Ananastoertchen (German Pineapple Pastries)

When I lived in Germany, the local bakery sometimes would make these yummy little pastries. I was so happy to find a recipe for them in Schoener Essen,a German cooking magazine. However, when I made the original version,the dough was not quite the same,even though the filling was perfect. By chance, I happened to make Sharon 123's Peachy Cheese Danish Peachy Cheese Danish,and the dough tasted just right. So,this recipe combines the very easy cooking method for the dough from Sharon's recipe and my adaptation of the original German filling. Baby pineapples are very common in Germany, but you can also use regular fresh pineapple if that is all that is available-you just might need to cut the rings into smaller pieces in order to make them fit on the pastries. Also, if you can't find pineapple preserves, try peach or apricot. Quark is a German cottage cheese with the consistency of ricotta.Ricotta is a bit saltier and not exactly the same taste, but works out fine in this recipe if quark is unavailable. Best served warm.

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 4 (8 ounce) cans  refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
• 1⁄3 cup  finely chopped candied ginger
• 1  lime, juice and zest of
• 1 1⁄2 cups low-fat Quark cheese or 1 1⁄2 cups  mild ricotta cheese
• 3  medium  egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1⁄3 cup powdered sugar, plus
•  extra powdered sugar, for dusting
• 1  baby pineapples, cored, cut into rings or chunks (about 1/2 pound)
• 1⁄4-1⁄2 cup  pineapple preserves or 1⁄4-1⁄2 cup  apricot preserves

Directions

1. Filling: Mix all of the lime zest, just 2 Tbsp of the lime juice, the quark,the egg yolks,ginger,and 1/3 cup of the powdered sugar together well.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper - prepare a large working space.
3. Working with 1 can of dough at a time, separate each can of dough into 4 rectangles each, sealing the perforations.
4. Once you have 16 rectangles (four from each can), on a lightly floured surface, roll out each dough piece(one at a time) into a 7" x 3 1/2" rectangle
5. Working at one piece at a time,roll up the long end of the dough into a tube; then holding one end, coil the tube into a spiral.
6. Place each spiral onto the prepared baking sheets until you have 16 coils total, 8 on each sheet.
7. Press each coil with your fingers to flatten them slightly and leaving a slight indentation in the centers.
8. Fill the craters with the quark mixture evenly.
9. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 F in the center of the oven for 15-18 minutes - check early so they don't burn;Let cool slightly.
10. Meanwhile, heat jam and remaining 2 Tbsp of lime juice in a small pan on low heat until melted, then add the pineapple slices and briefly cook until they take on a glazed appearance;remove from heat.
11. Once the baked pastries to lukewarm, place one glazed pineapple ring on top of each (or several smaller chunks decoratively).
12. Dust with additional powdered sugar and serve warm.
13. Keep leftovers chilled.