Tart pastry cases

This is less of a recipe, and more assembly instructions. I have not (yet) been brave enough to try making my own pâte feuilletée, or puff pastry. It’s an intimidating process of several hours. Fortunately, frozen puff pastry is widely available!

Make up some dessert cream, then bake these tart cases to fill with it! And even little kids can do the assembly.

Modified from original directions in From the Hearth. Makes about 12 tart cases.

Ingredients

200 grams frozen puff pastry, thawed
1-2 tbsp milk
1 egg yolk

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450F. 

Roll out puff pastry to 1/8" thickness. 

Cut 24 two-inch rounds. For half of the rounds (12), cut the centre out with a smaller cutter (1"). (Either keep the centres to bake as little lids, or knead them together, re-roll them out, and cut more tart shells from them). 

Brush the plain rounds with cold water and press the cut-out rounds on top. 

Brush the tops with either milk or a milk/egg yolk mixture. 

Bake for 10-15 minutes at 450F, or until delicately brown. 

The only thing challenging thing in terms of timing is to remember take the puff pastry out of the freezer well in advance. Check the package about exact length of time to thaw and whether you should thaw in the fridge or at room temperature.

I was skeptical when I rolled this pastry out paper thin. This surely wouldn’t result in usable tarts?! But this pastry lives up to its name – it puffed up beautifully.

My kid very much enjoyed putting together his own tart, with dessert cream and a few pieces of candied peel on top.

The Verdict

As long as you are using the pre-made puff pastry, these are very easy and look quite impressive!

What would you put in these tarts? Sweet or savoury nibbles? Let us know in the comments!