Mini Raspberry Chocolate Tarts for an easy Valentine’s treat

These mini chocolate raspberry pastries made with simple puff pastry shells, filled with a spoonful of raspberry jam and a swirl of rich chocolate pastry cream and topped with fresh raspberries are the perfect simple treat for Valentine’s day.

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Little pastries like this made with puff pastry are so simple to make and a delight to eat. And if you don’t want to fill them with chocolate pastry cream, try vanilla pastry cream for a lighter more Spring-y kind of look. They will be equally good.

Seriously, these look far more complicated than they are, and I am all about gorgeous desserts that are deceptively easy. Things don’t have to be complicated to be awesome. See my Nutella palmiers or classic palmiers for similar “incredible but easy” desserts.

Let’s get a batch going!

Easy Mini Raspberry Chocolate Tarts

What is a vol-au-vent? (tarts vs. vol-au-vents)

I’m calling these tarts because that’s what most Americans would see that these are. Tarts have some kind of buttery crust (puff pastry is a possibility, but a cookie shortcrust is more common) with an open top filling. See my mini cranberry tarts and easy apple tarts for other examples.

Technically though, these are vol-au-vents. A vol-au-vent is a specific type of French pastry made with a puff pastry shell. After cutting the outside shape from the puff pastry, you score the dough on the inside of the cut shape. As the pastry bakes, the outer ring will separate from the inner scored part such that you can either easily squash down the middle or remove it to make room for a filling. You can fill vol-au-vents with just about anything: jam, frangipane, whipped cream, savory fillings; you name it.

You can brush one plain piece of puff pastry with egg wash and adhere it to a scored one to make taller shells for your vol-au-vents. Taller shells are definitely something you want if you make savory vol-au-vents filled with something like a chicken pot pie filling. I use one layer of puff pastry as I do since I know that my homemade puff pastry will rise to a good height without a second layer.

Why you’ll love these tarts

1. So fast to make: you won’t have to spend much time filling tiny tart shells with dough or crumbs to make these shells. A quick roll out of your dough and a few cuts with a round cutter, and you can have these baking in minutes. Hopefully by now I’ve convinced you with my growing collection of puff pastry recipes that puff pastry is the ultimate cheat code to quick baking treats.
2. They make you look like a pastry genius: People, the hardest thing here is the pastry cream, which is not hard at all if you can simple whisk something on the stove for a couple minutes. These look high-end-pastry-shop fancy but they are easy peasy to make.
3. Crispy airy pastry and smooth lovely cream: The contrast between the crispy light puff pastry and the elegantly smooth pastry cream is pure loveliness.

Process for making raspberry chocolate tarts

1. Make chocolate pastry cream: If you haven’t already, make a batch of chocolate pastry cream. If you’re in a hurry, follow the quick chill directions in the recipe.
2. Roll: roll defrosted puff pastry into a sheet that is 1/8″ thick. If you’re working from store-bought frozen puff pastry, you just need to unroll the sheet and roll it enough to smooth everything out.
3. Cut: Cut 3 and 1/4″ rounds with a biscuit cutter from the puff pastry. Place the pastry on a parchment

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   lined sheet.
4. Score: Use a slightly smaller cutter to press down the down on the inside of each puff pastry circle. Do not press down deep enough to cut through the bottom. If you do, the shell could leak the filling later on. If you don’t have a smaller cutter, you can score the dough in the same way with the tip of a paring knife.
5. Glaze: beat up the egg white with a fork. Lightly brush each dough circle with egg white, and then sprinkle it with a little granulated sugar.
6. Bake: Bake the pastry for 15-18 minutes until well-puffed and crispy with golden edges.
7. Press down: Press down the puffed centers of each pastry shell.
8. Fill: Spoon in about a teaspoon of raspberry jam into each shell. Fit a pastry bag with a decorative tip and scoop in the chilled pastry cream. Pipe a rosette of pastry cream to cover the jam and fill the shell up to the top.
9. Top: Top each pastry with a few fresh raspberries.

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