Name: Gluten Free Berry Swirled Cream Pastry Hearts
Yield: 6 Small Hearts
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: 1/2 Packet Gluten Free Pre Made Ready Rolled Puff Pastry; Milk - For a milk wash; 150ml Whipping Cream; 1 Tablespoon Fresh Berry Compote - This can be freshly made fruit puree, jam or defrosted berries mashed and left to cool completely; Icing Sugar - For Dusting, optional

Flaky ready rolled gluten free puff pastry hearts topped with a whipped cream infused with a berry compote swirl. This is quick and easy to make, and tastes absolutely delicious!

I love how quick and easy this recipe is to make. This is mainly down to the pre-made gluten free pastry used for the hearts. Instead of spending hours attempting to get the perfect puff, all you have to do is get the pastry out of the fridge for roughly 10 minutes to warm up and gently unroll. If you’re using frozen pastry, ensure that you defrost thoroughly first according to the instructions on the packaging. Once the pastry has reached room temperature, cut out your shapes, place them on the pre lined baking tray and brush a wash over the top of each shape, following packet instructions for cooking instructions. It really is that simple!

The wash is a really important step because it helps to give your bake that brown colouring and ensures you end up with crispy pastry. You can either use an ‘egg wash’, where you whisk an egg and gently rub this on the top of the hearts. Or a ‘milk wash’, in which you brush milk on top of the pastry shapes. Although they will both give the same results and is just a matter of which ingredients you prefer to use.

Berry

Gluten Free Berry Swirled Cream Pastry Hearts

As these are gluten free I found that they didn’t really rise as a traditional puff pastry would, so rather than cutting them in half and filling, as I normally would, instead I used these in two different ways. The first way is to ‘sandwich’ the cream in the middle of two hearts. Add a thick layer of cream on top of one pastry heart and place another heart on top of the cream. The other way is to just top one of the hearts with cream so you have a pastry heart with a nice thick layer of cream and nothing else on top. Like a little pastry boat. I loved both versions but found the ‘pastry boat’ version slightly easier to eat!

The hardest part of this is whipping the cream. I always struggle with getting it in that perfect spot, just before it’s over whipped. Whip it too much and too much air escapes causing it to become grainy and flat. Not mixing it enough with leave it too runny. You want it to be thick and able to hold its own shape. I’m always a little over cautious and go super slow. I normally use an electric mixer and whisk on the lowest setting, checking it regularly to get the perfect spot. I would recommend stirring the fresh fruit compote through with a metal spoon. Stirring allows you to just incorporate it whilst leaving a nice visible swirl running through, so that it is not perfectly mixed in.

Gluten Free Berry Swirled Cream Pastry Hearts

Berry

For the swirl you can either make a fresh fruit compote or some jam. I used fresh fruit compote. This can either be made by stewing fruit on the hob or simply by defrosting some frozen berries in the microwave, mashing lightly until smoother and allowing to cool completely before stirring through the cream.

Any leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 2-3 days. If there is spare cream, place this into an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 5 days.