Best Pastry Phyllo Nests Recipes

PHYLLO NESTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush a 12-cup muffin tin with butter. Pull phyllo into 1-inch-thick bundles; cut bundles into 2-inch lengths. Place in a bowl; separate into a loose pile with fingers. Toss with butter, sugar, and cinnamon, if using.
• Divide among 12 muffin cups; press into bottom and up sides. Cook until golden and crisp around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool; fill with jelly beans.

HOMEMADE PHYLLO (OR FILO) DOUGH

Steps:

• Place 2 cups flour in a mixing bowl; make a well in the center. Drizzle in olive oil and add salt; add white wine vinegar and warm water. Mix until dough just comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, 1 or 2 minutes. Transfer dough ball to a lightly floured work surface.
• Knead until dough is smooth, using just enough flour to keep it from sticking to the work surface or your hands, 2 or 3 minutes. Continue to knead until dough is supple and elastic, about 5 more minutes. Wrap dough ball in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature, 1 to 2 hours.
• Divide dough into 20 (20 gram) portions using a kitchen scale; roll each portion into a ball. Place on plate and cover with plastic wrap to prevent dough balls from drying out while you begin to roll them out. Work in batches of 5.
• Mix cornstarch and 2 tablespoons flour together in a bowl. Dust a work surface and the first dough ball with the cornstarch mixture. Flatten out the dough ball and roll out into a circle, about 5 inches in diameter. Dust again with cornstarch mixture. Set circle to one side. Roll out 4 more dough balls to about the same diameter and stack them on the first one, dusting each layer with more of the cornstarch mixture to keep them from sticking together.
• When you have 5 circles, roll out the stack to a larger circle about double in size, turning as you go to maintain a round shape. Separate each layer and lay out the circles. Re-apply more cornstarch mixture where needed and restack them. Roll again until the 5-layer stack is paper thin, about 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Place on a sheet of parchment paper; top with another piece of parchment. Gently roll up the dough; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate.
• Repeat with the remaining 15 balls of dough in batches of 5.

BERRY & YOGURT PHYLLO NESTS

Steps:

• Place one sheet of phyllo dough on a work surface; spritz with butter-flavored spray. Top with a another sheet of phyllo; spritz with spray. Cut into six squares. (Keep remaining phyllo covered with plastic wrap to avoid drying out.) Repeat with remaining phyllo., Stack three squares of layered phyllo in each of six muffin cups coated with cooking spray, rotating squares so corners do not overlap. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon sugar into each cup. Spritz with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack., Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk the yogurt, orange zest and juice, and remaining sugar. Spoon yogurt mixture into cups; top with berries. Garnish with mint if desired.

PISTACHIO BIRD'S NESTS

Steps:

• Lemon syrup: Combine the sugar, water, lemon juice, and zest in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat to dissolve the sugar. Lower the heat to medium and keep at a low boil until thickened, 15 minutes.
• Clarify butter: In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and bring to a simmer, 5-7 minutes. Once the white foam begins to form on the top, skim it off with a small ladle or spoon and discard. Continue to skim off the milk solids until the butter is clear. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Nests: Before assembling the nests, set up your work area. Lay the phyllo sheets on the work surface and cover with a dry towel or a sheet of parchment (to prevent drying). Place a sheet of parchment paper in front of you to work on, and have a baking sheet nearby. Place one sheet of phyllo on the parchment paper with the shorter side facing you. Lightly brush clarified butter across the top, in the center, and across the bottom. Fold the edge of the phyllo closest to you up to within 1 inch of the top edge. Place the wooden dowel on the bottom folded edge, with the end of the dowel meeting the left edge of the phyllo, and begin to loosely roll the phyllo around the dowel, stopping when you reach the inch of extra dough. Lift the dowel and gently push the phyllo to the left end, scrunching the dough together. Slide it off the dowel, and gently shape it into a circle, with the reserved inch of phyllo serving as the center of the nest. Place nest on the baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining sheets of phyllo. Bake until lightly golden, 15 minutes.
• Assembly: Remove from the oven and fill the centers of each nest with about 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios. Use a small measuring cup or ladle to soak each nest with 3 tablespoons of lemon syrup. Set aside to cool on the baking sheet. Once cool, use a spatula to remove the nests from the pan. Serve at room temperature with some of the extra syrup from the baking sheet.

PASTRY PHYLLO NESTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Lay a sheet of phyllo dough out flat. Pick it up from the center as if it were a handkerchief. Continue with remaining 3 sheets. Set it down on a baking pan and twist and flatten the center down to create a free form "nest" of phyllo. Brush with butter and bake for 20 minutes or until crackling crisp and golden. Serve one per person and top with fruit, whipped cream or ice cream or drizzle with honey and scatter with chopped pistachios, almonds or walnuts.

PHYLLO NESTS WITH STRAWBERRIES AND HONEY

Steps:

• Without unrolling phyllo log, cut 2 (3/8-inch-thick) slices crosswise from one end of log and thaw slices 5 minutes. (Save remaining frozen phyllo for another use.)
• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Lightly brush a baking sheet with some of melted butter.
• Carefully unfurl slices from phyllo rolls on a work surface, discarding any plastic or paper rolled within. Gently separate strands, keeping them parallel, then gather into 4 groups, about 14 strands each. Cover 3 groups with plastic wrap. Gently hold one end of remaining (uncovered) group of strands and brush with some of melted butter, then dust with 1/2 teaspoon confectioners sugar using a fine-mesh sieve. Flip over and brush other side with butter and dust with confectioners sugar in same manner. Loosely coil up coated strands to form a small nest and put on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining clusters to form 3 more nests.
• Bake nests in middle of oven until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Cool nests on sheet on a rack, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Beat cream with granulated sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until it just holds soft peaks. Drizzle each phyllo nest all over with 1/4 teaspoon honey and put 1 tablespoon whipped cream in center. Top with strawberries and remaining cream, then drizzle each dessert with 1/4 teaspoon more honey.