During lunch break, in 7th grade, I took out my usual sandwich: white bread with feta cheese, kalamata olives and tomato slices. From the corner of my eye I spotted Vicky, the new girl, who was eating a sandwich with a sweet aroma and red stripe running through it. The next day I offered to “switch”- my Greek sandwich for her South African one with peanut butter and jelly. The trade went through and it was love at first taste.

Several years have passed since that day, and my friendship with Vicky still remains, and sandwiches have been replaced with sushi but the longing for that mythical sandwich still remains. This tart was inspired by that sandwich: you spread peanut butter with honey onto squared of puff pastry, and place very thin slices of plums sprinkled with sugar on top (instead of jelly- for those that don’t want to give up on the jelly can spread a thin layer on top of the peanut butter). I tried to make one large tart instead of individual ones, and even though the crust was golden, the center remained only half cooked. Go for the individual versions; if it seems like a lot of work- trust me- it’s worth it.

Ingredients for 16 individual tarts:

• 14 oz. (200 grams) puff pastry, thawed. Remove the puff pastry from the freezer a day in advance and place in the fridge. The thawed dough needs to be worked with quickly, so that it doesn’t heat up and get “mushy”. If the dough starts getting to soft, you can give a cold shock by putting it in the fridge for 15 minutes and then continue working.
• 16 teaspoons peanut butter with honey (a teaspoon for each tart)
• 4 plums, pitted and cut in half and then sliced into 3 mm. slices. The plums can be replaced with strawberries in the winter months.
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar. The sugar doesn’t totally melt during the baking process, and so you are left with a light crunchy texture in addition to the puff pastry.

For the brushing:

• 1 egg yolk + 1 teaspoon of milk, mixed well

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C).
2. Cut the puff into 4 inch (10 cm.) squares, and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
3. Using a knife, carefully mark the edges of the dough, creating a 1½ cm. crust.
4. Spread a teaspoon of peanut butter on each square (you can also add a thin layer of jelly), not excluding the crust. Place a row of the plum slices in a fanlike manner.
5. Brush the crust with the egg yolk and milk and sprinkle sugar over the entire tart.
6. Bake for 20 minutes, until the crust is golden.