Get ready to be introduced to the sweetest, cutest, fastest Valentines dessert in the land. Easy, cherry tarts with a Valentine's Day twist.
A trip to the grocery store usually goes something like this for me ...
Grab the only cart in the store that has a wonky wheel which forces it to pull to the right all the time. Get whatever "in the aisle" goods I need. Turn right. Head down to the dairy aisle and pick up whatever I need there.
I sometimes spend more time gazing at cheese than you would expect from a person who knows how to work a button up shirt.
Take a detour through the potato chip aisle and just sit and meditate for a while. Wipe the goofy potato chip induced grin from my face and head on over to the produce aisle. As you may have guessed, I am forced to hang a right to do this. Pick up leafy, crispy things. I like leafy, crispy things.
Turn right at the broccoli and head directly towards the deli counter. Worry for a full 30 seconds about whether or not, when there is only 1 person ahead of me, I really need to "take a number".
Decide the deli is too stressful and head over to the meat counter. Stand for what seems like hours deciding on what big, thick, hunk of meat I'd like to devour (usually after cooking it). I get all dreamy in the meat aisle. I browse and I scan and I ponder while in the meat aisle. Turn right.
Then I quickly zip through that area where they sell pies and cakes and stuff without looking at a thing. Check out.
The point of this story? Check the alignment of your cart before committing to it. There's nothing worse than a cart with a wonky wheel that always wants to turn right. Except one that wants to turn left. Second point to this story? I'm not one for sweet, gooey baked goods.
And because I don't like to eat 'em, I don't like to make 'em. Which is why I came up with this post. Quite possibly the easiest Heart Shaped Tart on the planet! Here we go .... !!!
Easy Cherry Tarts
It occurred to me that I could probably smash those mini premade tart shells into any shape I wanted. I mean, nothing terribly complex. Like I probably couldn't squish them into the shape of a small country or a mathematical equation but I thought I could definitely squish it into the shape of a heart.
I gave it a shot, and turns out I was right. Very easy. Just get a tart ... I used the mini kind normally reserved for appetizers.
Update: Apparently these mini shells are hard to find in The United States, whereas in Canada they're in most frozen food sections. If you can't find the mini tart shells, just use regular small tart shells. If you can't find small tart shells use a full frozen pie crust and cut it into 2 ¾" circles and fit them into a mini muffin pan before filling. You won't be able to achieve perfect hearts this way, but they'll still be cute.
How do you make a heart shaped tart?
1. Turn the shell into a heart shape, by denting in one end of the tart's foil.
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2. Then push that dent inwards to create the top of the heart shape.
Be careful not to squarsh the dough too much.
3. Once you have the top of the heart shaped, push the sides together a bit and pull the end down into a point. This will finish off the shape of the heart for your cherry tart.
Ta da! Heart shaped tart shell. Everybody needs to calm down now, because the most exciting part is coming up.
4. To fill the tarts, add 1 tablespoon of Cherry Pie Filling. I mean if you want to go nuts you could make Cherry Pie Filling from scratch but ... c'mon. The point of this cherry tart Valentine dessert is that it's easy and fast.
Try to add just a little to each tart at a time. I added a few cherries to each tart and then filled up the rest of the space with the gooey filling.
Don't overfill the tarts 'cause they'll get messy once they bubble up and cook.
Now you can either stick your tarts in the oven or ...
You can tart up your tarts.
5. Now that you're tarts have the look of something that took much longer than 20 minutes, stick them in the oven at 375° for 20 minutes.
Take 'em out ... and eat 'em.
And there you have it. You'd normally have to cruise a bar at closing time to come across a tart this easy. Enjoy.
Cherry Tarts
Ingredients
- 1 package mini frozen tart shells regular sized tart shells are fine too
- 1 can cherry pie filling cherry is great for Valentine's Day because it's red, but feel free to use any pie filling.
Instructions
- Holding the tart, press gently inwards to form the top of your heart.
- Pinch the tart directly below the indentation on the top to form your heart.
- Fill each tart with a few cherries then top up with the pie filling glaze. Around 1 Tablespoon in total.
- (Optional) Roll out some more tarts to act as tops for the tarts. Be as creative as possible! Basket weave, inlays, cutouts ... anything you do to the top of a regular pie, you can do on these mini ones.
- Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes.
Nutrition
QUESTIONS/ANSWERS
- Do you need to thaw the shells? The shells need to be thawed before baking but because they're so small it only takes a few minutes.
- Can you freeze them? These can be made ahead, cooked, then frozen. Just be careful when reheating them that you don't cook them or your crust will be rock hard.
- How many mini tart shells does one can of pie filling fill? 1 standard can of pie filling is 2 cups which would fill 36 mini tarts at 1 tablespoon of filling per tart.
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I loved your heart-shaped tarts so much that I went searching for where they might be found in the US. Apparently CostCo has them, at least in California...
https://www.costcobusinesscentre.ca/novali’s-frozen-crimped-3-in-tart-shells%2C-8-packs-of-30.product.100294470.html
Love this whole idea, but it’s the final few lines of your post that ‘take the cake’! (Pun intended!) Thanks for a good laugh today...I needed one! Stay well and keep those laughs and ideas coming...they help save my sanity. 😉
I'm there for ya Yvonne. ~ karen!
These look sooo good. The problem is I would probably eat the whole can of cherry pie filling before I ever got to the tart crust. Mostly though....I just want that spoon!!!
Now THAT's my kind of tart! Cheap and easy! ;) I may just toss in a few partridgeberries (it's a Newfoundland thing) to tone down the sweetness factor a smidgen. Mmmm. Thanks Karen!
Can confirm. A family fav. Every year they get devoured. They are cute and I cannot wreck them by trying to add healthy things. There is zero wiggle room for healthy things. (I mean unless you are a complete sociopath. ) This pleases everyone in my house.
Amen. You get these, lol. A delicious garbage dessert. ~ karen!
Couldn't find the shells as you predicted, so I improvised with triangular tart tins that I crimped into a heart shape. Frozen pie crust. And here you have the finished product!!
They are so great! ~ karen!
I tried these last year but my "East Bloc" Loblaws didn't have mini shells so I ham-handed a large pie shell. I recommend you don't do that as it looks like a pre-chewed cherry pie. I'm going to find mini shells this year!
Looks like Walmart does have them in the store, at least in my town.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dutch-Ann-Frozen-Tart-Shells-10-oz/10813455
I'm sitting here wondering what kind of treat to make my guys for Valentine's Day and you pop up with this simple idea. I think you just saved me several hours and a lot of fuss. Thanks for the great idea!
Yay! I'm thinking of making them with Lemon Curd this year but that won't look as Valentiney. But since I don't love Valentine's Day thatshouldn't matter, lol. But I like to stick with tradition in most cases in life. Eeeeee ... the struggle. ~ karen!
I think I know the answer to the question of why-aren't-there-any-mini-pastry-tart-shells-in-the-USA? Why? Because Costco has the monopoly on bite-size bits and pieces! They think that we are too lazy to make our own, and have cornered the market on the mini shells. Also, Canadians are snowed in all year round and need something to do that takes up lots of time in the kitchen? But wait, Americans are having to do the shells by hand because they can't find them ready made (except for little shortbread pre-baked) and so THEY are the ones burning up the kitchen time. I don't know anymore. I got nothin'. ; )
LOL! Who really knows? But I can tell you not all Canadians are snowed in year round. As a matter of fact, I live in Southern Ontario in the southernmost town of Canada, and we are actually further south than Detroit, MI! We are considered the ‘Banana Belt of Canada’, especially due to the fact that you can travel just 2 hours east on Hwy 401 and end up in the snow belt around London. They sure get a lot more snow than we do here, but certainly not all year long...just in winter. Even northern Canada has a short but green spring/summer. You have to go up past the Arctic Circle for snow all year. Anyway, thanks for the chuckle and stay safe!
for people in the States - maybe you can get one big pie shell and punch it down a bit in the middle and then squeeze in the sides - maybe using oven mitts if it gets unwieldy - and create a great big heart - then just pour the whole can of cherries in ;)
I'm in Canada, home of all the cute little tarts, and thinking of doing this
Hahaha! Good one
I love the idea but the pie fillings are sickeningly too sweet for my taste and if I can't make a neat looking dessert, I won't make at all. Can't help. I contracted the "It's gotta be neat" sickness already in childhood age and apparently, there is no cure for it.
Therefore, I usually make linzer cookies (similar to these: goo.gl/FsNPsb (it it doesn't show up as a link, copy the string into the address field of a new browser window) except that I make them as hearts with little heart cutouts.
If you ever tire of turning right head over to metro..ours go left
Hahahaha! ~ karen
Okay, I love reading comments, and loved that these are from several previous years. I thought this looked familiar, and now I want to make them this year. I googled the heck out of all the words I could think of, and you are absolutely correct - they are VERY dufficult to find in the USofA! I finally located some disposible mini pans, and now just have to find the correct size round cookie cutter to cut the pastry into rounds to fill the tart pans, then dent and squeeze them into shapes. This is getting to be NOT EASY, south of your border, Karen!
I think I may just use my mini muffin tin and make balls of my homemade french pastry and squish them with the tart squisher from Pampered Chef. Hearts might just be overrated down here?
Double check at your local grocery store in with the frozen pie shells. Just in case. :) ~ karen!
Looking some more and found this - the comments are worth a read, too. All the ex-pat Canadians are having a very hard time with the fact that there aren't any tart shells in the US! https://siliconvalleyloonies.com/2013/08/13/on-the-hunt-for-frozen-unbaked-tart-shells/
love the easy tart at the bar line....
Me too!!!
Can you make these ahead and if so can you freeze them or refrigerate them! Hoping to make lemon ones too! Same technique you think?
Hi Sandi! I've never done it before but you might be able to make and freeze these ahead. The only issue really is the fact that you'd have to let your frozen tart shells thaw out so you can form them and then you'd have to refreeze them again (which you're not supposed to do with any frozen stuff because of bacterial growth). As long as you thaw, shape and fill them quickly you should be fine. Good luck! Lemon ones sound great. ~ karen!
These look yummy. Although in general I hate cherry pie filling. You mention that this pie filling isn't too sweet, but don't hint at which type it is. Will it forever remain labelless?? Maybe I'll give this one a try.
Have you ever tried sour cherries??they're kind of hard to find but oh so yummy
I have never seen the tarts in grocery stores in the USA. If anyone has stores they could recommend, I would appreciate it!
Hi Elaine, they'd be in with the frozen pie shells. IF you can't find the mini ones you might be able to find the regular small ones. ~ karen!
So, there I was on Pinterest, looking for an easy dessert to help with the Vortex Blues. Thank you, Karen, for this easy recipe that looks so good, and better than eating the pie filling out of the can! You all are fibbing if you haven't had at least one spoonful! :)
The sad thing about the potato chip aisle is that there are two now! They snuck them into the organic section too. So cruel!
Hah! I LOVE these little tarts! Ridiculously easy and they taste great! ~ karen