 pastries.

Filling options

I’ve included 2 options for the cream filling. You can use Vanilla Whipped Cream or to be more like the actual Flakie, you can use the Vanilla Buttercream Option. Both are equally delicious, so it’s completely your choice.

So go ahead and make these for dear old Dad this weekend. He’s sure to enjoy them. They’d also make great picnic items or an easy summer BBQ dessert too!