As Pittsburgh natives, my family and I are diehard Pittsburgh Panther sports fans. This year, our team excelled in football to become the 2021 ACC Champions and earn a trip to the Peach Bowl! As a festive snack and dessert while we cheer on our panthers, we developed a fun twist on a classic pastry, the bear claw. These Blueberry Lemon Panther Claws are filled with sweet and tangy lemon curd, then drizzled with blueberry sauce and cream cheese icing for an irresistible bite. I took the shortcut of using frozen puff pastry, but if you wanted to make these panther claws even easier and faster, you could find good lemon curd, blueberry sauce, and cream cheese icing at the store. All you’d need to do is assemble and bake! These are so light, flaky, and delicious, I promise you’ll enjoy making and eating these, no matter what team you cheer for.
Although I love making homemade lemon curd, blueberry sauce, and cream cheese icing for these, if you are short on time or space, you can find all of these ingredients at the store for a perfect shortcut.
Blueberry and lemon are a match made in heaven, so it was only right that I used those flavors for the blue and gold of the Pitt Panthers. But I won’t judge if you use these to match your own team’s colors (UCLA, WVU, Michigan, etc…).
Looking for other gameday recipes? Try these:
Maple Honey Mustard Smoked Chicken Wings
Even if you have no interest in football at all, I can guarantee you’ll feel like cheering when you taste these sweet treats. I love how easy they are to assemble, and despite such a short baking time, they taste like they took all day to make.
Whether you make these 100% from scratch or take some shortcuts, there will be something to please everyone in this fun pastry. Flaky dough, creamy icing, sweet berries, and tangy lemon leave little to be desired. The only thing that would make these Panther Claws even sweeter is a Panther win. Hail to Pitt!
I hope you love these Blueberry Lemon Panther Claws as much as I do! If you make this recipe, leave a comment and let me know what you thought or feel free to ask a question! I’d also love to see what you made! Tag me in your food pictures @fortheperfectbite or use #fortheperfectbite on Instagram.
Blueberry Lemon Panther Claws
Ingredients
Lemon Curd (or Storebought)
- 4 large egg yolks
- ⅔ tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 lemons
- 6 tbsp salted butter softened
Blueberry Sauce (or Storebought)
- 1 ½ cup fresh blueberries
- ⅓ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 tbsp heavy cream
Cream Cheese Icing (or Storebought)
- 6 oz. cream cheese softened
- 2 tbsp salted butter softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 drops yellow food dye
Panther Claws
- lemon curd
- blueberry sauce
- cream cheese icing
- 2 packages frozen puff pastry
- 1 large egg
Instructions
Lemon Curd
- Prepare a double boiler. If you don't have one, you can place a metal bowl over a saucepan with 2 inches of simmering water.
- In the metal bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar, zest from one lemon, and ⅓ cup lemon juice. Whisk to combine.
- Place the bowl over the simmering water. Whisk constantly while the mixture cooks to prevent the eggs from cooking too quickly. Whisk and cook the mixture until it thickens to the texture of hollandaise sauce (a bit thicker than heavy cream). This should take about 7-10 minutes.
- When the mixture is thickened, remove it from the heat and whisk in the butter (the heat from the mixture will melt it).Allow to cool.
Blueberry Sauce
- Combine the blueberries, sugar, and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until the berries are fully softened, about 10 minutes.
- Blend the sauce using an immersion blender or in a traditional blender until smooth. Stir in the heavy cream.
Cream Cheese Icing
- Mix the softened cream cheese and butter until smooth. Whisk in the powdered sugar and vanilla until well combined.
- Divide the icing into two parts. To one half, stir in the yellow dye.
Panther Claws
- Allow your frozen puff pastry to thaw at room temperature (about 40 minutes).Whisk together the egg with 1 tbsp water.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Slice the puff pastry into squares, about 5 inches by 5 inches.
- To the center of each puff pastry square, add 1 tablespoon lemon curd.Brush the edges of the square with the beaten egg. Fold the square toward you, forming a rectangle. Press down firmly along the edges to seal in the lemon curd. On one folded edge, make a few slices to form the "toes."
- Place the folded panther claws onto baking sheets. Bake the claws for a total of 16 minutes, rotating the sheets after 8 minutes for even baking.
- When the panther claws are finished baking, allow them to cool slightly on the baking sheets (about 5 minutes). Transfer the yellow icing, white icing, and blueberry sauce into three separate sandwich bags. Snip a very small corner off of each bag, and pipe the sauce and icing onto the panther claws. If the icing is a little too thick, it can be thinned with a couple teaspoons of milk.
- Enjoy, and Hail to Pitt!
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