Copycat Strawberry Shortcake Flakies

A deliciously creamy and sweet frosting is layered between a flaky and crispy puff pastry with strawberry shortcake crumbs and homemade strawberry jam. Copycat Strawberry Shortcake Flakies just might be better than the original store-bought version! Give them a try!

Back on Monday, I shared my recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs. And, I told you about my childhood obsession with those shortcake crumb-coated ice cream bars. Well, I used to be obsessed with Vachon Passion Flakies as well. They are a Canadian product, so readers outside Canada might not be familiar with them. But, that’s okay! You can get the next best thing right here, because today, I’m sharing my Copycat Strawberry Shortcake Flakies!

Anyone who knows anything about pastry or cake-style snacks might be familiar with flakies. I remember when I was a kid, I would open the package and very carefully and delicately separate the top layer of the puff pastry crust from the bottom. I would eat the top layer first because all of the cream and fruit filling was always on the bottom layer. That meant that the bottom would have less pastry-to-filling ratio, and in my mind, that was the best way to enjoy them!

I have to give credit where credit is due on this one. My cousin, Loretta, made flakies a while ago and posted a picture of them on Facebook. When I was thinking about ways to showcase uses for my Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs, I remembered her flakies. She’s a great source for recipes and I reach out to her quite often. She texted me a picture of her recipe card, and I based the cream filling on that. I did make two changes. Loretta’s version used a packet of Dream Whip, but I used whipping cream instead. And, because Dream Whip has a vanilla scent and flavour, I added a bit of vanilla bean paste to the whipped cream.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

You might have guessed by now that you need a batch of Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs. I shared that recipe on Monday, and you can find it here. Go ahead, and click on the link. It will open and new page so you won’t lose this one. The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

To Make the Crumbs:

• Vanilla Pudding – Just a plain box of the powdered mix is all you need. There’s no need to mix it according to the instructions on the package.
• Strawberry Jello – Again, this is just the powder. You will use the powder as it is – no need to mix it and let it set.
• Flour – Regular all-purpose flour is good.
• Butter – I used salted butter to offset some of the sweetness. Unsalted butter is certainly okay too.
• Golden Oreos – These are vanilla-flavoured Oreos. You’ll use one full package of Golden Oreos.

For the Filling:

• Cream Cheese – When baking with cream cheese it is always best to use brick style rather than whipped or cream cheese in a tub.  The brick style is firmer and more condensed.  Cream cheese adds texture and flavour to baked items.
• Confectioner’s Sugar – This superfine sugar is sometimes called powdered sugar.  It is used in frostings quite often.  In this recipe, it will add sweetness to the cream filling.
• Cream – Do not be tempted to use half and half or a lighter cream. You must use 35% whipping cream or a full-fat, heavy cream at 38%.
• Sour Cream – The cream filling in the original Passion Flakie has some tartness to it. The sour cream will provide that in the homemade version.
• Vanilla Bean Paste – This has a strong vanilla flavour and has vanilla beans in it. It’s a more economical way to get the little black flecks of vanilla beans into baked goods without buying expensive pods! You can use vanilla extract if you don’t have vanilla bean paste.
• Strawberry Jam – You can use store-bought or your own if you have any. I used homemade jam because I always can my own strawberry jam in June and July to stock our canning pantry with.

For the Puff Pastry:

• Frozen Store-Bought Puff Pastry – It is easier than homemade puff pastry and it works well. Please read the section below for more information on how to prepare the puff pastry.
• Egg – The egg is whisked and brushed onto the pastry before baking. It will give the pastry a nice golden brown colour.
• Sanding Sugar – The original flakies have sanding sugar on the top of the flakie, so I’m using it in my homemade version too. It is optional.

WHAT IS PUFF PASTRY?

So, let’s talk puff pastry. First of all, let me just go on record and state that I have never, and probably will never, attempt to make puff pastry from scratch at home. It’s a skill that takes time to master and I have not yet mastered a simple pie crust, so I’m not about to attempt puff pastry.

Puff pastry is a light, flaky, and buttery dough. It is thin layers of dough separated by a thin layer of butter. The dough is rolled out with a rolling pin and a layer of butter is smeared on top. Then, it’s folded over and rolled out again. This process is repeated over and over. Commonly, puff pastry can have up to 1,000 layers! Do you see why I’m not attempting to make it from scratch?

Once the puff pastry is baked, the butter melts to create steam. This is how those flaky layers are formed. Each layer of dough is separated from the next to create a puffed dough that’s golden brown and super delicate. You can buy puff pastry in the frozen section of most grocery stores. Look in the pie crust and cool whip section of the freezer. You can use puff pastry for so many things, so you might want to buy extra and keep it in your freezer. Whatever you do, please follow the directions on the package very carefully. Each manufacturer seems to have different prep and baking times.

PLAN AHEAD FOR THE BEST RESULTS!!

Puff pastry is sold in sheets. You will need to defrost overnight in your fridge. If you attempt to defrost them at room temperature, they might become too sticky to work with. Plan ahead for this recipe, Dear Reader, to avoid wasting your puff pastry. Usually, when I bring home store-bought puff pastry, I leave it in the fridge and use it the next day. That way, I don’t have to worry about remembering to remove it from the freezer.

SANDING VS GRANULATED SUGAR

I use coarse sanding sugar quite often in my recipes, and I hope it hasn’t been too difficult for you to find. Sanding sugar is sometimes referred to as baking sugar, and there are some substitutes. You can use other sugars – which are basically the same, but named something differently – there’s pearl sugar and coarse sugar. You cannot, however, use granulated sugar. Let me explain why.

Whereas an individual granule of sanding sugar is large and hard, a single granule of granulated sugar is quite small. Sanding sugar will hold up to the heat in your oven without melting; granulated sugar will not. If you cannot find sanding sugar, then I’m afraid this recipe is not for you.

You can find sanding sugar online, but it’s expensive in comparison to what you can find at a baking supply store. I buy most of my sanding sugar at Bulk Barn. They have just about every colour you will need!

HOW TO MAKE COPYCAT STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE FLAKIES

This is an easy recipe that mostly involves assembly. I like to bake the puff pastry first and let it cool completely before assembling it. So, following the instructions on your package for frozen puff pastry, let’s bake those off. I’ll assume that you have read the package instructions and that you have thawed the pastry accordingly.

1. Baking the Puff Pastry

Start by preheating your oven. The pastry I used recommended 400 degrees F. Place a sheet of parchment paper onto a baking sheet and set it aside. Gently unroll the puff pastry. Do this slowly to avoid cracking or tearing the dough.

Using a sharp knife, cut the pastry into nine squares. Most frozen puff pastry is sold in large squares, so it is easy to make two cuts horizontally and two cuts vertically to make nine even squares. And, they don’t need to be perfect! Transfer the squares to the prepared baking sheet, leaving about two inches of space between each one. Whisk the egg and using a pastry brush, lightly brush the top of each square. Once done, sprinkle over the sanding sugar if you’re using it.

Bake the puff pastry according to the instructions on the package. Once done, remove from the oven and carefully lift them off the baking sheet and transfer them to a wire cooling rack. Puff pastry is very delicate, so using a flipping or turning utensil works well here. All them to cool completely. In the meantime, you can prepare the cream filling.

2. Making the Cream Filling

Add the softened cream cheese to a mixing bowl and beat until very smooth. We do not want any lumps left in the cream cheese. Next, add the whipping cream and the vanilla bean paste. If you are using extract instead of paste, add it here now. Beat the whipping cream and vanilla into the cream cheese until well incorporated. Now, add the sour cream and beat the mixture once again.

When it comes to adding the confectioner’s sugar, you can add more or less, depending on how sweet you would like it to be. Start with half a cup. Beat it into the cream cheese mixture and taste it to see if you are satisfied with the sweetness. If you want it sweeter, add another half cup and beat again. I used only half a cup because the Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs and the strawberry jam are both sweet as well, so I left the cream filling on the tart side to balance it out.

Once you’re happy with the taste of the cream filling, you can either cover it well and refrigerate it until you’re ready to fill the puff pastries, or you can fill the pastries now if they are completely cooled. Puff pastry does cool down quickly.

3. Assembling the Flakies

Start by halving the flakies. Using a sharp knife, gently stand the flakie on its end and carefully slice down the middle, cutting the top half of the flakie from the bottom. Do this with each of the nine squares. You can now spread the cream filling onto the bottom layer of the pastry. Because the pastry is delicate, and because I wanted peaked cream filling, I transferred the filling to a piping bag and piped big rosettes onto the bottom layer. If you don’t have a piping bag and tip, you can transfer the cream to a Ziploc bag and cut off the tip. Use the bag to squeeze the cream out in small dollops.

Next, spoon a tablespoon of strawberry jam onto the center of the bottom layer. The cream filling will prevent the jam from sinking into the pastry, therefore preventing it from getting soggy. Next, top each pastry with a generous tablespoon of the Strawberry Shortcake Crumbs. Gently place the top layer of the puff pastry on and you’re all done!

STORING

My cousin’s recipe card stated that flakies are best eaten the same day you make them. She was right. We had one each for dessert on the day I made them and they were deliciously fresh. But, this recipe makes nine flakies and there’s just the two of us. I carefully transferred the remaining seven to a cake stand with a cover and kept them refrigerated.

On the second night, we once again had a flakie for dessert and they were still very delicious. Although, the pastry wasn’t quite as flakey, it also wasn’t soggy at all. On the third night, we had another flakie. (They’re just too good to share, Dear Reader. We kept these all to ourselves!) Again, they were still really delicious, but there wasn’t any flakiness left to the pastry. But, still, they were not soggy!

Now, I can’t speak for the remaining three flakies, because there are none left. John.e did admit to eating one for breakfast, but he has not confessed to the other two. I know I didn’t eat them. And, the last time I checked, the cats couldn’t get the fridge door open. Hmm… any thoughts?