Panchineta or Pantxineta

The panchineta or pantxineta is one of the Basque desserts that I like the most with Basque cake , I don’t know if it is the most successful in those lands, but certainly the one that I have tried the most in Donosti. A simple sweet that mixes perhaps what I like the most, the puff pastry, the pastry cream and my favorite nuts, the almonds. The version that I present to you today is a homemade adaptation, adaptation of the idea of ​​this Basque dessert that only in Otaegui they know how to make perfectly. The original dessert is a mixture of golden and crunchy layers of the finest puff pastry, filled with a very fine pastry cream and topped with roasted almonds, all to eat this puff pastry round looking at the sea almost contemplatively.

To prepare a variation of the pantxinetas, I have chosen to fill them with a citrus pastry cream on raspberry coulis, put this dessert on a plate to finish the best food in the world. Preparing it at home is simple, better if we have homemade puff pastry  , so we will get a luxury dessert, but if we do not want to complicate ourselves we can use the frozen one. It is also traditional to make individual panchinetas and accompany it with some sauce, in this case a raspberry coulis. To the traditional pastry cream of the filling I have added an extra citrus with what has a delicious orange flavor that is great.

This Basque dessert was created by the Otaegui Pastry in San Sebastián at the beginning of the 20th century. Its name is an adaptation to the Basque of the French franchipán , that’s why sometimes both sweets are confused although they are not the same. It is currently the oldest open Donostia pastry shop, after La Urbana (1870-1930), La Mallorquina (1871-1958), Las Delicias (1874), Ayestaran (1876-1975) and Maíz (La Dulce Alianza) 1888 closed. 1991. This patisserie was a supplier to the Casa Real, the regent María Cristina being her best client and thanks to her and all the panchinetas she ate we can enjoy this dessert throughout Spain. Although much better in the city where it was invented, Donosti, there is no better place with a good coffee. While testing my version, I am sure you will like it.

Preparation of the panchineta

1. We start by preparing the pastry cream , something that we can do before we decide to get on the panchineta. We start by diluting the cornstarch in 75 ml. of milk and reserve.
2. In a bowl beat the eggs with the sugar until it foams and reserve.
3. We open the vanilla bean and reserve it on a plate.
4. Heat the rest of the milk with the vanilla bean, the inside of the vanilla, the lemon peel, the lime, the 2 oranges and the cinnamon stick. When it begins to boil, remove the saucepan from the heat and add the beaten eggs with sugar.
5. Mix well and put the saucepan back on the fire, incorporating the milk with the cornstarch and removing the skins and the cinnamon stick. Without stopping stirring at any time and over medium heat, we cook the cream as it thickens. When it returns to a boil, remove from the heat and continue stirring for a few more minutes until there is a smooth and smooth cream.
6. Pour the pastry cream into a wide bowl and stir periodically until it has cooled. It is important to remove the cream from time to time so that it does not form a hard crust on the surface as it cools. Pouring it into a wide fountain will help us in the cooling process. When the cream is completely cold we cover it with plastic wrap so that it is in direct contact with the cream and we keep it in the fridge until it is time to use it. It is very good to prepare it the day before so you have time to cool down well.

1. We prepare the raspberry coulis. We put all the ingredients together in a saucepan over low heat for 10 minutes.
   We go through the turmix and then through the Chinese. We reserve and heat just before serving our pancakes.
2. To prepare the puff pastry we use 2 plates. With the oven previously heated to 180º C we extend the sheets of puff pastry (without removing the paper that we will leave as the base of the baking tray) and smooth it a little with the rolling pin.
3. We make some cuts or lines horizontally and vertically so that we have squares, homogeneous rectangles, or as they do in Donosti, round, although I have chosen squares to make the most of the puff pastry. Remember that I am going to assemble this dessert just before serving, at the end of the meal. Also in this way when they harden, we will prevent them from breaking when cutting them.
4. Sprinkle with icing sugar and paint the puff pastry with the yolks (which we have previously beaten with a fork). We introduce in the oven, with heat up and down at 180 ° C for 35 minutes. Let them cook until golden.
5. When the puff pastries are ready, we take them out of the oven and let them cool down. It is important to fill the puff pastry when the cream is already cold, since if you work with the hot cream, the puff pastry falls apart and the dessert does not work well.
6. For my 1st panchinetas, I will use 10 base puffs and another 10 to cover. We place the 10 bases and carefully press our pastry bag to cover them with the citrus pastry cream. If you do not have a pastry bag, you will be served a simple plastic bag to which we will cut the tip. Once ready, we cover it and continue until filling the 10 panchinetas.
7. We put a little raspberry coulis, better warm. Panchineta in the middle and sprinkle with icing sugar. If you like the traditional way with the nuts, you will have to add them to the puff pastry lids while we bake them.

In an easy and fast way we can enjoy a great panchineta. The combination of puff pastry and pastry cream that brings together this recipe for panchineta or pantxineta is exquisite. It is a dessert that I am sure you will repeat, delicious.

Be sure to enjoy all these traditional sweets that we have in our dessert recipes   and in the special Christmas recipes , I assure you that you will find a lot of ideas to make yours much happier.