Who Doesn't Love Nutella?

Every Wednesday I go to a class called The Healer's Art. It is a program developed by Dr. Rachel Remen, MD who is a professor of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF School of Medicine. The program is implemented in hundreds of medical schools around the world and really helps to create better and more well-rounded physicians. The group I have been with is great, so I thought I would make a little snack for our session tonight.

I wanted something quick and easy. We had an early morning being "inter-professional" meaning I was up before the sun rose. I must admit, the videos and panel this morning were more interesting that I expected, but nonetheless, it was still a very very early morning. I combed through my brain and tried to come up with something that would be easy to make since I only had the afternoon to prepare it. I couldn't make anything that needed to set, had a long baking time, required lots of ingredients, or had a long assembly time. I settled on pastry cups with a nutella custard and fruit. It seems brilliant. Who doesn't love some buttery, flaky puff pastry filled with creamy nutella topped with fresh ripe fruit? Doesn't that sound amazing? It is. These turned out so cute and really tasty. And they were SO easy to make. These will make you look like a pro-pastry chef.

Fruit and Nutella Cups

• 1 package puff pastry shells/cups (the one I bought came with six medium sized cups. You could easily use the mini ones too)
• 1 small package instant vanilla pudding
• 1 c.cold milk
• 4 Tbsp nutella (more or less to taste)
• Fresh fruit
• Powdered sugar for dusting

Bake the pastry cups according to the package directions. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the pudding mix, milk and nutella. Allow to chill in the fridge while the puff pastry finishes baking. When the pastry cups are done, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes on a wire rack. Fill each cup with some of the nutella custard and top with fresh fruit. Dust with powdered sugar and serve on a cute dish.

**Special Tip: Want a super easy way to dust powdered sugar? Rather than using a big sifter, I like to use my tea leaf strainer. It is a little scooper to hold your loose tea leaves, but it doubles as the perfect powdered sugar sifter. It is perfect and holds just about a tablespoon of sugar to create a beautiful sprinkle. It's so easy to clean up and you don't waste excess sugar. You can pick these up at any specialty cooking supply store or your favorite tea shop (mine is Seven Cups). Here is mine (with a friend in the background):