Dewberries are wild blackberries.  They grow wild in our fields.  They come up at about the same time as the spring wildflowers.  

If you don’t have access to dewberries, you can use blackberries or any other berry you like.

Ingredients: Makes 6 tarts

• 1 cup of dewberries (set aside 6 berries, 1 as a topper for each tart)
• 2 pats of butter
• vanilla sugar to taste (I used 1/4 cup of organic evaporated cane juice with vanilla beans in it.  I throw left over vanilla beans into my sugar jar to flavor the sugar.)
• 1 package of puff pastry shells (they usually come in packages of 6)
• 6 dollops of cream to top off each tart.  (You can use whip cream or creme fraiche.  I accidentally made goat milk creme fraiche as a by product of making Paneer (Indian Cheese) I will explain later in the recipe.
• 6 small sprigs of mint as a garnish for each tart

Making the dewberry jam: place all but 6 berries into a heavy saucepan along with the vanilla sugar.  Place on a low flame and cook until the sugar melts and the berries cook down.  Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon.  It takes about 20 minutes for the jam to form.  When the jam forms, melt in the 2 pats of butter.  Set aside to cool to room temperature.

My accidental goat milk creme fraiche:  When I was making the Paneer (Indian Cheese) from goats milk, I had the whey left over.  I used Boer goat milk from my goat, Oreo.  This milk has about 10% fat, so when I stored the left over whey, it still had quite a bit of fat which rose to the top and turned into creme fraiche over night in the frig.   This was such a nice surprise.  I decided to use it to top off my tart.

Preparing the puff pastry shells: Just place on top of a lined baking sheet and bake according to the package instructions.  I used a Silpat to line my baking sheet.  Use what works best for you.  Usually puff pastry is baked in a oven preheated to 400 degress F for about 18 to 20 minutes.  Cook the pastry until it puffs and is golden brown.

Assembling the tarts: Remove the top from the cooked shells and fill them with the cooled dewberry jam.

Top off with a dollop of cream, a dewberry and a small sprig of mint.

These are so pretty and yummy.  If you have any left over dewberry jam, serve it over vanilla ice cream.  This way you get two desserts in one.