Cookie Cutter Heart Pastry Recipes

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Stir in milk until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. Stir a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to pan, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. , Remove from the heat. Gently stir in extracts. Cool to room temperature without stirring. Cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours or until chilled. , In a large bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Fold into custard. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface. Cut with a lightly floured 3-1/2-in. heart-shaped cookie cutter. , Place 1 in. apart on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool., Just before serving, warm preserves in a small saucepan; drizzle some onto dessert plates. Split puff pastry hearts in half. Place bottom halves on plates; spread each with 2 tablespoons of filling. Replace tops; drizzle with remaining preserves. Garnish with raspberries and confectioners' sugar.

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray baking sheets with cooking spray, or line with parchment paper.
• Place the flour, butter, cream cheese, and salt in a bowl. Cut it together with 2 knives or a pastry cutter until the butter and cream cheese is the size of small peas. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
• Cut the dough in half and place half in the refrigerator to stay cold. Roll the other half between 2 pieces of wax paper or parchment into a sheet about 1/8 inch thick. Lift off the top sheet, and use a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut 18 cookies. Before lifting the cutouts from the wax paper, put the dough onto a flat baking sheet and into the freezer for a few minutes to firm up the cookies. Set the 18 cookies aside. Repeat with the other half of the dough, also making 18 heart-shaped cookies.
• Place 18 cookies onto the prepared baking sheets so they don't touch. Carefully brush a little beaten egg around the top of each cookie, and spoon about 1 teaspoon of preserves into the center of the cookie. Top each with another unfilled cookie, press together around the edges, and crimp the edges with a fork to seal in the filling and make a pretty edge. Brush the tops of the filled cookies with beaten egg, and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are a light golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool completely before placing in containers.