Valentine’s Day Heart Shaped Toaster Oven Pastry

My Fermented Valentine

Celebrating Valentine’s Day? Then add a little something fermented to the menu. Try these yogurt stuffed toaster pastries as a special treat for your special someone. Though if made large, they won’t fit in a toaster, so consider these toaster oven pastries.

This pie dough and filling include yogurt and so this is a fermented food recipe by my definition. If you prefer savory, skip the yogurt filling and instead use sauerkraut or feta inside. Any way you stuff it, get ready to eat your fermented heart out.

Makes 2 large hearts

For Toaster Pastry Crust

  • 250 grams (2 cups) + 100 grams (3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
  • 226 grams (1 cup) cold butter
  • 5 grams (1 teaspoon) salt
  • 24 grams (2 tablespoons) sugar
  • 130 grams (1/2 cup) cold yogurt or kefir

 

For Yogurt Filling

  • 180 grams (1 1/2 cups) powdered sugar
  • 100 grams (1/3 cup) yogurt or kefir
  • 5 grams (1 tablespoon) tapioca flour

 

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C).
  • Combine 250 grams (3/4 cup) flour, butter, and salt in a food processor. Pulse until combined into small bits.
  • Add remaining flour and pulse until just combined. Do not over-process.
  • Transfer dough to a bowl. Add some of the yogurt to the bowl and begin to combine with hand or spoon. Continue to add yogurt until the dough comes together in a ball. It may not be necessary to use all of the yogurt. At this point, dough may be used immediately or refrigerated for up to one day.
  • Whisk together powdered sugar, yogurt, and tapioca flour in a small bowl.
  • Separate pastry dough into four pieces. Roll out one section to 1/8-inch on a floured surface. Cut into the shape of a large heart. Gently transfer to a baking sheet.
  • Spread the filling over the heart up to a 1/2-inch from the edge.
  • Roll out a second piece of dough to a 1/8-inch thickness and then drape over the heart on the pan. Press down with your fingers around the edge of the heart. Gently cut the top pastry crust to the size of the original heart. Ensure edge is sealed.
  • Make small incisions with a knife, fork, or toothpick into the heart so that they do not explode when baked.
  • Repeat for second heart.
  • Bake for thirty to thirty-five minutes or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Serve as is or toast to a dark golden brown in a toaster oven.

 

Note: As the tapioca flour heats up, it will thicken the yogurt and sugar filling so that once baked, the filling resembles that of commercial toaster pastries. If you really want the inside of your hearts to be red, then add a few drops of food coloring to the filling before baking. Beet juice almost works as a dye, but after baking, the color turns rather dull and disappointing.