The other night I was cooking dinner and decided that the meal was good enough and I didn’t need to make a dessert. After dinner, however, my stomach yelled, “Hey, what’s for dessert??” You’ve heard that call too, I’m sure. So what do you make in a hurry before the moment passes?
You make a fresh strawberry tart!
I always keep store bought puff pastry in the freezer. One of these days I’ll make my own and it will be much better but til then it’s puff pastry that comes in a roll and lives in my freezer.
Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?
I could have used a shortcrust dough and made a freeform tart but frozen puff pastry takes only a few minutes to prepare. I cut the pastry into squarish rectangles and if I’d been worried about looking brilliant I would have cut a 2nd layer for the raised edge. For the two of us I just folded it over and used this little free range beauty to egg wash the tarts.
I egg washed them and placed them in the fridge for about 10 minutes. Not sure why but I always do.
After I took the tray out of the fridge I spread strawberry jam as the bottom layer.
Then I put a thin layer of ricotta cheese and placed strawberries that I’d cut in half on top of that and then a dot of ricotta on top and drizzled with caramelized balsamic vinegar.
When I was at my last cooking class I bought some pastry dough cutters like this one. I cut out the leaf and placed it on the baking sheet and sprinkled demerara sugar on top and baked them for about 8 minutes. I added them to the tops of the tarts just for a bit of decoration.
This tart would be great with any berry or fruit or combination. I think I’ll try it with stewed rhubarb and strawberry next time.
- Frozen puff pastry
- strawberry jam
- ricotta cheese
- fresh strawberries
- caramelized balsamic vinegar
- Preheat oven 200C - 400F
- Thaw pastry
- Cut strawberries in half
- Spread baking paper on a cooking tray and spray with oil
- Cut pastry into squares and either cut strips to make a raised outer layer or fold over the edge of the puff pastry
- Egg yolk wash
- Place tray in fridge for 10 minutes
- Spread strawberry jam on tarts
- Add a teaspoon or two of ricotta cheese over jam
- Add several cut strawberries on top of ricotta
- Add small drop of ricotta on top
- Drizzle with caramelized balsamic vinegar
- Bake for 15 minutes until pastry is golden and puffed