Icky intestines bread

Photo by Heather Tullos.

Icky intestines bread is a Halloween-themed puff pastry originally conceived by Heather Tullos for her website, Sugar Dish Me. It tastes similar to a raspberry cheese danish.

It has a prep time of 10 minutes, a cook time of 25 minutes, and creates 10 servings.

Ingredients

To make these delicious October treats, you will need the following ingredients and supplies:

• 2 Square pans (either 8 x 8" or 9 x 9")
• Small saucepan
• Spoon
• Parchment paper
• 1 package frozen puff pastry, (2 sheets) thawed according to package instructions
• 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
• 10 oz unsweetened frozen raspberries
• 1 teaspoon pure almond extract
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Cooking instructions

1. Set your puff pastry packages out to thaw.
2. Preheat oven to 400°F.
3. Line your square pans with parchment paper.
4. Spread flour lightly over a surface and unfold your two sheets of puff pastry. Cut one into thirds using its folds as a guideline. You should now have 3 long rectangular pieces and one full sheet.
5. Beat together the cream cheese, almond extract, and 2 tablespoons of sugar until it has a fluffy consistency. Spread the cream cheese over each of the 4 puff pastry pieces, leaving approximately ¼ - ½" around their edges.
6. Place your frozen raspberries, ¼ cup of granulated sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch into a small saucepan. Heat over a medium flame, stirring occasionally. After about 5 minutes, your raspberries should cook down some and the sauce will thicken.
7. Once ready, spoon half your raspberry sauce over cream cheese on each pastry section. Spread out with a spoon.
8. Grabbing one corner of your largest pastry piece (the whole sheet), roll it up like a giant crescent roll. Carefully lift your filled pastry and place it seam-side down into a pan. Wind it into a intestinal shape.
9. Roll your remaining pastry pieces by folding up a long end and rolling them like jelly rolls. Wind these into a second intestinal shape and place in your second pan. Pinch the ends of each piece together so that they will form one continuous "small intestine". Don't worry if you have to leave a gap in the pan, they will bake together as they rise.
10. Beat together your egg with the tablespoon of water to create egg wash. Brush both of your pans with this egg wash then spoon all remaining raspberry filling into the folds and spaces between each pastry piece.
11. Place pastry pans into the oven and bake until their tops are a deep golden color. Suggested time is around 15 minutes for the smaller pieces and somewhat longer for the larger whole piece. Remove and let cool.