I found a terrific idea for Valentine Tarts in Sunday’s Parade Magazine. For those who aren’t familiar with Parade, the magazine is an insert in many papers in the U.S.A. I doubled the recipe and used four sheets of pie dough. Do not double the filling recipe below as it makes a large amount.

You can find the recipe here: Parade Magazine Homemade Valentine Heart Tarts

The basic instructions and recipe are on this site, along with some filling ideas. I searched around the Internet and found a cream cheese and raspberry filling recipe that I adapted for my tarts. A step by step photo tutorial is pictured below that will show you how I put my tarts together. I also added any little quirks or tips I thought might be helpful.

Filling:

8-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Beat these ingredients together.

Heat jam on stovetop until smooth. A wire whisk works well.
1/2 cup seedless raspberry jam

I was able to get eight to nine tarts out of two pie sheets.

Just a little filling, less than a tablespoon, was plenty. I realized I had made WAY  too much filling early on.

If possible leave some wiggle room around each heart, especially near the edges of the pan, my crimping with a fork was very cramped!

The egg wash did add a nice finish to the top of the tarts.

Oh my! I definitely overfilled. The filling bubbled out. The raspberry baked like glue onto the pan. I had to soak them and work at the burnt areas with a teflon safe spatula.

The burnt raspberry jam turns rock hard in moments. Remove the tarts to a cooling rack immediately upon completion of baking.

Let the tarts completely cool before frosting. I should have made a double batch of the frosting. I forgot I had doubled the amount of tarts I had baked.

I had so much filling left over, I crushed some vanilla shortbread, added some butter, and made some small cheesecakes. They turned out terrific.

Although it is a bit expensive to make this special dessert. I will definitely make them again. The tarts are a departure from the normal cookies, large pies, and cakes.