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.