A Look Into Our Toaster Tarts
Our co-owner, Ben, wanted a healthful, easy-to-eat-on-the-go, sweet & savory snack that was neither a cookie nor a sandwich. That’s when the idea of a pop-tart “popped” in his head, and our version of toaster tarts was born.
We offer two varieties: Spinach & Rye and Blueberry Balsamic. While they are labor intensive, they’ve quickly become customer favorites around here and we’re not surprised! We put a unique spin on some classic qualities of a pop-tart that make it a nutritious and scrumptious bakery treat.
The crust is the same on both of varieties. With influence from the standard pastry dough, we blend heartier grains such as oats from Bob’s Red Mill and whole rye berries. To preserve as much nutritional content and oils in the grains, both are are ground in-house right before we get to making it into flour. Then we finish it up into a perfect dough, roll it out, and then cut them into rectangles. Now they’re ready to be filled!
Spinach Rye
The old-world tradition of making home-made ricotta was very labor-intensive. Ricotta was originally made as a “scrap cheese,” to make use of the leftover whey that was produced while making other cheese. It never did produce a great yield either.
Today the method is much simpler. At Penstock, we start with fresh grass-fed milk from Maplehofe Farm in Quarryville, PA. We heat it precisely to 200º, add natural acids and then strain it for 30 minutes. From one gallon of milk, only about 25% is made into cheese. The other 75% is liquid whey protein. We are looking for ways to use the whey and would love to hear your ideas if you have any!
Spinach is the other main ingredient - we blanch and remove the excess water to pack more spinach and flavor in the filling. Next, we caramelize Spanish onions that really pull this filling together. Rather than a sauteing the onions, we wanted to achieve something closer to an onion jam by caramelizing it with a touch of sugar. Mixed together with our Penstock seasonings and a touch of fresh lemon zest, it’s a perfect warm & savory combination.
Blueberry Balsamic
We knew we wanted to use blueberries, and our home state Jersey is known for ‘em! While blueberry-lemon is a very classic mix that we’re familiar with, our kitchen head, Erik, wanted to give it a twist with something new— balsamic. This idea went to the test kitchen and let’s just say it turned out to be amazing!
The blueberry reduction is similar to the compote we use in our buttermilk & jam biscuits. In our toaster tarts, however, it’s reduced much more to a preservative consistency further intensifying the flavor. While blueberries are seasonal, we carry the blueberry balsamic tarts year-round and stay fine-tweaking them to bring an equally delicious filling all year. We finally top it off with a drizzle house-made organic honey icing, too!
Each pastry is filled, folded and crimped by hand, then brushed with an egg-wash. We love to bake and serve them fresh out of the oven to our customers. That’s why we only do small batches of 8 at a time and sell out quickly! A simple and delicious tart that we are proud of!