Another day, another internet cooking hack! This time, it’s the upside-down pastry; thanks to TikTok users who went crazy and creative using this simple backwards technique of making delicious puff pastry tarts. The Upside Down Puff Pastry hack is a simple and delicious way to create these bite-sized tarts – both, sweet and savoury ones and enjoy them with family and friends. To put it into perspective, what this involves is placing your fruit or filling of choice on a lined baking tray followed by squares of store-bought puff pastry covering the filling and being baked, before they are flipped over to make the most perfect and delicious tarts. If this is a hack you’ve been wanting to try, here are four delicious tart recipes you can experiment with.
Spinach & Feta Tart
Image Credits: Budget Bytes
Creamy, salty feta cheese combined with garlicky spinach make for an explosion of flavour in this deliciously flaky puff pastry tart. These tarts are perfect to enjoy as a tea time treat or even to eat as a snack in-between meals. What’s more? This takes all of 20 minutes to make, so if you have last minute guests, this is one way to make them feel special and right at home!
Ingredients
- 200 grams feta cheese
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 bunch spinach
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon red chilli flakes
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
- Whisk together the feta cheese and milk until you have a creamy, thick mixture. Sauté the garlic and spinach in olive oil and season with red chilli flakes, black pepper and a tiny pinch of salt.
- Let it cool before using a teaspoon to place small mounds of spinach on a parchment-lined baking tray followed by spooning over the creamy feta cheese.
- Cut your puff pastry sheet into 4-inch squares and place them over your spinach and feta before baking in the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes, until the tarts are golden-brown. Flip them over and serve warm.
Pesto-Mozzarella-Tomato Tart
Image Credits: Sacla
Craving a pizza but don’t really want to guilt-trip into bingeing an entire pie by yourself? Make these little pesto-mozzarella tarts that are twice as delicious as a regular pizza. Gooey cheese enveloping a bright pesto and sweet cherry tomatoes in a buttery pastry crust is the stuff only dreams are made of!
Ingredients
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ½ cup fresh pesto
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella
- 1 sheet puff pastry
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Method
- Place some mozzarella on the lined baking tray followed by spoonfuls of pesto. Place a few pieces of cherry tomatoes, cut-side down over the pesto.
- Cut your puff pastry sheet into 4-inch squares and place them over the pesto-tomato-cheese mixture and bake in the oven for 10 minutes at 180 degrees, until you see the sides sizzle.
- Flip over each pastry and sprinkle some chopped parsley over them before serving warm.
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Apple Pie Tarts
Image Credits: Just One Cookbook
If a classic apple pie got an upgrade, this would be the result of it. Imagine caramelised and cinnamon apples encased in a flaky, buttery puff pastry shell for the ultimate dessert lovers’ fantasy! Serve these tarts warm, with some fluffy whipped cream and an extra drizzle of salted caramel as a quick but delicious third course for the perfect sit-down dinner.
Ingredients
- 1 apple, sliced
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 3 teaspoons maple syrup
- 1 puff pastry sheet
Method
- Brush some maple syrup on the parchment lined baking sheet, in patches and place a few slices of apple on each patch. Sprinkle some cinnamon powder over each of the apple and syrup patches before placing squares of puff pastry on them.
- Allow it to bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes at 180 degrees and brush them with more butter once you take them out and flip them over. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and salted caramel.
Ricotta Jam Tarts
Image Credits: azerbaijan_stockers/Freepik
Flip the classic flavours of an open toast on its head to make an upgraded and indulgent version of this fresh ricotta and jam pastry tart. The fresh milkiness of the ricotta cheese spiked with a bit of lemon zest and the sweet-tartness of any kind of fruit jam blend beautifully to create this nostalgic jam tart with a contemporary twist.
Ingredients
- ½ cup fresh ricotta
- ½ cup strawberry jam
- 1 puff pastry sheet
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
Method
- Mix the lemon zest into the ricotta and set aside while you spoon bits of the strawberry jam on to the parchment paper on a baking tray. Dollop the ricotta over and cover the filling with puff pastry squares.
- Bake in an oven for 12 minutes, until the pastry is nicely browned and flip it over to let it rest for a few minutes before cutting into it and enjoying warm.