Valentine’s Day and Galentine’s Day are stressful enough without having to worry about what dessert you and your loved ones will enjoy. And while you can absolutely grab some chocolate-covered fruits or some cupcakes and cookies, if you want to make something unique but easy to put together, this is the recipe for you.
The most important factor when we develop recipes at Figuring Out Now is that those recipes are doable by even the newest of cooks. If there is a more technical element we try our best to explain it clearly and concisely, so that recipe is not intimidating. That is what we have aimed for with these Cherry Meringue Tarts. We have crafted a dessert that stuns, and looks like it takes more effort than it actually does. Even better, it is the perfect Valentine’s Day dessert.
The perfect dessert for Valentine’s Day Tastes like decadence in a bite, combining flavors that we think of when we think of romance and decadence, cherries and champagne. Even better, you can customize the size of them to make them as small or large as you’d like or change the shape to make them any shape you’d like. Heart-shaped treats are an obvious answer.
What Are Cherry Dessert Tarts?
Buttery puff pastry, a sweet cherry topping, and a champagne meringue combine here to create an easy cherry dessert that tastes like it’s worth much more than it will cost you. The cherry topping uses the natural tang from the cherries to balance out the sweetness from the added sugar. The topping sits on top of a light, airy champagne meringue that is subtly sweet and gives your tongue the same slight buzzy feeling as a glass of sparkling wine.
What’s In A Tart with Meringue?
Despite how the final product looks, this dessert is pretty simple. Because the puff pastry is premade, your ingredients consist of cherries, sugar, eggs, a lemon, and sparkling wine flavor oil.
The fillings take more time than effort but the meringue can be scary for new bakers. Just be sure to read through the instructions and you are sure to do just fine. The rest is just a little footwork and a few minutes in the oven for the puff pastry. To make it even easier on yourself, you can use frozen cherries.
What is Meringue?
Meringue is a dessert that usually consists of eggs and sugar. The ingredients don’t tend to go beyond something acidic, a flavoring, or a stabilizing agent. Meringue is more about the preparation technique with the cook having to skillfully combine the eggs and sugar in a specific manner, being sure to get them to a particular temparature. In this case, once that is done, you add in a champagne flavoring agent to create the delicious meringue topping you see.
You can whip these up at any time, but the flavors and color combinations make them ideal for Valentine’s Day. Top off your Valentine’s dinner with these or make a batch for a Galentine’s celebration.
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Cherry Champagne Tart
A decadent cherry treat that is deceptively easy. A flaky tart topped with sweet cherries and a bright champagne-flavored meringue.
Ingredients
- 10-12 Sweet Cherries
- 1 Lemon
- 120g Sugar (about 3/4 C)
- 60g Egg Whites (about 1/4 C or 2 Large Egg Whites)
- 1 Whole Egg
- 7 Drops of LorAnn Sparkling Wine Flavor
- 1 Sheet of Puff Pastry
Instructions
Puff Pastry
- Remove your puff pastry from the freezer and sit it aside to that for 15-20 mins.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- While your pastry thaws prepare your ingredients, including your egg wash and washing and pitting your cherries.
- After washing and pitting your cherries, slice them into 4 pieces each and sit aside.
- Your puff pastry should now be easy to move without cracking. Unfold it until it lays out flat.
- Using the fold lines, cut the pastry into 9 equal pieces.
- Lightly coat each piece with the egg wash
- After the egg wash, score a large square(photo below) into each piece, lightly cutting into the pastry but not far enough to cut all the way through. .
- Place your pieces on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
- Place them in the oven for 15 minutes, then remove them and sit them to the side.
Cherry Filling
- In a medium saucepan, place your sliced cherries, sugar, and one squeeze of lemon. Note: You don't need a lot of lemon juice and if you want you can use the skewer trick to preserve your lemon.
- Over low to medium heat, allow the cherries to come to a low boil, stirring occasionally.
- Once all the sugar is dissolved, and the cherries have been boiling for 3-5 minutes so that the cherries are soft, check the syrup.
- Check the syrup by taking a small bit on the end of a metal spoon, letting it cool for a few seconds, and then tilting the spoon to see if the syrup has thickened.
- If the syrup has thickened, take the cherries off the heat. Note: Do not overcook your cherries, the entire process should take 15-20 minutes maximum.
- Place cooked cherries in another dish and sit them in the freezer to cool.
Champagne Meringue
- Bring a large pot with a small amount of water to a boil.
- Wipe your bowls, whisky, and mixer attachment with vinegar to remove excess oils or clean and dry them really well.
- In either a stainless steel bowl or your KitchenAid bowl, place your egg whites and sugar.
- Place the stainless steel bowl inside the large pot, ensuring the bowl is NOT touching the water. Pour some out if you need.
- Over the heat, allow the sugar to dissolve, gently whisking your sugar and eggs together occasionally to encourage the sugar to dissolve. Note: Be sure to get as little of the mixture on the sides of the bowl as possible, it will crystallize. Note: If you are using a KitchenAid bowl, I recommend angling it so that the mixture is sitting to the side and not over the thick bottom. if you aren't comfortable, you can leave it but it will take longer to get the sugar to come to temp.
- Once the sugar is fully dissolved so that no granules can be felt, and the temperature reaches 160°F, take it off the heat and wipe the outside.
- Add the drops of flavoring to the mixture, if you want to adjust it to your liking, start with a few drops at a time, it is strong.
- Mix until the meringue has formed into a glossy mixture with soft peaks.
- If you'd like to pipe it, transfer it now to a pipping bag.
Assembly
- Using the score lines of your puffs, take an instrument and press the centers down about halfway to make room for your filling.
- Either pipe or spoon in your meringue mixture
- Top with cherry mixture
Enjoy!
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These tarts are well-balanced, with the brightness of the sparkling wine (champagne) flavor perfectly complimenting the sweet and slightly tart cherry topping. Have fun with the ratios and customize them to your liking.
