have a cuppa and a wee berry tart

well good afternoon one and all. here i sit (trying to stay alert and awake) after a morning and early afternoon of baking. that and chasing the wack-a-doodles

in one of jaunts around the internet one day i ran across this recipe:

2-2-2 Pastry Recipe

Recipe from Mrs. Jessie-Mae

This recipe makes the wrap and you can add any of your favorite fillings in the wrap. 

Example: strawberries, apricots, pears, apples, meat, etc.

2- 4 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)

2 sticks margarine (room temperature)

2 cups all purpose flour

Mix up and roll out into 2 1/2 inch squares. Before putting in filling, place in refrig. and chill for an hour or two. Then when ready to put in filling, put 1-2 teaspoons. Filling and then bring each corner up to meet and mash together. Bake at 350 degrees.and it didn't have for how long on the recipe.

( i baked them for about 16 minutes at the 350 degrees)

(i found it on this website . )

when i saw it i wrote it down in my cooking journal, as i do when i run across an interesting sounding recipe. and yes i do have a cooking journal. it's nothing fancy it's just a blank journal that i quickly jot down recipes in. the wee wack-a-doodles got a hold of it one day and were flipping through the pages and landed on that recipe.  it sparked my creative juices and i remembered that i had some wild blueberries in the freezer. hmmm maybe some wee berry tarts are in order, my creative juices were saying.

i was a wee bit hesitant to try a new recipe, because the new recipes that i had tried as of late had not been real winners. i felt safe in trying a halved version. so i made a 1-1-1 pastry dough. i mixed up a quick blueberry filling with some frozen wild blueberries and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. 


this dough mixes up quickly and  after it chills it's very easy to work with. i rolled it out on a floured surface. even with the slight addition of more flour and my rough handling of the dough, it did not get stiff or hard. it actually became a little more stretchy.  the flavor of the dough after baking is slightly buttery. so it would complement wither sweet or savory fillings. i followed the directions in the recipe and made squares and smooshed the ends together. but while baking the ends sort of separated and some of the filling  tried to make an escape ( i guess you have to watch those wild blueberries, otherwise they are apt to run amok).  i figured the next time i made this recipe i would use my mini muffin pan and make tarts instead of bundles.

so yesterday i was daring and made a full sized batch of the dough and chilled it in the fridge over night. for i had decided that today would be a good day to make tarts with various fillings.

i then created three different fillings. (i wasn't too exact in measurements for these fillings)

mushroom filling 

chopped some mushrooms - about 4 or 5 button or regular

chopped a green onion - i used 1

sauté them in butter - about 2 tablespoons

add a little bit of bread stuffing - about 1/3 of a cup

a few dashes of tabasco sauce

after filling the cups i sprinkled the tops with some grated parmesan cheese.
at the time i took the photo i didn't have any of the mushrooms tarts left. they were a big hit and plus i hadn't made that many of them. the wee wack-a-doodles even liked them.

berry filling

blueberries- i used 1 cup of frozen wild blueberries which are smaller than regular blueberries 

blackberries - about 1/2 cup 

granulated sugar - about 1/2 cup or sweeten to your own tastes

lemon juice - 1/2 -1 teaspoon

cornstarch/flour - i used a table spoon (not a measuring tablespoon, a spoon for eating with) i added one at a time until i had the consistency i liked. which was actually fairly thick.

i also used some wickedly wonderful strawberry jam that i was given.

now to ease your tart making path by learning from my errors, i would strongly suggest that you use a strip of parchment in each muffin cup. place a strip of parchment in the cup, with the ends of the strip sticking above the rim of the cup, before lining with your pastry dough. it makes it far easier and less messy to lift these somewhat dainty tarts out of the pan. of course i didn't remember this clever baking tip until the last five i baked. (durh! who's a dork? im a dork!)

cheers!