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Raspberry Cream Cheese Heart Tarts

February 8, 2011

I'm one of those people who loves everything about Valentine's Day (you may be saying, "blech" right now, but I do). Well, I'm not particularly fond of how commercial the holiday has become, but I do love all the hugs, kisses, homemade cards and, of course, sweet treats! While you can easily buy your Valentine a bag of sweet tarts with cute sayings printed on them, why not go to the store, buy fresh ingredients and then make something special with your kids instead? This year, Kenya, Chloe and I have decided to make Raspberry Cream Cheese Heart Tarts for daddy (I hope he doesn't read this post before the 14th) to show him just how much we love him. After all, isn't food the fastest way to a daddy's heart?

Putting a spin on Pop Tarts, one of my childhood favorites, I came up with the idea of these homemade Heart Tarts. Filled with fresh raspberries and a pink icing that's made with the juice from the raspberries instead of food coloring, if Pop Tarts had actually been made this way, my mom would have probably allowed me to eat them more often as a kid.

Kenya and I shot a little video of us making this recipe which I'm posting this Friday, but in case you can't wait that long, I've printed how to prepare them below. It's an unbelievably easy and deliciously fun way to share the love. Just wait till you try them -- I bet you won't be saying "blech" anymore!

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Raspberry Cream Cheese Heart Tarts  (Makes 10-11 Heart Tarts)

  • Prep Time:5 minutes,
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes,
  • Total Time: 30 minutes,

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup raspberries
  • 1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 1 double pie crust recipe or 1 14 oz pre-made pie crust*
  • water
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 10 raspberries for icing or 2 tbsp juiced raspberries
  • 1 tablespoon milk or water

Preparation

  1. 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. 2. Place the raspberries, cream cheese and honey in a bowl. Using the back of a fork, mash the raspberries with the cream cheese, leaving some pieces of raspberry intact.
  3. 3. Roll the pie crust 1/4 inch thick and using a heart shaped cookie cutter (my heart cookie cutter is about the size of my fist), cut out hearts (or, if you are using packaged pie crust just unroll and cut out hearts).
  4. 4. Place one heart on a lightly floured work surface and place 2 tsp of the cream cheese mixture in the very center, leaving a 1/4″ border around the cut-out.
  5. 5. Lightly dip your index finger into a cup of water and “brush” the border with the water (this will allow the two sides of the heart to adhere to one another).
  6. 6. Top with another heart and take the tines of a fork and gently press down along the edges to adhere (making sure the cream cheese mixture stays inside the heart pocket). With a toothpick, poke some holes in the top of the heart to remove any air pockets.**
  7. 7. Place on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until golden.
  8. 8. While the hearts are baking, take 10 raspberries, place in a strainer and press down with the back of a spoon to release raspberry juice into a bowl — should be about 2 tbsp of juice depending on how juicy the raspberries are.
  9. 9. Whisk in the milk and slowly pour in the powdered sugar to make icing.
  10. 10. When cool, take a spoon and spread the raspberry icing over the hearts.
  11. 11. Serve.
  12. * You can use prepared Pie Crusts too such as Pillsbury or your favorite brand
  13. ** To Freeze: place hearts on a cookie sheet and freeze for one hour. Remove hearts and place in a ziploc bag, label and freeze up to 3 months. When ready follow steps 7-11, adding an extra 3 minutes to the baking time.
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Comments






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  2. Kat Driscoll Barlow

    February 12, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    Reply

    Catherine,
    How long will these keep in the fridge? Can I make today for Thursday or better to wait until tomorrow 2/13 to make for Valentines Day?

    • catherine

      February 12, 2013 at 2:18 pm

      Reply

      They’ll keep for several days, but I would make them the night before so they’re as fresh as possible!

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  5. Neandermom

    December 23, 2012 at 8:42 pm

    Reply

    I’m making these from the cookbook – I can’t wait for these to be done, my daughter has been asking for them for weeks! BTW the crust recipe doesn’t say when to add the honey. I added it in at the end.

    • catherine

      December 26, 2012 at 1:42 pm

      Reply

      The honey in this recipe gets mixed in with the raspberries and cream cheese! In the pie dough recipe, the honey is mixed with water and brushed onto the top and edges of the tarts for the apple butter tarts! That is in step 7 and 8!

  6. Julie

    February 14, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    Reply

    My favorite Weelicious treat so far!

  7. Amanda

    February 13, 2012 at 11:12 am

    Reply

    These were great! My almost three year old and I made them together and aside from the spillage there isn’t a significant difference between mine and hers. I helped her to press the edges but that was about all I had to do. You also dont need to be very careful about the filling spilling out because it peels off of the dough easily when they are done baking They are equally delicious! We will definitely be making these again. Thanks for the recipie!

  8. jennellen

    February 13, 2012 at 1:22 am

    Reply

    Made these as an early Valentine treat & we all LOVED them! So cute, so quick, so easy, so delish! Followed the recipe to a T, BUT they were perfectly done at 15 min. Made 8 as my heart shape cutter is quite large. Tasted like strudel :) Thanks for the great idea!

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  11. Lesley

    February 2, 2012 at 10:45 am

    Reply

    does the icing harden? I’m looking for an icing to use on some cookies for my son’s birthday party and this looks perfect.

    • catherine

      February 2, 2012 at 11:12 am

      Reply

      It does harden. It is basically royal icing, like what you use to decorate gingerbread men! Enjoy!

  12. Kristina

    January 29, 2012 at 4:17 pm

    Reply

    Just wanted to tell you how much we LOVED these!

    Made them by the recipe with my son earlier in the week (cooked only :17 and still over-done). We made them this weekend with our niece visiting. Used blueberries & strawberries in the filling and cooked for :15 and they were PERFECT!!

  13. Cheryl

    January 13, 2012 at 1:20 am

    Reply

    Thank you! You just relieved my guilt issue around not letting my little one experience one of my fun childhood treats! These ones have such great ingredients I plan to make up a batch asap! Nice work!

  14. sarah

    January 1, 2012 at 12:54 pm

    Reply

    Quick question, I noticed the recipe says 1/4 c cream cheese, but on the “program” it says 1/2 c cream cheese. Just wondering which is better to use? Also, the recipe says to add milk or water to the icing, but it wasn’t mentioned in the program..I’m assuming to use it, yes? Thanks! Can’t wait to taste them, they look yummy!

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  17. Katie Trumbauer

    May 23, 2011 at 2:35 pm

    Reply

    So good, my daughter and I made these this afternoon, and it was so easy!!! So much better tasting than pop tarts!!!

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  20. Heather

    February 17, 2011 at 2:23 pm

    Reply

    Thank you so much for this fun and yummy recipe. I’m pregnant with my 2nd baby and I have wanted pop tarts but didn’t want to eat the store bought kind. Hubby really liked them too!

  21. Anita Sullivan

    February 17, 2011 at 1:18 pm

    Reply

    De.Lish.

    Loved them! Made just past Valentine’s Day, so between that and my boys not being into hearts, I used a sandwich press to cut circles and also used it to crimp the edges. Made it even more simple!

  22. Andrea

    February 16, 2011 at 4:28 pm

    Reply

    This hearts not only came out beautiful but delicious too , thanks again Catherine! :)

  23. HCinKC

    February 15, 2011 at 2:08 pm

    Reply

    I made these last night. Instead of raspberries, I used lemon juice with a dot of red food coloring for the icing. It was a great pair with the raspberry filling. My husband really enjoyed them! I think I will try strawberry filling next time. Yum!

  24. Elodie

    February 15, 2011 at 8:41 am

    Reply

    Hi, I live in France where cream cheese does not exist, does anyone have an idea what I could use instead? Would cottage cheese work?
    I love weelicious and try a lot of recipes, but sometimes it’s really hard (or impossible) to find the right ingredients…

    • Melanie

      February 14, 2012 at 12:10 pm

      Reply

      Maybe quark?

    • Daphne

      February 12, 2012 at 8:15 pm

      Reply

      Creme fraiche?

    • catherine

      February 15, 2011 at 5:04 pm

      Reply

      Neufchâtel cheese is very similar to cream cheese :)

      • Elodie

        February 16, 2011 at 3:22 pm

        Reply

        Thank you so much for your replies! I will probably try the mascarpone for this recipe. The “official” Neufchatel cheese looks like a heart-shaped camembert, so I guess you had another one in mind… I will keep looking! ;)

    • HCinKC

      February 15, 2011 at 2:07 pm

      Reply

      Yeah, I would think mascarpone or possibly ricotta would work.

    • ashlea mask

      February 15, 2011 at 11:07 am

      Reply

      maybe mascarpone?

  25. marlo

    February 14, 2011 at 8:34 pm

    Reply

    Great recipe. I made the pie dough the night before (Joy of cooking) and the nanny made these today with my 2 year old. Turned out fantastic!! We didn’t use “whipped” cream cheese. The regular stuff worked fine.

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