Raspberry Pastries

I was looking for something to do with the half-sheet of puff pastry that remained after I'd halved the Steak and Ale pie recipe that I tried for this evening's dinner.  A half a sheet of puff pastry does tend to present a bit of a problem.  I'd thawed the entire sheet to use to cover our crocks of steaming Guinness-laden steak and mushrooms, but with only two of us dining, only used half.  I didn't want to risk refreezing, so immediately pulled out our suitcase-size cookbook of our favorite recipes and started paging through the "Fast and Easy" section.

  It was then that I found this very easy, very tasty recipe from Martha Stewart, and decided to give it a try. I think this must be the easiest dessert ever.  While the meat pies were cooking, I assembled these so that I could pop them into the oven as I pulled out the pies so we'd have dessert ready for us at the conclusion of the meal.  I love a recipe that calls for little more than slicing, slathering, stacking, and baking.  Basically that's all I did.  It was that easy.  Now I'm going to be looking for lots more leftover pieces of puff pastry just for this purpose and plan on trying apricot jam the next time.

These were so light and delicious and flavorful.  I think they'd be equally at home at brunch or afternoon tea as they were after dinner.  In fact, these are so good that I'm thinking we should start having afternoon tea!  I also think they could be made ahead, frozen, and sliced and baked as a treat for those unwelcome surprise guests that happen by during the holidays.  I'm going to try it and will let you know.

In the meantime, try these.  I'm not kidding.  Fast.  Easy. Delicious.

For more easy and delicious puff pastry recipes, I recommend this book.

This is linked to Tuesdays at the Table.