Bloody Tarts!

Here we go again. Bloody berries. And NO, I’m not calling them “cheesecakes”. Criminy.

My Dad wants “something raspberry” when I go visit him tomorrow. I’m not in the mood for pie or a cake, (I had an unfortunate incident in the pantry with a full bag of flour and I’m not over it) and besides, I’m cleaning out the freezer to make room for all the delights that will be coming forth in the warm, green months. So I figured something with one of the several hundred frozen puff pastry packages clogging up the freezer. And all the bags of frozen berries that have seen me through the winter.

Like a squirrel, I load up in fall, anticipating months of chill. Well, that, and the fact that my metabolism slides way down in the winter and I’m not about to venture out to the market in my flannel pajamas from 1984 unless someone caught double pneumonia and needs a prescription. And who needs a prescription anyway? What happened to the days of a Vick’s Vapor Rub poultice stuck on your chest and an afternoon of Jerry Springer? Gee….kids, these days! Did I complain when I walked 12 miles in snowdrifts just to volunteer in the nursing home when I was 6 years old? No way! Suck it up, Gen X, Y, and Z and quit sending people to get your antibiotics!

(See what happens when you take antibiotics???)

Warm Raspberry Mint Puff Pastry Tarts

Serves 6

1 (10 oz) package frozen puff pastry shells, thawed
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh mint
Milk for brushing shells
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling shells

½ cup granulated sugar
1 ½ cup frozen raspberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease or parchment a baking sheet
2. Beat the cream cheese with electric beater until fluffy. Add the sugar and beat again until fluffy. Stir in the vanilla and mint. Set aside.
3. Place the pastry shells on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with milk and sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 12-14 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove shells from oven. Use a fork to remove the top for each shell. Set tops aside.
5. While shells are baking, place 1 cup of the raspberries into a small saucepan with ½ cup granulated sugar. Heat over medium high heat until bubbling. Reduce heat slightly and cook, reducing raspberries to a syrup, about 7-8 minutes. Remove from heat, and strain mixture into small measuring cup or bowl, pressing with back of spoon to extract syrup. Discard seeds.
5. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese into each shell, while still on baking sheet. Top with 3-4 raspberries. Place the tops back onto baking sheet (along side of shells), top side down, and return to oven for about 5 minutes, or until filling is warm and shells and tops are completely golden brown.
6. To serve, place warm tartlet onto plate and drizzle warm raspberry syrup around, as you see fit. Top with a sprig of fresh mint.

*When I take this tomorrow, I’m just serving them cold, with the syrup drizzle over the top. I think they’ll be just as good. And anyway, my Dad’s oven makes a weird noise, and I’m afraid it’s going to blow up. And THEN where will we be, uh, Pops??? The days of pies are OVER!