Valentine’s Treats

|

valentine-heart-tarts-button-2-398x600

 

31 Days of Love

Today on the 31 Days of Love  series we have Jen from Kitchen Counter Chronicles sharing some delicious and sweet looking Valentine Heart Tarts! What a perfectly yummy Valentines Treat to make with the kids!

Hello there Red Ted Art readers! I’m Jen from Kitchen Counter Chronicles. My blog is all about crafting, cooking and fun kid activities…anything that lands on our kitchen counter. You will also find the girls and I outside getting our hands dirty, exploring and learning outdoors. Today, I am so excited to be here sharing a simple Valentine baked good with all of you.

We love getting into the kitchen and baking Valentine’s Day treats for our friends and family. There is something extra special about homemade sweet treats. I recently discovered the joys of baking with ready made puff pastry. Puff pastry is very versatile, simple to use and delicious…perfect for baking with kids. My daughter and I had a lovely time baking these Valentine heart tarts.

valentine-heart-tarts-button-1-464x600

Valentine Heart Tarts

  • 1 package of puff pastry, defrosted (2 sheets)
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 apple, diced
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1/2 cup strawberry jam
  • 1/4 cup icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C)

Valentines Hearts Tarts Method

For the tart toppers. Roll out half a package of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. In Canada, a package of puff pastry contains 2 sheets of pastry. Use one sheet for these toppers. Cut out 24 small hearts with a small cookie cutter (about 2.5cm wide).

valentine-tart-child-cutting

Place hearts on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Use a pastry brush, or your finger tip, to spread milk onto each heart. Sprinkle each heart with a pinch of granulated sugar.

valentine-heart-tart-on-baking-sheet

Bake the heart toppers for 8-10 minutes, until golden brown. They will puff up so lovely and golden…the kids love to watch them grow as they bake. Place the baked hearts on a cooling rack.

valentine-heart-tart-toppers-baked

Prepare the apple filling. Add the diced apple, brown sugar, cinnamon and water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat until the apples are soft. Remove from the heat and set aside. We also used store bought strawberry jam for the filling in some of our tarts, it works just as well as the apple filling.

Prepare the tarts. Roll out the remaining puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. With a sharp knife cut the pastry into squares…8cm square for a mini-muffin pan and 10cm squares for a regular muffin pan. Press the squares into the muffin pan. Poke the tines of a fork into the bottom of each tart.

valentine-heart-tart-baking

Scoop 1/2 tsp of apple filling (or strawberry jam) into each tart. Bake the tarts for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Place tarts on a cooling rack.

Assemble the tarts. Dip the heart toppers into the icing sugar and place one heart on top of each tart. Share and enjoy.

valentine-heart-tart-final

These Valentine heart tarts were a huge success. They are perfectly puffy with a little bit of sweetness. We will be baking up a batch for my daughter’s classroom Valentine’s Day party. If you like this post, you may also enjoy our “Give a Kiss, Get a Kiss” Valentine treat jar or our “Paper String of Hearts” post.

valentine-collage