Bailey's Irish Cream Tarts with Coffee Glaze

Can I tell you a story?

When we were in the very serious endeavor of choosing paint colors for Claiborne House, Mr. Pedantic decided that we should paint our living room a color Sherwin Williams had affectionately dubbed, “Shamrock” - that very aggressive shade of green that most of us enjoy on only one day out of the year.

Calm your hearts, I managed to lose that paint chip and we settled on a perfectly lovely compromise which just happened to be the color I had wanted all along. Isn’t compromise wonderful?

See also: My husband is a freaking saint who I adore, but has the solitary flaw of believing that if a color works on a car, it works in a room. I’ve tried, friends, but there are elements of taste that cannot be taught.

With this very green holiday close upon us, I cannot help but dream of Irish Nachos and gratefully remember my close call with a Kelly Green living room.

Let’s make something festive as can be that you might just want to eat every day for the rest of the year. Hello, Irish coffee breakfast tarts. It’s like I have been waiting my whole life for a love like this.

This is the kind of recipe that you could reasonably make on a weekday morning if you are really feeling the holiday and don’t mind waking up a teeny bit early.

It is pretty low maintenance, especially because we are using store-bought puff pastry.

Do not worry, I know this is my second use of the frozen stuff this year but I promise that I still make my own, just not every day.

You can also pull a bit of multi-taking magic by making a pot of coffee that will go into the recipe, and still leave plenty for your morning cup.

Just whisk the hot coffee into a bit of confectioner’s sugar and you will wind up with a coffee glaze that tastes amazing on just about anything.

Our filling essentially consists of all the most delicious things to be found in my fridge. Mascarpone, cream cheese, eggs, and Irish cream form the base of this creamy filling. You can almost hear the melodious bagpipes play our praises.

It’s just sweet enough to feel indulgent, but not too sweet to be at the breakfast table.

Pastry is sliced into rectangles and a liberal amount of filling is spooned into the center before we top with an additional layer of pastry.

In roughly fifteen minutes, they will be puffed and golden.

You will want to give the pastries ample chance to cool before glazing, otherwise the glaze will just melt. Once the pastries are just barely warm, drizzle with your coffee glaze and give them a few minutes so that the glaze can set up.

Now it’s time to pour the coffee because breakfast is served!

And this is how we cleverly manage to have Irish cream for breakfast.

Sincerely,

Pedantic Foodie

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Bailey's Irish Cream Tarts with Coffee Glaze

makes six tarts

• 2 sheets frozen puff pastry, thawed but still very cold

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened

• 2 ounces mascarpone, softened

• 2 large egg yolks, divided use

• 1 large egg

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream

• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract

• 1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

• 3 tablespoons strong coffee

• gold sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine cream cheese and mascarpone in a medium mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. While continuing to mix on medium speed, work in one egg yolk, egg white, and sugar. Reduce speed to low and pour in Irish cream and vanilla; mix until smooth and well combined.

Lay a single sheet of your puff pastry out onto a clean, dry surface. Use a sharp knife to cut the pastry into six equal rectangles 5 x 3 1/2 inches.

Use a large spoon to place roughly three tablespoons of filling into the center of half of the rectangles and gently spread the mixture out, leaving a 1/2-inch border around all edges. Top each with a second rectangle of pastry and use the tips of your fingers to seal the edges. Repeat with the second sheet of pastry and remaining filling.

Transfer the pastries to the prepared baking sheets, placing them at least 1 1/2 inches apart.

In a small bowl, whisk together remaining egg yolk and 1 teaspoon water. Use a pastry brush to brush all pastries with the egg wash and place in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, or until puffed and deep golden.

Transfer the baked pastries to cooling racks set over parchment paper and allow to cool until just warm. While the pastries cool, prepare the glaze.

In a medium bowl, combine confectioner’s sugar and coffee. Use a fork to mix the coffee into the sugar, until you are left with a thick, smooth icing.

Drizzle the glaze over just-warm tarts and sprinkle with gold sugar. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!!

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