Heart-Shaped Desserts

Make a Heart-Shaped Fruit Tart or Decorate Heart-Shaped Cookies

Jan 1, 2009 Vicki F. Chavis

Bring on the love with a rich dessert or make heart-shaped cookies for a beloved teacher. Either way, Valentine's Day is a perfect time to indulge in a bit of decadence.

When we want to melt a lover's heart or show our appreciation, there's no sweeter way than with a luscious home-baked dessert. Here are two tempting treats guaranteed to inspire, not only for Feb. 14th, but for any special occasion during the year.

From the sensual heart-shaped fruit tart or the adorable heart cookies, the heart shape sets the mood and stage. The fruit tart can have a variety of fruits adorning it, whatever is in season would be a perfect choice. The cookies can be decorated in a variety of ways, from faces to delicate swirls and icy shapes, whatever the imagination concocts.

Make a Heart Tart

Ingredients:

1/2 pkg frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
1 large egg beaten with 1 Tblsp water added
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 Tblsp sugar
1/4 cup apricot jelly, melted
1 pint sliced fruit (blackberries, blueberries, kiwi, mango, strawberries)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°. On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 pastry sheet to 12-inch square. With a paring knife, cut out as large a pastry heart as possible. Cut a border 3/4-inch wide inside first heart to make a smaller heart inside the larger one.
Place pastry heart on baking sheet; brush top edge with egg mixture. Top with 3/4-inch wide border around edge, cutting to fit as necessary.
With remaining egg mixture, brush pastry all over; with fork, prick pastry in center. Sprinkle with almonds and sugar. Bake 15 mins or until pastry is golden brown, pricking the pastry now and again to keep it from puffing up too much in the center. Cool.
Brush inside tart shell with half the jelly; arrange fruit on top according to photo (blackberries along outer edge, then blueberries, kiwi, then mango, kiwi again, ending in center with strawberries).
Brush with remaining jelly. With serrated knife, cut tart into pieces to serve.

Heart-Shaped Cookies

Fun to make and decorate, these cookies can be made to say something, look like a person, or painted with a creamy icing to say simply, "I LOVE YOU".

Ingredients:

1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup of superfine sugar
1 cup plus 2 Tblsp all-purpose flour
pinch of salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
heart-shaped cookie cutters

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Whip butter and sugar together either by hand or in mixer at low speed until thoroughly mixed. Sift together flour and salt and mix into the butter mixture with vanilla extract to form a fairly stiff dough. If dough is too dry, add a Tblsp of water.
Form dough into ball and roll out thinly on floured work surface using a rolling pin dusted with flour.
Cut into heart shapes using cookie cutters. Collect all the extra trimmings and roll out again to make more cookies. Arrange on greased baking sheet and bake for 15 mins or until cookies are light golden brown.

To Make the Glace Icing

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1-1/2 Tblsp lemon juice
assorted tubes of colored decorative icing
*mini silver decorating balls to use for eyes if making faces

Directions:

Put the confectioner's sugar into a bowl and add enough lemon juice to make a good consistency. Spread the icing onto the cooled cookies with a spatula. When they are set, decorate each cookie as you like, with words, decorations, or faces.

It's fun to make and decorate these Valentine's Day desserts to give away. Whether they are plain or fancy, the heart shapes tell the story of a love that's shared and true. Try out another heart-shaped dessert idea!

For another decadent recipe to make and give, try this chocolate truffle.

The copyright of the article Heart-Shaped Desserts in Party Food is owned by Vicki F. Chavis. Permission to republish Heart-Shaped Desserts in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.