Prep Time 5 minutes Cook Time 25 minutes
I'm one of those people who loves everything about Valentine's Day (you may be saying, "blech" right now, but I do). Well, I'm not particularly fond of how commercial the holiday has become, but I do love all the hugs, kisses, homemade cards and, of course, sweet treats! While you can easily buy your Valentine a bag of sweet tarts with cute sayings printed on them, why not go to the store, buy fresh ingredients and then make something special with your kids instead? This year, Kenya, Chloe and I have decided to make Raspberry Cream Cheese Heart Tarts for daddy (I hope he doesn't read this post before the 14th) to show him just how much we love him. After all, isn't food the fastest way to a daddy's heart?
Putting a spin on Pop Tarts, one of my childhood favorites, I came up with the idea of these homemade Heart Tarts. Filled with fresh raspberries and a pink icing that's made with the juice from the raspberries instead of food coloring, if Pop Tarts had actually been made this way, my mom would have probably allowed me to eat them more often as a kid.
Kenya and I shot a little video of us making this recipe which I'm posting this Friday, but in case you can't wait that long, I've printed how to prepare them below. It's an unbelievably easy and deliciously fun way to share the love. Just wait till you try them -- I bet you won't be saying "blech" anymore!
by Catherine McCord, Weelicious.com
What you'll need
- 1 14 oz pre-made pie crust*
- 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup raspberries
- 1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
- 10 raspberries for icing or 2 tbsp juiced raspberries
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 tablespoon milk or water
- water
Notes:
* You can use prepared Pie Crusts too such as Pillsbury or your favorite brand ** To Freeze: place hearts on a cookie sheet and freeze for one hour. Remove hearts and place in a ziploc bag, label and freeze up to 3 months. When ready follow steps 7-11, adding an extra 3 minutes to the baking time.
How to make it
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Place the raspberries, cream cheese and honey in a bowl. Using the back of a fork, mash the raspberries with the cream cheese, leaving some pieces of raspberry intact.
- Roll the pie crust 1/4 inch thick and using a heart shaped cookie cutter (my heart cookie cutter is about the size of my fist), cut out hearts (or, if you are using packaged pie crust just unroll and cut out hearts).
- Place one heart on a lightly floured work surface and place 2 teaspoons of the cream cheese mixture in the very center, leaving a 1/4″ border around the cut-out.
- Lightly dip your index finger into a cup of water and “brush” the border with the water (this will allow the two sides of the heart to adhere to one another).
- Top with another heart and take the tines of a fork and gently press down along the edges to adhere (making sure the cream cheese mixture stays inside the heart pocket). With a toothpick, poke some holes in the top of the heart to remove any air pockets.**
- Place on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
- While the hearts are baking, take 10 raspberries, place in a strainer and press down with the back of a spoon to release raspberry juice into a bowl — should be about 2 tbsp of juice depending on how juicy the raspberries are.
- Whisk in the milk and slowly pour in the powdered sugar to make icing.
- When cool, take a spoon and spread the raspberry icing over the hearts.
- When cool, take a spoon and spread the raspberry icing over the hearts. Serve.
