Pop tarts are going glam. Official Pop-Tarts are everywhere — snack aisle to custom pop-up shop. As are tribute tarts, which smile from the bakery case and restaurant menu. Why not? What’s not to like about a handheld, rectangular, jam-filled pie?
Plenty, apparently. Ask my husband. He over-indulges only in exercise. That, and Pop-Tarts. It took me years to notice his Achilles’ tart. That’s because he seldom permits himself a Pop-Tart. But he admires them. Greatly.
When I set out to make a homemade version, he took an unprecedented interest in my work. Would it be cinnamon brown sugar? Would it be frosted? And — pointedly — how could I imitate something I’d never tasted?
Fair enough. I took two bites. I understood my mission: Re-create the fun and friendly attitude of the original, if not its rigid, crusty, foil-wrapped actuality. I stuck with the name. “Pop tart” is cute. I’m not willing to cede actual words, like pop and tart, to the cereal conglomerate.
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I folded tarts from white, whole-wheat and cornmeal pastry. I filled their pockets with cinnamon sugar, jam, nuts, fruit, chocolate. I tried unadorned, sprinkled, heavily iced. My final tart was fun and friendly: crisp outside, sticky inside and lightly glazed.
I offered this hometart to my sweetheart. “It’s fine,” he scoffed, “if you want a handheld, rectangular, jam-filled pie. But that’s not a Pop-Tart(R).” He pronounced the silent (R).
Apparently I had left out the rigid, crusty, foil-wrapped appeal of the original. I still think mine’s sweet. And, for novelty, tasty.
Pop Tarts
Prep: 1 hour
Bake: 30 minutes
Makes: 8 tarts
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup fine corn meal
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon fine salt
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut up
2 eggs
5 tablespoons milk, plus a little
1/2 cup raspberry or strawberry jam
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
Mix:
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt. Using a pastry blender or nimble fingers, work in butter, until mixture looks crumbly, with butter lumps ranging in size from specks to kidney beans.
Gather:
Mix together eggs and 5 tablespoons milk. Drizzle about half the egg mixture over the flour mixture, tossing with a fork just until the dough comes together in big clumps. Divide pastry in two, pat each half into a rectangle.
Roll:
Dust a sheet of parchment with flour. Set one dough rectangle on top. Dust with flour. Roll out about 1/8-inch thin and trim to 8-by-12 inches. Use a pizza wheel or pastry cutter to slice into four 3-by-8-inch strips. Note: If at any time the dough is uncooperative, slide the parchment paper onto a baking sheet and the sheet into the freezer for a few minutes.
Fill:
Brush pastry with remaining egg wash. Spread 1 tablespoon jam onto the lower half of each dough strip, leaving a 1/2-inch bare border. Fold dough in half, forming four jam-filled 3-by-4-inch rectangles. (Fold over the dough, still in its parchment paper, then peel away the paper.) Press the edges to seal. Press again with a fork. Poke the top several times with a fork. Freeze about 15 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake:
Separate tarts a bit. Slide tarts (still on parchment, still on pan) into a 350-degree oven and bake until golden and crisp, about 25-30 minutes. Cool.
Glaze:
If you like, mix confectioner’s sugar with 2-3 teaspoons milk to make a glaze. Drizzle over tarts.
Leah Eskin is a Tribune special contributor e-mail her at [email protected]