Heart Tarts

Valentine's Day is a week a way. How about a tart for your little sweethearts.

Heart Tarts

TARTS

Prepared pie crust (If you buy refrigerator pie crust you will need two sheets. Or if you use a recipe you need to use a recipe that makes a bottom and top crust. I used this recipe for mine.)

Jar of strawberry jam (I used Raspberry Jam)
1 egg whisked with 1 teaspoon water

FROSTING AND DECORATIONS

2 ½ cups powdered sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon softened butter
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
Red food coloring
Nonpareils or colored sugar

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400° and cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

On a floured surface, roll out the pie crust to a 1/8-inch thickness. Use a large heart-shaped cookie cutter (ours measures 4 inches wide) to make pairs of hearts, gathering the scraps and rerolling the dough as necessary.

For each tart, spread 2 teaspoons of strawberry jam on a heart, leaving a ½-inch margin on all sides. Brush the egg mixture around the edge before placing a second heart on top. Use the tines of a fork to seal the edges, then brush the tops with the egg mixture.

Bake the hearts on the prepared cookie sheet until their edges are just beginning to brown, about 15 minutes. Let them rest on the sheet a few minutes, then move them to a rack and let them cool completely.

Whisk the first four frosting ingredients in a medium bowl, adding more water a teaspoon at a time if needed to make a smooth, creamy frosting. Add a few drops of food coloring and mix until well blended. Spoon the frosting into a ziplock bag, snip off a corner, and squeeze it onto the tarts. Top them with nonpareils or colored sugar.

Makes 6 Tarts

Recipe adapted from Family Fun Magazine

Homemade Pop-Tarts

Since it is back to school time and what is the staple breakfast for youngsters across the Nation?, POP-TARTS! My husband and older daughter love pop-tarts! Me, not such a big fan. I actually prefer Toasters Strudel better and that was my choice of fast breakfasts when I was in school. But this homemade version I loved and maybe a little healthier than its counterpart. They also would be tasty with a glaze on top.

MmmmmmmmmMy favorite, made with my homemade raspberry jam, delish!

HOMEMADE POP-TARTS

Pastry
2 cups (8 ½ ounces) All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 quarter-pound sticks, 8 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pats
1 large egg
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) milk

Cinnamon Filling
1/2 cup (3 ¾ ounces) brown sugar
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, to taste
4 teaspoons All-Purpose Flour

1 large egg, to brush on pastry before filling

Make the dough: Whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the butter until the mixture holds together when you squeeze it, with pecan-sized lumps of butter still visible. Mix the egg and milk, and add it to the dough, mixing just until everything is cohesive.

Divide the dough in half; each half will weigh about 10 ounces (about 280g). Shape each half into a rough 3" x 5" rectangle, smoothing the edges. Roll out immediately; or wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for up to 2 days.

Make the filling: Whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, and flour.

Assemble the tarts: If the dough has been chilled, remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to soften and become workable, about 15 to 30 minutes. Place one piece on a lightly floured work surface, and roll it into a rectangle about 1/8" thick, large enough that you can trim it to an even 9" x 12". Laying a 9" x 13" pan atop the dough will give you an idea if you’ve rolled it large enough. Trim off the edges; place the scraps on a baking sheet, and set them aside, along with the 9" x 12" rectangle of dough.

Roll the second piece of dough just as you did the first. Press the edge of a ruler into the dough you’ve just rolled, to gently score it in thirds lengthwise and widthwise; you’ll see nine 3" x 4" rectangles.

Beat the egg, and brush it over the entire surface of the dough. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling into the center of each marked rectangle. Place the second sheet of dough atop the first, using your fingertips to press firmly around each pocket of jam, sealing the dough well on all sides. Press the tines of a fork all around the edge of the rectangle. Cut the dough evenly in between the filling mounds to make nine tarts. Press the cut edges with your fingers to seal, then press with a fork, to seal again.

Gently place the tarts on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Prick the top of each tart multiple times with a fork; you want to make sure steam can escape, or the tarts will become billowy pillows rather than flat toaster pastries. Refrigerate the tarts (they don’t need to be covered) for 30 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 350°F.

Sprinkle the dough trimmings with cinnamon-sugar; these have nothing to do with your toaster pastries, but it’s a shame to discard them, and they make a wonderful snack. While the tarts are chilling, bake these trimmings for 13 to 15 minutes, till they’re golden brown.

Remove the tarts form the fridge, and bake them for 25 to 35 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and allow them to cool on the pan.

Yield: 9 tarts.

Variation: Instead of brown sugar and cinnamon, fill the tarts with a tablespoonful of chocolate chips.

Or with jam filling: 3/4 cup (8 ounces) raspberry jam
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon cold water

To make the filling, mix the jam with the cornstarch/water in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, and simmer, stirring, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and set aside to cool. Use to fill the pastry tarts.

NOTE: The recipe for the fillings is for all 9 tarts, so cut in half or quarter if you want to make different kinds all at once.

Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour

Cherry Cream Cresents

Sorry I only have one okay picture. We had these delicious danishes for Christmas brunch and there was not a lot of time for a photo shoot with hungry relatives waiting. You will just have to take my word for it that these little babies are yummy, sometimes messy stuff tastes the best.

Cherry Cream Crescents

1 package cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners sugar

2 tubes (8 oz each) refrigerated crescent rolls

1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling

1 egg separated

In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and egg yolk. Separate dough into 16 triangles; place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Spread 1 tablespoon of cream cheese mixture near the edge of the short side of each triangle. Top with 1 tablespoon pie filling. Fold long point of triangle over filling and tuck under dough. Lightly beat egg white; brush over rolls. Bake at 350 degrees fro 15-20 min or until golden brown.

Pictures by Me

Adapted from Taste of Home (I think)