Monday, April 30, 2012

Strawberry and Coconut Tartlets



Strawberry season has arrived! All of the vendors at the farmers market were in full swing with freshly picked luscious berries front and center at their respective booths. The distinctive aroma permeated as you walked by and just yelled out – “Buy a basket or two”. I believe we buy with our eyes and nose, so of course I had to pick up three baskets of these beauties.



Hubby and I attended a benefit auction for Make a Wish Foundation on Saturday night. A friend at work lost his seven year old daughter Chloe to brain cancer a little over two years ago. My friend and his wife have taken their tragic loss and put their energy into making a difference. They put together “Team Chloe” and this is the second year for the auction to raise money for the Make a Wish Foundation.


It was a complete team effort to put on this event that had 300 attendees and raised enough money to grant four wishes for some wonderful kids. The event was filled with many emotions – happiness, sadness, laughter, goodwill, team work, friendship but most of all a sense that collectively as a group, we can make a difference.


My contribution was making three out of the four cakes that were part of the live auction. I was proud to be part of the difference through raising over a thousand dollars for the cakes which benefits the Make a Wish Foundation. Thought I would share with all of you a photo collage of the cakes. Chloe was a little princess and I made a special princess cake in her honor and will continue to make a new princess cake for each year the auction takes place.


With a fulfilling yet exhausting day on Saturday, I wanted to simply relax and bake on Sunday. With strawberries as my inspiration, I made these Strawberry and Coconut Tartlets. It is a rather loose recipe, so pardon the relaxed recipe. As a sneak peak, I have a wonderful ice cream recipe coming later in the week.


Strawberry and Coconut Tartlets

Makes 12 Tartlets
1 sheet puff pastry
Crème Fraiche
Strawberries cut into small slices
Butter
Turbinado Sugar
Coconut

Take one sheet of puff pastry and thaw. Cut into 12 circles with a 2 inch round cookie cutter. Place onto a non-stick cookie sheet or use parchment paper to prevent sticking. Lightly spread a thin layer of crème Fraiche on each round of puff pastry. Top each one with 2 to 3 slices of strawberries depending on the size. Add a small pinch of butter onto the top of each one and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar and a small bit of coconut. Bake for 15 minutes at 400 degrees or until golden brown. Remove with spatula onto a rack to cool and enjoy!

Tip: To get the center to stay relatively flat but have the edges rise, simply take a size slightly smaller than the cookie cutter you used to press down on the tartlet to lightly score which will help the puff pasty to rise around the edges.

16 comments:

  1. Great minds think alike when it comes to strawberries! These tartlets look absolutely delicious - I happen to have puff pastry in the freezer at the moment, and now it looks like I have a good use for it :).

    Your cakes for Make a Wish Foundation turned out beautifully; what a lovely way to honor Chloe's life.

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  2. Strawberry season is at least a month away... I don't think I can wait to make these! :)

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  3. Sounds like a wonderful event, and I am sure you all made huge difference for many kids!
    Your tartlets look incredibly tasty!I Love the strawberry season too..

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  4. These look so good. I've bought at least 6 pints already and my daughter has eaten them all before I've gotten a chance to fix anything with them yet. Next pint is all mine. I saw your amazing cakes yesterday, love that you made them for such a great cause. Looking forward to the farmer's market.
    -Gina-

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  5. Yum, these looks so delicious! I love strawberry season and all the lovely strawberry desserts.

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  6. These little tarts look amazing! I just made a strawberry crisp with coconut in the topping yesterday, and so I can definitely attest that strawberries and coconut are an awesome combination! :)

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  7. I'm truly sorry for your friend's loss. You really did a phenomenal job with those cakes you baked for Team Chole! It was really sweet of you to support them in this initiative. Each cake looks incredible as do the tarts. xx

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  8. Your princess cake looks amazing, well done and how kind of you to participate in such a wonderful charity too.

    Coconut & strawbs, 2 of my favourite ingredients. Any left for me please? LOL.

    BTW You are welcome to join in my monthly food blogger event THE SOUP KITCHEN, here offering a new theme each month. All bloggers are welcome, hope to see you participate soon.

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  9. Lisa, what a great cause to participate in. I admire your friends for channeling their energy towards making such a difference in other people's lives. More power to them...and to you for helping them make it happen.

    I am so amazed that you did all this in one weekend. These tartlets are darling and I love your flavor combo but those cakes are super gorgeous, too! Will you be sharing those? You're so talented!

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  10. I can't imagine the pain of losing a child. Such a wonderful cause to contribute to.

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  11. I can't think of losing my children and this kind of charity event is so important and I admire you for taking a part to make a huge difference. All of your cakes look beautiful! I always have puff pastry in my freezer (as that's pretty much my baking skill I have), and I would love to make this. I like that coconut is added to this. Yum! :-)

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  12. Stories about losing children to illness really pull on my heart strings. As a mom of 3, I cannot CANNOT imagine the pain of losing a child! My good friend lost his little sister to "suspected meningitis", then he lost his younger brother a few years ago, too. I can't imagine how his parents feel. Going from 4 kids to 2 remaining! It's so sad...

    On a different note, your tarts turn out well. Hellooooo...yumminess!

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  13. It's hard to imagine a better charity. The desserts look fantastic too!!

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