Frozen puff pastry is one of the greatest gifts ever given to the home cook. With very little effort, we can include our kids in the making of extremely fancy feeling desserts. I keep some in the freezer almost all the time, especially during the summer when we often have last minute get togethers. When planning a recipe to invite kids to help, I try to only have one or two tricky components. For this, the lemon creme patisserie is the tricky portion, so I am happy to use store bought puff pastry. Homemade puff pastry is a teenage (or older based on interest) attention span project for me!

We used this recipe for an 8-11 year old class, and it was so perfect. They were incredibly proud of their creations (as they should be!) and everyone wanted to wait to eat until their grown ups showed up at the end of class so they could see it.

I give instructions for how to make a simple pastry shell using puff pastry, and the recipe for the lemon creme patisserie is here. If you are not up to making this French pastry cream, feel free to fill it with regular old (wildly delicious) whipped cream or a box mix of pudding. The most important part is being in the kitchen with your loved ones, so do what feels right and easy for your era right now!

Lemon Custard Tarts

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry (thawed slightly)

Berries (for topping)

Sliced almonds (for topping)

Powdered sugar (for topping)

2 Tablespoon milk

1 recipe lemon creme patissiere

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400*F. 
2. Unfold your pastry dough.
3. Cut dough into 6 even squares. 
4. Cut two large L shapes in your square. Fold the bend in your L over opposite sides to make a rim around your square with the edges twisted. 
5. Prick the center of your dough squares so they don’t puff up while cooking. 
6. Brush your dough squares with milk. 
7. Bake for 15-18 minutes. Check at 10 minutes to see if you need to prick the center again to deflate it. You want to make sure there is enough room to fill it with creme. 
8. Let cool. 
9. Whisk your creme and pipe into your baked shells. 
10. Top with berries, almonds, and dust with powdered sugar. 

Notes

• Feel free to sub in your favorite homemade pudding, pudding from a box, chocolate hazelnut spread, or simply fill these cute shells with whipped cream. I think this is an especially good idea if this is your (or your child’s) first time working with puff pastry. One challenge at a time!
• Sub any berries or toppings you like. The powdered sugar is optional, but makes it look so lovely.