Puff pastry baskets with red Kampot pepper

Ingredients – Tartlets

• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• 25 g butter
• 250 g strawberry jam
• 200 g whipping cream
• whipping cream stabilizer (optional)
• Red Kampot pepper
• raspberries
• powdered sugar for dusting

Ingredients – Strawberry Jam

• approx. 1.5 kg ripe fresh strawberries
• approx. 350 g cane sugar
• juice of one lemon
• freshly ground  red Kampot pepper
• approx. 50 ml balsamic vinegar

Method for Tartlets

1. On your work surface, spread out the sheet of puff pastry. Use a ruler to divide the longer side into four parts and the shorter side into three. Finally, use a sharp knife to cut the dough into 12 pieces.

2. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Melt the butter on the stove and thoroughly grease a muffin tin. Place one rectangular piece of puff pastry into each muffin cavity so that the edges slightly overlap, then put it in the oven.

3. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the tartlets are golden brown. Once cooled, fill each tartlet with one or two teaspoons of jam.

4. Whip the cream until semi-stiff and decorate each tartlet with a spoonful. If you want the whipped cream to hold its shape firmly and not spread out, use one sachet of whipped cream stabilizer. Finally, top with a raspberry and dust with powdered sugar and freshly ground pepper.

You can either buy strawberry jam or make it at home. If you buy ready-made jam, just add freshly ground red pepper and mix everything together. This will simplify the recipe. I always have a few jars of homemade jam ready in my pantry; I am sharing the recipe for it as well, it is excellent.

Method for Jam

1. Transfer the dried strawberries ideally into a low stainless steel or copper pot with a thick and as large a bottom as possible. Ripe strawberries do not need to be cut, but you can mash them with a fork.

2. Stir continuously and patiently wait for several minutes until the water evaporates, regularly removing the foam that forms on the surface.

3. Then drizzle the strawberries with the juice of one lemon, add part of the measured sugar, and taste to check if the sweetness is sufficient. Continue stirring and evaporating the excess water until a trail forms behind the spoon.

4. This is the right consistency you need to achieve. Season the jam with pepper and balsamic vinegar, fill into clean jars, and seal. Optionally, you can sterilize (about 20 minutes at 80 °C).

Enjoy your meal!

Author: kavarenska.povalecka