Easy Strawberry Cream Puffs Made With Puff Pastry

January 31, 2024 by 2 Comments

cream puffs

Strawberry cream puffs are such a quick and easy dessert because in this version you use store-bought puff pastry. Strawberries are good to use because you can dice them up really small and then easily fold them into the heavy whipped cream and mascarpone.

ingredients for cream puffs

Valentine’s Day is near and this would be the perfect ending to a special dinner, it’s light and creamy and the strawberries really shine through.

cut pastry

Just cut your puff pastry into squares, you don’t even have to dock it because you want them to puff up.

baked pastry

Then all you have to do is slice them in half and you’ll have a top and a bottom created.

strawberry cream

With your filling prepared you’re ready to spoon or pipe it right onto the puffed up pastry sheet.

strawberry cream puffs

Your dessert is done, all you have to do is give them a good dusting of powdered sugar and enjoy!

Easy Strawberry Cream Puffs Made With Puff Pastry
 
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An easy creamy decadent dessert worthy for a special occasion like Valentine's Day.
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Ingredients
  • 1 sheet of puff pastry, thawed
  • sprinkling of turbinado sugar, optional
  • STRAWBERRY PASTRY CREAM
  • 1 cup of strawberries, diced small, extra for garnish
  • 8 oz. mascarpone cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
  • 1 teaspoon, vanilla
  • ½ cup powdered sugar, extra for dusting
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees and place some parchment on a baking sheet.
  2. Cut your puff pastry into squares, you can easily get 6 to eight slices depending on the size of your puff pastry sheet, no docking necessary.
  3. If using turbinado sugar press some onto the tops.
  4. Place into the oven for 10- 15 minutes til nice and golden, ovens do vary so check.
  5. Remove and let them cool down completely.
  6. When completely cooled you can slice them in half lengthwise.
  7. To make the strawberry cream, place the mascarpone into a deep medium bowl using a hand mixer to smooth it out, adding the vanilla and powdered sugar.
  8. Pour in the heavy cream and continue to mix well until mixture holds together well and is not runny.
  9. Fold the diced strawberries into the cream mixture being careful not to add juice if there is some.
  10. Pipe or spoon the mixture onto your pastry sheet bottoms, add a few extra sliced strawberries on top of the mixture if you want, put the lid on and sprinkle powdered sugar all over the top.
  11. Place on your serving plate with a couple whole fresh strawberries for garnish.

 

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Butternut Squash Ricotta Tart With Puff Pastry

September 29, 2023 by Leave a Comment

squash torte with ricotta

Butternut squash is hands down one of my favorite veggies. When fall comes around I get excited to see it popping up in all the markets. It’s so versatile and you can make so many different meals using it.

One way I like using it is in a savory tart like this one with a cheesy spinach and ricotta base, the flavors compliment each other so well which brings out the sweetness of the squash.

butternut squash

Now you don’t actually have to cut the squash like I did, you can just cube it up, but if you want to fancy it up a bit and give it a showstopper look, do what I did.

Cut the squash right above the seed section, peel the skin off and scoop out the seeds, now cut side down make thin slices. A little more time consuming but it does give it a pretty look.

squash tart

This time I used puff pastry but in the past I’ve used phyllo and even a piecrust as the crust foundation.

savory tart

I have to say store-bought puff pastry is really time saver, you just defrost and it’s ready to go, and it always turns out nice and crispy!

squash and ricotta

The ricotta mixture is flavored with garlic, grated fontina and pecorino cheese and a good handful of fresh chopped spinach.

savory tart with salad

Serve this with a salad of your choice and you have a great lunch, brunch, light dinner or meatless meal, it’s fantastic and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Butternut Squash Ricotta Tart With Puff Pastry
 
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A savory tart with butternut squash and creamy ricotta cheese, the perfect combination with crispy puff pastry as the foundation.
Author:
Ingredients
  • butternut squash, cut above the seeds, then peeled with seeds scooped out and sliced thin, or just cut in cubes
  • 1 sheet of store-bought puff pastry, defrosted according to directions
  • 2½ cups of ricotta, drained well
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 large garlic clove, crushed
  • ¾ cups of grated pecorino or parmesan, plus a little extra
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • olive oil
  • 1 cup of grated fontina cheese or grated mozzarella
  • 1 handful of chopped fresh spinach
  • a sprig of thyme for garnish
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat oven to 400.
  2. After you slice the squash, place on a parchment lined and olive oiled sheet pan, and also lightly drizzle some olive oil on top. Roast at 400 until just softened, not browned ,about 5 or 6 minutes. Check because ovens vary.Then cool down.
  3. Mix up the filling in one bowl, the ricotta, eggs, garlic, grated pecorino or parmesan, shredded fontina or mozzarella and chopped spinach. Mix well.
  4. On another sheet pan place parchment paper and the puff pastry sheet.
  5. Roll the puff pastry with a rolling pin til it takes. the shape of a rectangle and not a square.
  6. Lightly score a border around the entire edge using a paring knife, then prick the surface inside the border all over with a fork.
  7. Spread the ricotta mixture all over the inside surface but not the border.
  8. Arrange and layer the butternut squash on top of the ricotta mixture.
  9. Brush some olive oil on the border adding a little pepper and grated cheese.
  10. A finishing touch of grated cheese on top of the squash a pinch of salt and pepper and quick drizzle of olive oil all over, then add a few thyme leaves.
  11. Bake at 400 for around 25 to 30 minutes. Check your oven, the bottom of your puff pastry should be nice and crispy golden and the ricotta will be set.

 

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Last Minute, Holiday Appetizers

December 21, 2012 by 19 Comments
If your looking for a quick holiday appetizer to pull together on a moments notice have no fear, these bite size bundles are the perfect thing!
Providing you have a box or two of puff pastry tucked away in your freezer. You have some don’t you? If not you should!
Take it straight out of the freezer, lay it on your counter, in ten or fifteen minutes you’ll be able to separate the sheets. Then sprinkle a little flour on your counter and with a pizza cutter, cut the sheet into thirds, then each third into four slices, for a total of 12 per sheet, if you cut into the other sheet you’ll have a whopping 24 appetizers!
Now place each square into a mini muffin pan, I didn’t have to grease mine but it has been called to my attention that you might have to depending on the type of muffin tins you might have. My tins are not non stick but they are fairly new so maybe the butter in the pastry was just enough.
Now the fun begins, the fillings are endless! I had less than a cup of caramelized onions sitting in my fridge so I took a bowl and mixed the onions with gorgonzola cheese and toasted walnuts, that’s how I made mine here.
 Each puff pastry cup only requires a heaping tablespoon so you don’t need much filling at all.
Think, tomato, basil and goat cheese, roasted peppers and fontina, spinach, artichoke and feta, crabmeat and cream cheese, gouda and apple, roasted mushrooms with gruyere, Do you have a jar of fig jam or even chutney in your fridge? How about a little brie and fig? You get the picture, use what you have, it’s all good!
They take 20 minutes in a 375 oven, in the meantime open a cold bottle of wine, they’ll be done in no time!
I know this is a busy time for everyone, myself included, I’ve shopped, wrapped, planned my Christmas menu and baked my last cookie, with a little help from my granddaughter!
Puff Cookies, they’re tradition in my house! One bite brings back happy memories to me.
 Now if I could just stop at one bite, that would be a good thing!
But what I really wanted to do was to take this opportunity to thank you, all my readers, for the wonderful support you’ve given me, and to wish you all a very Happy Holiday filled with an over abundance of happiness, amazing food, surrounded by those you love!
xox

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19 Comments Filed Under: Appetizers, Party Foods, Winter Tagged: , , ,

Summer Bounty Zucchini Tart

August 11, 2012 by 23 Comments
Delicate zucchini blossoms and thin ribbons of squash pressed into cheesey flavored ricotta highlight this summer bounty tart and it’s nothing short of perfection!Zucchini blossoms need to be showcased and this is the perfect canvas.
Thanks to convenient store bought puff pastry, it makes everything look so elegant when laid upon it and it tastes out of this world.
Crunchy, flaky, buttery!
Even if it sticks together because you might have left it out of the fridge too long and you couldn’t unfold it like you wanted to, ( cough cough),  it still looks pretty and no one would even have a clue that you had a problem.Here’s how you make it.

RICOTTA MIXTURE
In a bowl mix 2 heaping cups of drained ricotta
1 egg
fresh snipped basil
3 different shredded cheeses, I used romano, mozzarella and an aged chedder. At least 1/4 cup each or even more to taste. My advice, taste mixture before you add the egg.
Salt and pepper
TOPPING
In a saute pan with olive oil and 1 clove of crushed garlic, saute ribbons of zucchini, yellow squash and your zucchini blossoms for a quick minute or two until slightly wilted.
PUFF PASTRY
Line a baking sheet with parchment and unfold your cold puff pastry sheet right on to it. Lightly roll it till seams are flat and sheet looks even all around. Take a pairing knife and make a 1/2 inch border all the way around being careful not to cut through. Take a fork and prick the pastry all within the border so air can get through.
Just spread the ricotta mixture, (you’ll have extra to do another one) within the border and then lay your sauteed squash on top and dot with a few cherry tomatoes and a little drizzle of olive oil.
I like to brush my edges with olive oil and a sprinkling of romano cheese.
Cook in a 350 degree oven until edges are dark golden and crispy and so is the bottom, at least 1/2 hour could be more. Ovens vary so just check it.
ENJOY!
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BREAK OUT YOUR SPRING FORM PAN!!

February 16, 2008 by 26 Comments
AND MAKE A ROUND LASAGNA!
For some reason, don’t ask me why, I like curved objects! I know it’s a bit weird but my eye always goes to curved things, arches, rounded windows, scrolls, I can go on and on. Give me a choice between a straight line and a curve, and guess what I’m picking? So it’s no wonder that I sometimes like to make a round lasagna, it’s out of the norm, I know, but it’s fun to change it up sometimes. Just make your favorite lasagna, this one was made with ricotta and spinach, and do it exactly how you make any lasagna, just trim up the pasta to fit your spring form pan. This was made in a 10″ pan, and I’ve even made it in the smallest one, for an individual size, you can be very creative!! The only thing I would suggest is to bake it on a cookie sheet in your oven.
AND A ROASTED VEGETABLE CROSTATA!
This is a great way to use up any vegetables you might have laying around. Cut them up and lay them on a cookie sheet with olive oil, and seasonings of your choice, I used a tuscan dried herb mix I have, plus salt and pepper. Roast them till al dente in a 400 degree oven, you do not want to overcook them!For mine I used, eggplant, zuccini, red pepper, onion, and a little fennel I had. Next, roll out one piece of puff pastry so its big enough to line the bottom of a 10″ springform pan, just push down the sides and make a little crust. Place your veggies on top, sprinkle with a generous amount of Romano cheese, about a cup of Provolone cut in chunks,( the real stuff). Beat 2 eggs with a little milk, pour all over, and finally, grated Fontina sprinkled all over the top. Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 mins, or until everything is golden and crisp.

 

Don’t cut it while its hot, let it cool down to room temp, that’s the best way to eat this! If you wait, it won’t fall apart when you cut into it either. Besides the flavors come out even more at room temp. This is great with a salad for dinner, or fancy enough to serve at a party! Only you will know, you were just using up your leftover veggie’s!!!BUON APPETITO!!

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