Strawberry Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Hearts for Valetine's

These cute and easy puff pastry hearts are crispy, buttery, fruity, quick and delicious! A perfect Valentines treat for your loved ones. Flaky goodness, filled with lemon zested cream cheese, and topped with fresh strawberries.

Course All Recipes, Dessert

Cuisine American, French

Keyword puff pastry hearts, strawberry cream cheese puff pastry, valentine's day treat

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Servings

Calories 430kcal

Equipment

Baking Sheet
Parchment
Microplane Zester – to zest your lemon
Small Wooden Rolling Pin
Large/Medium Heart Shape Cookie Cutters here are a few options: Metal 5 pc. Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters, or plastic 5 pc. Red Plastic Cookie Cutters
Pastry Brush
Small Whisk
4 pc. Daisy fondant Sunflower Fondant Cutter Flower Molds optional

Ingredients

4 ounces cream cheese (115g) softened
¼ cup caster sugar plus extra for sprinkling (60g)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ lemon zest
1 egg yolk
2 sheets puff pastry thawed
1 egg for egg wash
1 tablespoon milk whisked for egg wash
Handful of fresh strawberries sliced
Powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 400°F/200°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a mixing bowl, beat the softened cream cheese, lemon zest, sugar until fully blended, then and vanilla extract and egg yolk, continue to beat until the mixture is creamy and well combined. Put mixture in a piping bag.
Note: If you don’t have piping bags at home. No worries! Fill a zip lock baggie with the cream cheese mixture and snip the corner in place of a piping bag.
Lay out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch square. Using a heart cookie cutter 5”/8cm size. Cut out approximately 8 hearts from two sheets of puff pastry.
Transfer the puff pastry hearts onto the lined baking sheet. Use a smaller heart cutter 2.5”/6.5cm in size to create a slight indentation, being careful not to cut through. This will allow the pastry to rise along the outside edges. Tip: I use the dull side on the smaller heart to ensure I don’t cut through.
Now egg wash the outside edges only, outside the lines of the smaller heart. Generously sprinkle with castor sugar along the outside edges.
Pipe a layer of cream cheese mixture in the center of each puff pastry heart, following the inside indentation of the smaller heart only. Leave the outside borders free from cream cheese so they can rise.
Place 2 strawberry slices onto the cream cheese mixture, following the pattern of the heart.
Optional: Cut “strawberry leaves” with a fondant flower cutter with the remaining puff pastry. Cut the flower shape in half to create leaves, add the leaves to the top of every strawberry tart and egg wash.
Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown and puffy.
Allow the baked pastry hearts to cool on the baking sheet for few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Finally dust the pastries with powdered sugar before serving.

Notes

Nutrition