These cherry tarts with puff pastry are the perfect way to enjoy cherries while they're in season. This is a rustic cherry tart that's freeform in shape. They're basically mini cherry pies, but much easier to make!
If I had to pick a favorite food, it would be cherries. Why? Because not only are they delicious, they're packed full of nutrition! These tart and sweet stone fruits provide an abundance of fiber, vitamins, minerals and plant compounds. Plus, you can eat them raw, grilled or baked, and they complement so many foods.
I created this simple recipe cherry tart recipe as an easy way to enjoy the short cherry season. There's only eight ingredients, most of which you probably already have in your pantry. And, instead of laboring over a pie crust, I've used puff pastry, which is (surprisingly) vegan! Winning! If you want to check out other vegan recipes using puff pastry have a look at my apple turnovers, vegan sausage rolls and popular puff pastry cinnamon rolls.
Ingredients
- Cherries: Tart sweet with a hint of woody cinnamon, cherries are amongst the most beloved of fruits. I've used sweet cherries here, but you could also use sour cherries, if you can get your hands on some! Just omit the lemon zest and juice.
- Puff Pastry: Flaky, delicate puff pastry provides the perfect base for these mini cherry puff pastry tarts.
- Maple Syrup: Most cherry tarts are packed full of refined sugar. But, in this recipe, most of the sweetness comes from the cherries themselves (and a touch of apricot jam glaze.) There's only a tablespoon of maple syrup, but if you prefer sweeter, it's fine to add another tablespoon.
- Sea Salt: Salt in a natural flavor booster.
- Lemon Zest And Juice: Sharp, acidic lessons provide balance to sweet cherries. They also give this dish a bit of oomph!
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch absorbs the liquid that the cherries excrete while baking, keeping your puff pastry from getting soggy.
- Vanilla: As always, I highly recommend investing in a quality vanilla. You will really notice the difference in your baked goods.
- Apricot Jam: If you don't have apricot jam, any flavor will do. When heated with a touch of water, apricot jam turns into a lovely glaze for all fruit pies.
How To Make A Cherry Tart With Puff Pastry
- Preheat your oven to 400 F (200 C). Line a large baking tray with parchment paper and set it aside.
- Unroll your puff pastry sheet. Depending on the size of your sheet, you might need to roll it out a bit. It should be about an ⅛ of an inch thick. The puff pastry that I used was a popular UK brand that comes in one sheet packs. I didn't need to roll it out, just cut it into eight equal pieces.
- Transfer the puff pastry rectangles to the baking sheet, and pop the tray in the fridge.
- You'll need to take the stone out of the cherries. There's several ways to do this, the easiest being to use a cherry pitter. If you don't have a cherry pitter, no worries, you can simply use a sharp paring knife, cut the cherries in half and pull out the stone. This video by Whole Food shows you four ways to pit a cherry.
- Put your pitted cherries in a bowl along with the lemon zest, juice, maple syrup, vanilla extract, sea salt and cornstarch. Mix everything together gently with a spoon.
- Take the puff pastry out of the fridge and divide the filling equally between the 8 tarts, mounding it into the center. Now pull the sides of the pastry up to form a rough circle, crimping it a bit to form an edge. The pastry will be quite flat, but don't worry, it will puff up in the oven.
- Brush the crust with a bit of plant milk or water and pop thepuff pastry tarts into the oven. Bake them for 30 minutes, rotating your baking tray half way through.
- While your cherry puff pastry tarts are baking, put your apricot jam in a bowl along with 2 tablespoons of water. Microwave on high for 30 seconds.
- Drizzle the jam over your freshly baked cherry tarts and enjoy with vegan vanilla ice cream!
Questions About This Recipe:
Not quite, all galettes have a freeform crust. All you need to do is put your fruit in the center of your dough, pull the edges up and bake! Pies have a more structured crust that is frequently blind baked before adding fruit.
It's best to any leftovers in an airtight container and leave them on the counter for up to three days. Putting them in the fridge will cause the puff pastry to get soggy.
It sounds like the puff pastry may not have been defrosted all the way. Puff pastry needs to be cool to work with, but can't be frozen. I recommend defrosting it overnight in the fridge before using it.
Sure! Just omit the lemon juice and zest and add another tablespoon of maple syrup.
Craving More Easy Vegan Recipes?
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📖 Recipe
Cherry Tarts With Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 2 cups cherries pitted and halved
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 2½ tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoon apricot jam +2 tablespoon of water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 C (400 F). Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Roll the puff pastry out into a rectangle that's ⅛ inch thick. Cut it into 8 equal sized pieces and transfer them to the baking tray. Put the tray in the fridge to chill.
- Destone the cherries and cut them in half.
- Stir together cherries, lemon juice and zest, maple syrup, vanilla, cornstarch and sea salt.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the puff pastry pieces. Pull the edges up and crimp into a rough circle. Brush the edges with water (or plant milk). Bake for 30-35 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through.
- Whisk together the apricot jam and 2 tablespoon of water. Microwave on high for 30 seconds. When the galettes have finished baking, drizzle the jam over the top of fruit filling. Serve with vegan ice cream!
Kelly
I’ve been looking for a cherry pie recipe, this looks great!
Kelly
I’ve been looking for a good cherry pie recipe, this looks great!