Wondering what dessert to make on Valentines Day? How about giving a try to this fail-safe puff pastry dessert recipe if your sweetheart likes light pastries like I do. It’s incredibly easy to make if you use shop-bought puff pastry.

I don’t have a very sweet tooth. Once in a while I may crave something sweet but usually it’s a light cake with no icing, or pastry with light cream and fruit. This one is just the perfect one for me. It smells faintly of rosewater and vanilla and is light as air.

These puff pastry hearts taste like pastries from confectionary shops in Tehran where I lived for many years. But here I am now, living in a small English town and loving it very much. I do miss my friends and family and a few other things including the fabulous pastries, though.

A lot of the pastries and cakes sold in Iranian pastry shops are of western origin. Our traditional sweets are quite different. Think baklava for instance or shortbreads flavoured with cardamom and rosewater or saffron marzipan diamonds. Both types are popular.

When I lived in Iran we had fresh pastries at the office almost every day. If nobody had got engaged or done something that merited buying pastries we’d just create an excuse for celebration and send the office man to the near-by confectionary shop for cream puffs or napoleons. Then there would be tea, coffee, laughter and quite a lot of fun. Oh, good old days…

Anyways, if I’ve tempted you to try my easy puff pastry dessert recipe all you really need to do is take a trip to your local supermarket, buy a sheet of puff pastry, a bottle of rosewater and a pot of heavy cream. I’d buy a punnet of raspberries or strawberries to serve along these too. If you don’t have vanilla paste (or extract) and icing sugar throw those on the list too.

I have made these many times before except that this time I made them heart-shaped because I happened to have a heart-shaped cutter. Don’t fret if you don’t have one. The pastry will taste the same in whatever shape you cut it!

Before I forget, use the regular setting of the oven. Baking puff-pastry in fan-assisted mode is disastrous. I did that once and the air blew all the layers of the pastry over! Instead of well-risen puff pastry I ended up with layers of pastry spread all over the baking sheet.

You can use any cutter but heart-shaped pastries are perfect for Valentines Day.

I use rosewater in the chantilly cream for these pastries because it tastes and smells lovely. If you don’t like rosewater or can’t find it use only vanilla. That works really well too.

Prick the top with a fork.

Depending on the size of your cutter you can get about 15 small or 10 larger pastries from one sheet of shop-bought puff pastry. Size doesn’t really matter. Make them as big or as small as you like.

Ingredients:

1 sheet of puff pastry (all butter or lighter version, up to you to decide), at room temperature

200ml whipping cream or double cream, chilled in the fridge

1-2 tbsp rosewater (not extract or essence. Both are overpowering)

6 tbsp icing sugar, sifted (or according to taste)

1/2 tsp vanilla paste or extract or beans from 1/2 vanilla pod

Rose petals or dried rose buds to decorate

Method:

Preheat the oven to 220C/425F (normal mode- do not use fan-assisted). Fold the pastry sheet in half and very lightly press with the palms of your hand to stick the layers together. Use a sharp cutter to cut shapes or use a knife to cut the pastry in equal-sized squares. Transfer the pastry shapes to a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake for 12-18 minutes or until they are well-risen and golden. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Put the cream in a bowl and add the rosewater and vanilla. If using double cream add a couple of spoonfuls of milk too. Stir to combine. Beat with a hand mixer or whisk until almost stiff peaks form. Add sifted icing sugar by spoonfuls and beat on low speed very briefly to incorporate the sugar. Don’t overbeat or you may get sweet butter. Separate each pastry heart into two layers. Since you started with two layers of pastry this should be quite easy. Use a piping bag to fill the pastries with the whipped cream. Lightly dust with more icing sugar and decorate with a fresh rose petal or a dried rose bud. These pastries keep for a day in a tightly covered dish in the fridge. Have a wonderful Valentines day!

289 Shares Pin 121