Eleven items and forty minutes, most of it filling and sealing twenty wrappers.
The filling is soft — sweetened cream cheese with a dab of preserves. It is not a firm truffle centre, which is exactly why the sealing matters so much.
Why This Recipe Works
- Keeping the filling chilled makes it firm enough to portion neatly.
- Moistened edges pressed tightly give a seal that survives hot oil.
- Pressing the air out stops a parcel ballooning and splitting as it fries.
- One to two minutes a side blisters the wrapper before the filling boils.
- Tossing in cinnamon sugar while warm makes the coating stick.
Ingredient Notes
- Cream cheese with powdered sugar
- Eight ounces with a third of a cup. Kept chilled from the moment it is mixed — a soft filling is far harder to seal in.
- Thick strawberry preserves
- Half a cup, a small dab per wrapper. Thick rather than a sauce, so it stays put while the parcel is folded.
- Wonton wrappers
- Twenty. Their edges are moistened with water and pressed — that seal is the only thing between the filling and the oil.
- Whipped cream and strawberry sauce
- Half a cup of each, in separate bowls for dipping. Both are serving elements from the photograph rather than optional extras.
How to Make It
Cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla mixed and kept chilled
Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla; keep chilled.
A teaspoon of filling and a dab of preserves in each wrapper, sealed tightly
Place a teaspoon of cream-cheese filling and a small dab of strawberry preserves in each wonton wrapper; moisten edges with water and seal tightly, pressing out air.
Filled wontons refrigerated while the oil heats to 350°F
Keep filled wontons refrigerated while heating oil to 350°F.
Fried in small batches one to two minutes a side, drained well
Fry in small batches for 1 to 2 minutes per side until blistered and golden; drain well.
Tossed lightly in cinnamon sugar while warm
Toss lightly with cinnamon sugar while warm.
Served with bowls of whipped cream and strawberry sauce, and fresh berries
Serve with separate bowls of whipped cream and strawberry sauce and fresh strawberries alongside.
A Soft Filling, a Thin Wrapper, and 350°F Oil
Most fried things are solid enough that a leak is a nuisance. This one is a teaspoon of soft cream cheese inside a sheet of dough a fraction of a millimetre thick, going into oil hot enough to cause a serious burn. The seal is not a technique note here - it is the safety measure.
- The filling stays COLD from the moment it is mixed8 oz CREAM CHEESE with 1/3 cup POWDERED SUGAR and 1 tsp VANILLA, then KEPT CHILLED. Two reasons and both matter. Cold filling is firm enough to portion into a neat teaspoon that sits in the middle of a wrapper rather than spreading to its edges - and edges with filling on them will not seal. And it is a cold-hold item at 40°F OR BELOW regardless.
- A TEASPOON and a DAB - and no more1 teaspoon of the cream-cheese filling and A SMALL DAB of thick STRAWBERRY PRESERVES per wrapper. Overfilling is the most common cause of a burst parcel: the wrapper has to fold over and meet itself with a clean dry margin all the way round, and a generous spoonful leaves no margin at all.
- MOISTENED edges, SEALED TIGHTLY, AIR PRESSED OUTAll three, in that order. Water is what makes wonton dough weld to itself. Tightly means pressed along the whole seam rather than pinched at the corners. And PRESSING OUT AIR is the one most often skipped: trapped air expands violently at frying temperature and blows the parcel open from inside. Then the filled wontons go BACK IN THE FRIDGE while the oil heats.
Check before you continue
350°F, small batches - and every parcel fully sealed before it goes in — A frying thermometer and a deep pot
For safety, the risk is exactly this: SEAL WRAPPERS COMPLETELY TO PREVENT LEAKAGE INTO HOT OIL. A cream-cheese filling escaping into 350F oil is not just a lost wonton - it is water and dairy hitting hot fat, which spits hard. FRY NEAR 350°F and HANDLE SPLATTER CAREFULLY. Small batches keep the oil at temperature and keep the pot from being crowded, which is also what lets you see if one has opened. Check every parcel's seam before it goes anywhere near the pot.
- 1 to 2 minutes PER SIDE, to BLISTERED and GOLDENShort, because a wonton wrapper is thin and the filling only needs to warm through. Blistered is the look you want - the bubbled, uneven surface a thin wrapper takes in hot oil. DRAIN WELL afterwards.
- Cinnamon sugar WHILE WARM2 tbsp SUGAR with 1/2 tsp CINNAMON, tossed LIGHTLY while the wontons are still warm. Warm is what makes it stick; a cooled wonton sheds sugar. Lightly, because these already carry a sweet filling.
- Two bowls and fresh fruit alongsideSEPARATE BOWLS of WHIPPED CREAM and STRAWBERRY SAUCE, with WHOLE FRESH STRAWBERRIES. All three are part of the serving rather than optional extras, and the title names none of them.
Success Tips
- Press the air out as you seal; trapped air expands and splits the parcel.
- Do not overfill — a teaspoon and a dab is what a wrapper will close around.
- Keep the filled wontons cold right up until they go in the oil.
Serving Ideas
Twenty blistered golden wonton bites dusted with cinnamon sugar, each showing a thick white cream filling and glossy red strawberry sauce inside, with bowls of whipped cream and strawberry sauce and fresh strawberries alongside.
Frequently Asked Questions
How tightly do the wrappers need sealing?
Completely. Moisten the edges, press them firmly and push the air out. An unsealed parcel opens in the oil, which both ruins the wonton and causes serious splatter.
Is the filling a firm cheesecake?
No — it is soft cream cheese with powdered sugar and a dab of preserves. That softness is why the sealing and the chilling both matter.
Why keep the filled wontons in the fridge?
So the filling stays firm until the moment they fry, and because a cream-cheese filling is a cold item at 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below until it is cooked.
