Señoritas

I had every intention of making these señoritas with a traditional filling of natilla (vanilla custard) which I wrote down from my sister's 1966 copy of Nitza Villapol's recipe book, but I chickened out and took the easy route using a recipe from Three Guys from Miami

I was a little apprehensive about the flavor of the filling possibly being too overpowering, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well they turned out.

I've copied the Three Guys from Miami recipe here. My personal notes are in red.

Filling:

1 can condensed milk 
1 can evaporated milk 
1 can of water (use the evaporated milk can) 
3 egg yolks 
3 heaping tablespoons of cornstarch (combine this with the water until smooth) make sure you completely dissolve the corn starch in the water so there are NO lumps
2 tablespoons of powdered sugar for dusting the pastries

Add last: 
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of butter - softened to room temperature

1. Combine the first five ingredients in a medium pot.
2. Stir on low heat until mixture thickens to a pudding-like consistency. Stir with your right arm until it falls off, then continue with your left. This takes quite a while of continuous stirring, so go to the bathroom, send your text message, let out the dog, etc. before you start this.
   
3. Remove from heat, add vanilla and butter and beat with a wire whisk until smooth. Refrigerate until cool.

Pastry:

1 sheet from 1 package of Pepperidge Farm Frozen Puff Pastry Sheets

1/2 cup powdered sugar (approximate)

 

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. My oven is temperamental, I set it at 375F.
2. Unfold the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. I didn't flour my surface. Cut the pastry sheet into 3 strips along the fold marks. Place the pastry strips onto baking sheets. I sprayed my baking sheet with non stick cooking spray. Handle the pastry as little as possible!
3. Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown. Remove the pastry sheets from the baking sheets and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes. Split the three baked pastries into 2 layers, so that you have 6 layers in all. I cut them in half first then split them, (it's easier that way) so I had 12 layers in all.
4. Sprinkle some powdered sugar to cover all of the layers. (I missed this step. I don't think it hurt any.) Assemble the señorita by spreading approximately 3/4 cup of the filling on the first layer. Top this layer with a second layer, again spreading the filling on top. Finally cover this layer with a third piece of pastry. I put the powdered sugar only on this top layer and I sprinkled a little cinnamon also.
5. REPEAT this process with the remaining three puff pastry layers. (When done you will have (four) large pastries, each with three layers.)

Refrigerate your pastries for a couple of hours before serving. 

Click here for a link to the Nitza Villapol recipe for natilla. It is in English and it is halved, but I compared it to the original book and it is correct.