This 3-Ingredient Pastry Is Breaking The Internet, And After Trying It Myself, I Can See Why
Over the past few years, baking has become one of my favorite hobbies. I went from thinking I should sign up for MasterChef because I used butter instead of oil in my boxed cake mixes to making my own homemade bread. With all that being said — I HATE baking in the summer. There are very few things that can get me to turn on my oven when it's 90 degrees out with 200% humidity. So I need something quick and easy that preferably utilizes the incredible produce we have this time of year.
Enter the most beautiful three-ingredient dessert that has ever graced my For You page on TikTok: the upside down puff pastry tart. With over 50 MILLION views — yes, you read that correctly — the hashtag #upsidedownpastry has the internet in an absolute chokehold. The whole appeal of this tart is that it's made "upside down," so there's no fancy shaping or crimping needed. Trust me when I say that even if you've never made a single dessert in your life, you will 100% be able to make this.
The original recipe was created by Lily Ghodrati using just puff pastry, nectarines, and honey. In her video (below), she layers the honey and nectarines onto a baking sheet and then tops it all with egg-washed puff pastry. After baking, the pastries get flipped to reveal a beautiful but simple summer dessert. Since the first version of this fool-proof tart was debuted, people have been showcasing their own creations — both sweet and savory — and proving just how creative you can get with a simple recipe.
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♬ Sleep Walk - Santo and Johnny
@lilyghodrati / Via tiktok.com
Because I love when cooking/baking recipes are so approachable and minimalistic, I wanted to try this viral recipe out for myself. So let's break it down, shall we? As I mentioned, you only need three ingredients: honey, nectarines (or peaches), and store-bought puff pastry. I mean, if you want to be really ambitious you can make your own puff pastry, but we're not making croissants here, so just save yourself the hassle.
First, you'll want to cut your puff pastry into six evenly sized rectangles — a pizza cutter makes this super easy. If you're like me and struggle to cut things evenly (see below), you can roll out any misshapen puff pastry pieces. Then, cut your nectarines into thin-ish slices (about 1/4-inch).
Lay down about one tablespoon of honey on a parchment-lined baking sheet and slightly spread it to the same width as your nectarines. Then arrange your nectarines on top so that they're slightly overlapping one another. Honestly, I measured the honey with my heart so feel free to do the same — there's no perfect science here.
Drizzle the nectarines with more honey and then top with a rectangle of puff pastry. You can optionally crimp the edges with a fork, but I didn't find that it did anything more than just pressing them down around the filling.
Brush your gorgeous pastry with some egg wash (one egg whisked together with about one teaspoon of water) and throw it in the oven at 400ºF for about 20 minutes.
Everyone's oven is different, so start checking on your pastries at the 18-minute mark. The tops should be golden brown and puffed up. And don't fret if you see some leakage — it's to be expected with any sort of tart.
Let your tarts cool on the pan for at least 15 minutes — unless you want those nectarines sliding around everywhere — flip them over, and (optionally) dust them with a little powdered sugar. That's it! I don't think I've ever made a dessert faster in my life — these genuinely took less than 10 minutes to prep. The only thing you really have to plan for is defrosting your puff pastry which you can do overnight in the fridge or leave out for 40 minutes to an hour.
My nectarines were also slightly underripe but I think that actually helped them keep their shape better in the oven. Plus, the tartness balanced out really well with the sweetness of the honey. Overall, I found this to be the perfect no-fuss dessert without compromising on the taste.
If I were to make it again, I'd definitely add some warm spices like cinnamon or nutmeg to make it a bit more peach cobbler-y.
While I love the original recipe, as an amateur baker, I thought: why not try my own twist on this viral dessert? The possibilities feel kind of endless, but my number one goal was to utilize summer flavors while still keeping everything super simple. Here's what I came up with:
Let's start with a sweet one: mango and coconut.
This is inspired by mango sticky rice — a top-tier dessert. All you need are four ingredients: puff pastry (of course), one mango, a can of coconut cream, and coconut flakes. Oh, and an egg for the egg wash. The method from here on out is pretty much identical — swapping the honey for coconut cream, the nectarines for mango, and the powdered sugar for coconut flakes.
Slice the mango the same size as the nectarines in the first recipe (so about 1/4-inch). A whole mango should fill about six pastries, and maybe leave you with a little chef's snack.
Spoon about a tablespoon of coconut cream onto your lined baking sheet (again, this is an estimate because I baked these "grandma style" and didn't take exact measurements). Layer your mango on top vertically, again, slightly overlapping each piece so it matches the shape of the puff pastry.
It helps if the coconut cream is slightly chilled so that it's not too runny. You can also use sweetened condensed milk if you're not the biggest coconut fan.
Top with a little bit more coconut cream, depending on how sweet you want them to be, and then cover with puff pastry, brush with egg wash, and bake. You know the drill from here.
(The drill being: bake at 400ºF for 20 minutes until the pastries are puffed up and golden. Let those bad boys cool for about 15 minutes then flip 'em over.)
Top with a sprinkling of coconut flakes — bonus points if you toast them — and you'll end up with a dessert that screams summer. The coconut cream also gets a little caramelized and you end up with these crispy pieces around the edges, which are personally my favorite parts. You could also serve these with a bit of coconut ice cream or whipped coconut cream. I'm a firm believer that there's no such thing as too much coconut in the summer.
If you want to try some other sweet variations here are a few ideas:
🫐 Blueberry and lemon curd — make your own curd or just use store-bought if you want to keep this as low effort as possible!
🍓 Strawberry, honey, and goat cheese — Trader Joe's has a honey goat cheese that would work super well here.
🍍 Piña colada — keep the coconut cream, replace the mango with pineapple, and add a maraschino cherry (or five).
Now onto a savory version: fig jam and brie.
This one is arguably even EASIER — if that's even possible. If you've ever had a charcuterie board and thought, "This would taste even better baked in a tart," now is your chance to fulfill that super-specific craving.
You'll only need three things: puff pastry (I'm a broken record, I know), fig jam, and brie. If you want to use fresh figs, go for it! I'd recommend adding honey if you're going that route, though. Adding a slice of ham or prosciutto would also help this live up to the charcuterie vibes.
You're going to want to start by slicing your brie so that it fits your puff pastry rectangles. Since I had a triangle of brie, I cut that in half (so that I had two triangles) and started slicing from the base. Spread some fig jam on your parchment sheet and lay those brie slices on top.
Make sure there's enough clearance around the brie so that you can really press down those edges! Some cheese will still leak out when you bake it, but this at least helps a majority of it stay in. Egg wash and bake at the same time and temp as the previous two recipes (400ºF for 20 minutes, in case you aren't sick of me saying it yet).
And that's it! I'll admit, these aren't as aesthetically pleasing, but they make up for it in taste. The sweet-savory combo of fruit jam plus cheese just makes me feel like I'm eating a cheese board on my nonexistent rooftop while sipping an Aperol spritz. You can also play around with different jam and cheese pairings if this one isn't your thing. Definitely eat them warm though — just maybe not straight out of the oven, speaking from experience.
Here are a few other savory options to try if cheese is a must for you:
🍄 Mushroom, thyme, and gruyère — make sure you cook your mushrooms first or you'll end up with a watery mess in the oven.
🍅 Tomato, Boursin, and basil — there's nothing in this world Boursin can't fix. Just top it with basil after it bakes rather than adding basil at the beginning.
🐐 Beet, feta, and toasted pistachios — toast the pistachios separately and top your pastries once they're done. Nuts have a tendency to burn VERY quickly in the oven.
