One of my favorite desserts of all time is fruit tarts! I made really cute mini fruit tarts for a family dinner last year and I wanted to perfect my tart recipe. So, this may not be my famous fruit tarts, but it's still a tart, has fruit and cream cheese, so what more can you ask in a dessert? It's a great summer dessert, and I shared it with my small group last weekend. Here's the recipe and a cool picture Mr. Rhee took:
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp. heavy cream
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
For the ganache:
2 oz. bittersweet chocolates
¼ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
For the filling:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
½ cup sifted confectioners’ sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. milk or cream ( I used buttermilk)
For topping:
Fresh strawberries, sliced
Melted bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, for drizzling
Directions:
To make the tart shell, whisk together the egg yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl; set aside. Mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture. Mix together until it resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses. With the machine running, add the egg mixture and process until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 6-inch disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator, make sure it's room temperature before you proceed. Unwrap and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch round. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch tart pan. Mold the dough to the sides of the tart pan. Set the dough-lined tart pan on a large plate and freeze for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Set the dough-lined tart pan on a baking sheet, press a 12-inch square of foil into the frozen shell and over the edge, and fill with pie weights. Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time. Remove the foil and weights. Continue to bake until deep golden brown, 5-8 minutes longer. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
To make the ganache, place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let sit 1-2 minutes to melt the chocolate. Whisk together until a smooth ganache forms. Spread the ganache in a thin even layer over the bottom of the cooled tart shell. Allow the ganache to set before proceeding.
To make the filling, beat together the cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar in a bowl on medium-high speed until smooth. Blend in the vanilla and milk or cream. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the cooled ganache in the tart shell.
Once finished, decorate with strawberries, and drizzle the remaining ganache over the strawberries into a cool design and enjoy !
(view from the top right after it cooled)
