Summer Fruit Tarts

Talking about summer treats, this is one of our favorites. Easy to make and delicious to pieces! You can either make it as a big tart or individual ones. I chose to use a square biscuit cutter to make mine.


Ingredients:

- For the pastry:
2 sheets of puff pastry, thawed

- For the glaze:
1 large egg lightly beaten
1 Tbspn. milk

- For the Cream Filling:
1 cup mascarpone cheese or cream cheese
1 cup (120 ml) heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoon granulated white sugar
1 tspn. pure vanilla extract

- For garnish:
Any combination of berries (blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries) or other fruit such as slices of peaches, plums, bananas, cantaloupe, melon, or kiwi.
Mint leaves, chiffonade.
Powder sugar


Directions:

For the Pastry Tart: Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Roll out the puff pastry and smooth it out with a rolling pin. Using a biscuit cutter, cut 9 pieces and put them on the baking sheet . Using a sharp paring knife, score a 1/4-inch-wide border around each pastry square. Prick the pastry inside the score lines with the tines of a fork. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled (15 minutes or so)

In the meantime, make the glaze (egg and milk). With the help of a pastry brush, brush the little squares and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350º F and continue to bake the tart shells for a further 5 minutes, or until they are golden brown. Remove and place on a wire rack.

Once the shells are cooled, with the help of a sharp paring knife remove the top of the inside square. Set those aside, you'll use them at the end for decoration.

Cream Filling: In a large bowl, beat the mascarpone or cream cheese until fluffy and smooth. Add the heavy whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla and beat until soft peaks forms. At this point, you can start filling up your shells. You can use a pipe or spoon the filling into the shell. (I used a cookie scoop for mine).

Garnish: Decorate with the fresh berries or fruit of your choice and chiffonade mint. Cut the little square tops in half and add it to the final mini tart. Sprinkle some powder sugar.


Note: You can make the puff pastry shell several hours in advance but do not fill with the cream and fruit until shortly before serving.


Source: Recipe adapted from "Joy of Baking"