Vanilla Rum Berry Tarts

In January you may recall that I gave up sugar.  Cold turkey, no looking back.  Still, I have not completely given up on dessert, and this represents a lovely little dessert that does actually contain some refined sugar (it’s in the rum), but it is minimal, and a serving of this weighs in at only around 175 calories. If you go nuts and eat two of these (I might have done that…not saying), you still are way better off than eating, say, a bakery muffin.  Plus these taste way better.  Go ahead, eat two.  You are being virtuous.

In addition to being light, these are quite beautiful and evocative of spring, so they would make a lovely addition to a holiday dinner or a barbeque.  If you want to make them kid-friendly you can skip the rum and add in an extra teaspoon of vanilla extract and two tablespoons of powdered sugar (or a little stevia extract).  If you are catering to a crowd that likes the booze, you could increase the rum a bit (not too much, or it will be too runny).

Vanilla Rum Berry Tarts
1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed according to package directions
2 cups 2% plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 ounces vanilla flavored rum (I used Cruzan)
2 tablespoons crema or creme fraiche (optional, but adds a little rich edge to the yogurt)
2 cups assorted fresh berries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and place the puff pastry sheet on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Make three horizontal and three vertical cuts to make nine squares of pastry.  Bake according to package instructions, or until light golden and very puffy.

Whisk together the yogurt, vanilla, vanilla rum, and crema.  For each serving, pull the top layer off of one of the puff pastry squares and spoon on about a quarter cup of the yogurt mixture.  Scatter with a scant quarter cup of the berries, top with the remaining pastry, and serve.  If you are really feeling crazy, dust with a little powdered sugar before serving.  Or, you know, dunk the whole thing in chocolate or something.  Whatever your day was like…

Hope you enjoy!

-Angela