Christmas Countdown Day 10: 10 Lords a Leaping

If you thought Christmas Countdown Day 8 was bad, wait until you hear about Day 10: 10 Lords a Leaping. For today's Christmas Countdown dish I decided to go with....nothing. I simply couldn't think of anything. People had suggested using frog legs (which is really a rather good idea), but I really don't like frog legs at all. Alternatively, the idea of roasting rabbit had also been posed, but I also cannot stand eating rabbit meat. I had considered making La Galette des Rois, but I really didn't feel like eating it! Finally, I was all set to make popcorn (which I figured "leaps" around when it is popped...except that it really just pops) drizzled with white chocolate and peanut butter (to make a sort of golden - and thus royal - color), but then I got really weird looks from my family and decided not to waste food on what would surely be a doomed project.

Instead, I went to Stella's Bakery in Maryland and ate a delicious "Bougatsa." The first time I had this pastry was many years ago at their grand opening (or what I thought was their grand opening because they gave these out for free) and ever since then I have always dreamed of having this pastry again. It's a rather simple pastry - puff pastry with a filling made of cream custard, cinnamon, and topped with powdered sugar - but it's just so good! It's kind of like eating a Portuguese egg tart...but not. And when warm and eaten alongside a cup of coffee, it's perfect!

And then I thought about it (a lot) and realized - this pastry kind of captures the elements of what I wanted to create in my 10 Lords a Leaping dish! Like a Galette des Rois, the pastry was made with puff pastry...and like the golden popcorn, the custard filling of this pastry was golden!

Okay, I know this is a giant stretch, but what can I say - I really had nothing else to use!