Very Berry Tart

A tart is a pastry dish, that is a type of a pie with an "open face", that is not covered with pastry. Often tart's in pastry shops or bakery's have been baked in tart pans and have a lovely, crisp edge defined perfectly by the fluting of the tart pan. I had a pound of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries in my refrigerator and some puff pastry in my freezer, and decided to whip up a simple but beautiful dessert. This is a very simple idea, and you can use any sort of fruit you want, including stone fruit, apples and pears or even grapes! You could even do this in a savory way (which I love) and try goat cheese and roasted leek for a light spring lunch.

1lb strawberries, sliced thin
1/2 lb blackberries
1 pint blueberries ( this is an estimate, as I just filled in the "gaps" with the blueberries)
2 tbsp orange marmalade
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp honey
1 large frozen puff pastry sheet, thawed
1 egg, beaten



Preheat oven to 400* F.
After your puff pastry has thawed, lay it out on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the puff pastry only a little, adding about one inch to length and width.


Lay the pastry on parchment paper and transfer to a baking sheet.
Begin laying strawberry slices in a row, slightly overlapping the edges, making sure to leave about 1 1/2 inches on each edge of the pastry. Continue laying slices in rows, about 1 inch apart. Once you're done, fill in the 1 inch rows with blackberries and blueberries.


Once all your berries are placed, begin to fold over the puff pastry edges, slightly covering the first and last berry of each row. With a pastry brush, brush the beaten egg lightly on the pastry edges.

In a small saucepan, melt the marmalade, butter and honey. Drizzle this mixture over the berries in the tart.
Place tart in the oven and bake about 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry has "puffed". Allow to sit about 20 minutes and serve. This tart can be stored in the refrigerator and kept up to 2 days. Either reheat in the oven or serve room temperature.

Molten Lava Chocolate Cake w/ Strawberry Sauce

Made this for my sweetie last night for Valentine's day.....

Molten Lava Chocolate Cake
This makes 12 (large muffin size) individual cakes

5 eggs
5 egg yolks
1/4 c flour
1/2 c sugar
1/2lb bittersweet chocolate (i used 65%), cut into pieces (i used chips)
2 sticks unsalted butter

In a saucepan, melt butter and chocolate together over medium low heat, to ensure the chocolate doesn't burn.

Meanwhile, beat eggs and yolks together in a large bowl. When chocolate has melted and is smooth and shines, transfer 1/4 of chocolate mixture into egg mixture to temper the eggs. You don't want the hot mixture to cook the eggs, so beat heavily until tempered correctly. Add the rest of the chocolate and beat until well incorporated. Beat in sugar and flour until well blended.

Pour mix into prepared (lightly buttered and sprinkled with sugar) ramekins or muffin tins (i used those Reynolds foil cupcake/muffin cups that sit right on a cookie sheet without a muffin tin) and bake at 375*F for 8 minutes. Cakes should have puffy baked outer rim with a shaky center (should be liquid on the inside).

Serve warm, immediately.

I served with whipped cream and strawberry sauce.

Strawberry Sauce
1 bag of frozen strawberries
3tbs sugar (to taste)
1tbs honey
puree ingredients in a food processor or blender until smooth. Allow to thaw (if necessary) to a liquid state. Can be stored a few days in fridge. You can use any frozen fruit... I had strawberries!