115 pastry cream recipes

Kolacky cookies made with a tender cream cheese pastry dough filled with fruit spread, pinched into tri-cornered shapes, and baked golden. A Czech holiday cookie tradition.

Layered pumpkin walnut pie hides a buttery brown-sugar walnut praline beneath a creamy, cream-cheese-rich pumpkin custard in a shortbread crust, crowned with baked pastry leaves. A Thanksgiving showpiece.

Masterclass frozen raspberry souffle layered with crisp almond meringue discs and Italian meringue mousse with whipped cream, served with raspberry puree. A pastry chef's showpiece.

Shortcut bear claw pastries using refrigerated biscuit dough stuffed with cream cheese, orange marmalade, and raisins. Sliced almonds and sugar top each claw for a bakery-style breakfast treat.

Miniature cream cheese tassies filled with apricot fruit filling, nuts, and vanilla in a buttery pastry cup. Bite-sized holiday cookies baked in mini muffin tins.

Golden amaranth shortcake made with amaranth flour, whole wheat pastry flour, tahini, and almonds, topped with crushed pineapple and a blended tofu cream. Dairy-free and honey-sweetened.

Traditional Yorkshire bilberry pie from Haworth with wild bilberries mixed into baked apple pulp, wrapped in pastry and baked until golden. Served with cream.

Russian pastries (pirozhki) with a tender cream cheese dough wrapped around savory ground beef, sour cream, dill, and chopped egg. Make-ahead friendly and freezer-stable for up to a month.

Rugelach four ways: a single cream cheese pastry dough turned into raspberry-almond crescents, layered chocolate-pecan squares, apricot pockets and honey-pecan triangles. Holiday cookie tray showstopper.

Italian fig and raspberry crostata with almond cream filling on a buttery sweet pastry crust. Fresh figs, scattered berries, and a dusting of powdered sugar make this tart stunning.

The colors the fruits used in the cookies suggest those of the robes worn by the four ordres mendiants, monastic orders that originally lived on charity -- the Augustinians, Carmelites, Dominicans and Franciscans.

Celebration rugelach stacks three tiers of cream cheese pastry filled with walnuts, golden raisins, cinnamon, and raspberry preserves into a stunning Hanukkah or holiday centerpiece.

Butter horn pastries with orange marmalade filling, made from a tender yeast dough with cream. Shaped into crescents and baked to a delicate golden brown.

Pineapple-apricot empanaditas: flaky cream cheese pastry folded around a fresh pineapple-apricot jam spiked with Triple Sec, baked golden and sugar-dusted. Sweet little hand pies for any party.

Mother's Christmas cheese cakes: cream cheese pastry tartlets with two fillings, one pecan-brown sugar and one coconut-vanilla. A classic holiday cookie tin stalwart.

Cherry pinwheel slices with a flaky sour cream pastry rolled around cherry pie filling, coconut, and pecans, dusted with powdered sugar. An elegant holiday cookie.