Tropical Pineapple and Coconut Tarts

Preheat your oven to 350ºF and set the oven rack in the center position.

Place your puff pastry onto a floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry slightly. Using a knife, cut out 4 x 6 inch round circles of pastry and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Brush each circle with some beaten egg. Bake for 10-15 minutes until browned and crisp. Remove and set aside to cool.

In a large bowl, mix together the pineapple, shredded coconut and mint. If your pineapple is still tart, you may want to add some sugar, but if it is ripe and sweet you shouldn’t need to add any sugar. The juice from the pineapple will start re-hydrating the coconut. Set aside until you are ready to serve.

Grab your can of coconut milk and scoop only the white solids into the bowl of your mixer. There will be about 1/2 inch of coconut water at the bottom of the can—do not put that into the mixer, either discard it or keep it for a different use. With the whip attachment on your mixer, mix the hardened coconut milk on low speed just until it breaks down slightly. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and mix until combined. Now turn the speed up to medium/high and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.

Now to assemble the tart. Start with a round of cooled puff pastry, top with the pineapple mixture and then a big scoop of the whipped coconut cream. Dig in!