Happy Hosting: Easy Strawberry Short Stacks

Hi friends! Welcome back to another installment of happy hosting, where I share my tips and tricks on how to host people in your home! Today is a super easy dessert that you can whip up in those instances you have last-minute guests! I call them Strawberry Short Stacks. I think this is one of my favorite ways to use up the sweet Summer strawberries. The ingredients are few but the impact these will have when you set them on the table will be huge!

Happy Hosting: Easy Strawberry Short Stacks

The elements of this dessert:

Puff Pastry Shells – I love using puff pastry for sweet and savory dishes alike. The crispiness of the pastry when it’s cooked is delightful and is a great vessel for an easy tomato & leek tart or an easy and refreshing strawberry short stack! Puff pastry sheets cut out into circles to get the same effect or making little phyllo cups using your cupcake pan would be a great option too!

Strawberries – Obviously getting the freshest in-season strawberries is the aim. It is best when they are at their peak sweetness. However, you can have this any time of year because the sugar helps enhance the sweetness of the berries anyway! This mixture would be delicious over ice cream or even eaten straight out of the bowl! If you want to, you can substitute other fruits as well, but they may need a little extra prep. Peaches would be delicious, or even stewed blueberries or cherries!

Whipped Cream – I obviously recommend making your own whipped cream. It’s super easy and I spruced mine up with a cinnamon sugar combo. Cool whip or canned whipped cream works great as well if you’re short on time or lack the desire! I have also made these with some ricotta cheese mixed with a bit of sugar and that was good as well!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh strawberries

6 puff pastry shells

1 cup whipping cream

1-2 TBSP granulated sugar plus more for the cinnamon sugar mixture & whipped cream

Milk for brushing (whichever kind you want, I used 1%)

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Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to the temp indicated on the back of the puff pastry package. Place the shells on a cookie sheet equally apart.
2. Brush the tops of the shells with some milk and sprinkle a mixture of cinnamon and sugar over the tops. Once the oven is heated, bake for the amount of time indicated on the package or until they are golden brown. Mine were in for 18 minutes.
3. While the shells bake, combine the strawberries and the 2-3 TBSP sugar in a bowl. Once combined, let the strawberries sit and marinate for about 20 minutes. This will release some of their delicious juices, perfect for drizzling over the top at the end!
4. Make the whipped cream. This can be done by hand but is made much easier with a hand mixer. Add the cream and desired amount of sugar to a bowl and whip to desired thickness. For these, I actually added what was left of my cinnamon sugar mixture from sprinkling on the tops of the shells. Beware that you can risk overwhipping so be mindful!
5. Once the shells are out of the oven, let them cool to room temperature. This will prevent the whipped cream from melting.
6. Remove the center of the shell and set aside. Fill the shell with your desired amount of strawberries and top with your desired amount of whipped cream. Top with the little center piece that you removed and drizzle with the strawberry juices from the bowl!
7. Enjoy!

If you try these, I would love to know how you like them! Share in the comments or come say “Hi” on Instagram!

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