There’s a quiet kind of joy in baking with what’s in season, especially when the fruit comes straight from your own backyard. As someone who prefers to stay close to home ~ I find immense comfort in the simple act of picking ripe fruit, rolling out dough, and filling the house with the scent of something sweet and buttery rising in the oven.
We have lots of blueberries from last season. Every chance I get I try to use all I can knowing more is on the way as Summer approaches. With the cooler mornings nudging me toward the kitchen, I decided to bake one of my all-time favorite treats: a rustic fruit pastry.
Not quite a pie, not quite a tart — this pastry is humble, forgiving, and endlessly adaptable. It’s the kind of thing you can pull together with whatever fruit you have on hand, whether it’s summer peaches, autumn pears, raspberries, or berries from the freezer.
This fruit pastry never fails to bring people to the table. It’s simple, beautiful, and rooted in what the land gives us. When I bake it, I’m reminded that living close to the earth means honoring each season, savoring what’s fresh, and creating something nourishing with my own two hands.
So whether you’re on a farm or in a tiny apartment kitchen, I hope this rustic fruit pastry brings a little homemade warmth into your day.
From my kitchen to yours,
With flour-dusted hands and a grateful heart, Holly
Easy Fruit Pasteries
6 oz cream cheese, softened
2 T Sugar
2 t lemon juice + 1 t lemon zest
1 t vanilla extract
1 package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed
1 1/2-2 cups fruit
1 large egg
Raw Sugar
Preheat the oven to 400°F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Beat the cream cheese with the sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract until creamy.
Lightly roll the pastry with a rolling pin to seal the perforations. Using a 4-inch round cookie cutter (or glass), cut out four circles from each sheet of puff pastry.
Transfer four pastry circles onto each baking sheet, spacing the circles about 2 inches apart. Lightly score a circular border 1/4-inch from the edges then prick the centers of each pastry with a fork. Spread a portion of the cream cheese mixture inside the border of each pastry then top the cream cheese with fruit.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the edges of the pastries with the egg wash then sprinkle them with the raw sugar.
Bake the pastries for 15 to 18 minutes or until they’re golden and puffed. Allow them to cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to a cooling rack to cool completely.
