Blueberry Lemon Puff Pastry Blossoms

Blueberry Lemon Puff Pastry Blossoms! A sweet spring treat, these pretty little bites are made with store bought puff pastry and filled with a heavenly blueberry-lemon cream. A great addition to brunches, showers and tea parties.

It has become clear to me over the past several years that I have Pi Day FOMO. {Fear Of Missing Out} I suppose it's more of a FOMOOP -- Fear Of Missing Out On Pie. That's a lot more fun to say, anyway.

It's the same darn story every year. I balk at participating in such "food holiday" silliness, but as 3/14 approaches, I find myself wondering if I should just give in and take part in the fun. Especially because I know that I'll spend the entire day gawking at every variation on pie under the sun.

As usual, I didn't plan anything special for this week. Actually, I worked on a few springtime recipes for various projects and ended up with a few that didn't pan out. But the silver lining was that I had leftover puff pastry cups from an idea that didn't come to fruition, so I figured I'd go ahead and find a way to use them.

These Blueberry Lemon Puff Pastry Blossoms were the end result. And guess what? They're sort of like a pie! A mini pie. A tart, if you will. Stop looking at me like that. They have a "crust" and a creamy filling. LET ME HAVE MY MOMENT.

I used to look at pretty, petite bites like these and think, "Nope, ain't got time for that." because it seemed to me that most times, the smaller the dessert, the bigger the effort. {I actually have an entire Pinterest board devoted to this kind of thing called "Adorably Impractical" if that tells you anything.} But I'm here to tell you that you, my doubtful friend, can whip these up without breaking a sweat if you can:

1. Open and thaw a package of frozen puff pastry.
2. Use a cookie cutter fairly well.
3. Turn on the oven, put something in it, and take it out when it's ready.
4. Whip cream and mix things in a bowl.
5. Boil things on the stove top. {Although you may even be able to skip this step with my alternative method for these.}
6. Pipe filling into a small cup. {It's not as hard as it looks when you use a zip top bag.}

Ok, now that I've written that all out, I do realize that it sounds like an awful lot of steps for something so very small, but the odds are that if you're making something this cutesy, you're doing it for a special occasion. So put on your pastry pants and give it a try. Otherwise, you may be missing out... and we all know that's a horrible feeling. 😉

Regardless of whether you agree that these fit the bill for Pi{e} day, they're such a great little sweet treat to add to your collection of spring recipes. They're bite-sized and precious, perfect for a baby shower or spring soiree.

Ingredients You'll Need

These springtime sweets only take a handful of ingredients, all of which are pretty easy to find:

• store bought frozen puff pastry
• frozen or fresh blueberries
• sugar
• water
• fresh lemon zest
• vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• heavy whipping cream

How to Make Pastry Shells

Frozen puff pastry is a great shortcut for all kinds of desserts and beyond {even Ina uses it, so it must be ok}, and when you use a flower-shaped cookie cutter to punch out each one and tuck them into a mini cupcake tin before you bake them, you end up with charming pastry cups that make a fantastic vessel for a blueberry-lemon cream filling.

It's pretty darn easy to create these little pretties:

• Lightly flour a board or clean counter top and place the thawed puff pastry on it. Dust the pastry dough with a little extra flour to help make it easy to cut and handle. 
• Using a flower-shaped cookie cutter, punch out as many flowers as you can.
• Press each piece into the well of a mini muffin tin, lightly flattening the "petals".
• Using the tines of a fork or a toothpick, poke the bottom of the puff pastry; this will help keep them from puffing up all the way and allow for the indentation that will hold the filling.
• Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10-12 minutes or until golden and crisp. Let them cool completely before filling.

How to Make Blueberry Cream Filling

The filling is what really makes these blueberry puff pastry blossoms pop both visually and flavor-wise. Luckily, it's pretty easy to whip up -- literally!

First, you'll need to make a simple blueberry mixture by heating up fresh {or frozen} blueberries, sugar and water. When the mixture is thickened a bit, you'll add lemon zest and vanilla extract for extra flavor.

While it's cooling, you'll whip up some heavy cream. Once the blueberry mixture is cool, you can add it to the whipped cream and fold it in until no streaks are left. Now you have a creamy, dreamy filling for your blossoms... and THAT COLOR. {Thank you, blueberries!} So spring.

How to Assemble

Once your cups are baked and your filling is ready, it's time to assemble! My favorite way to pipe the filling into the pastry blossoms is to scoop the filling into a piping bag or a zip top bag with one of the corners snipped. This gives you extra control since filling them with a spoon can make them look a little messy {though they'll still be delicious}!

Top each blossom with a plump blueberry and some extra lemon zest for garnish, and you're all set! Springtime in an edible cup. 🙂

Blueberry Lemon Puff Pastry Blossoms

The Kitchen Prep

These sweet, delicate blueberry puff pastry blossoms have a hint of lemon for a fruity and fresh citrus zing. The light whipped filling on a flaky puff pastry blossom makes these little treats perfect party desserts.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 30 minutes mins

Total Time 45 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 24 blossoms

Equipment

• Mini muffin tin
• Flower shaped cookie cutter
• Piping bag with tip

Ingredients

  

• 1 box store bought frozen puff pastry thawed
• ½ cup frozen or fresh blueberries* plus extra for garnish
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest plus extra for garnish
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
• ½ cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

 

• Prepare puff pastry blossom shells: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove the thawed puff pastry from the package and place onto a lightly floured surface. Dust a little more flour on top to make it easy to cut. Using a cookie cutter, punch out as many flowers as you can and press them into the wells of a mini muffin tin, lightly flattening the "petals". Use a fork to poke the bottom of the puff pastry; this will help keep them from puffing up all the way. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until golden and crisp. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
• Make filling: In a small saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and allow to bubble for about 3-5 minutes until the blueberries begin to pop and the mixture begins to thicken.
• Using a potato masher or a fork, smash the blueberries to help release their juice. Cook for another minute, then remove from heat. {If you prefer your cream filling not to have any skins or pieces, then you can strain this mixture into a small bowl with a fine mesh strainer and use without the pulp. I gave mine a few pulses in the food processor to smooth it a bit, but used all of it. Either way works but straining will result in a smoother filling.}
• Stir lemon zest and vanilla extract into the blueberry mixture.
• In a medium bowl, whip cream to stiff peaks, then gently fold in the blueberry mixture until it is fully incorporated and there are no more streaks.
• Scoop the mixture into a piping bag {fitted with your desired tip} or a zip top bag with the tip snipped from one corner, and pipe into each of the puff pastry blossom shells.
• If desired, top each blossom with a blueberry and a bit of lemon zest. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve.

Notes

Shortcut: If you don't have blueberries on hand or you're short on time or patience, you can simply use store bought blueberry preserves in place of the blueberry mixture. You may not need the sugar since preserves are typically sweet, but you can still mix in the vanilla and lemon zest for flavor.