Fruit Tart: No, I'm Not Talking About Myself

[foolish_m0rtal]

You CAN make those adorable fruit tarts you see in the glass cases because they are probably the easiest recipe I've posted so far. They are actually really healthy too.

These fruit tarts were the other thing at the Hot Cakes bakery that I was contemplating buying for my dad's birthday. (The French Flourless Chocolate Cake won out)
So I suppose this is the another post in my long slow revenge against bakeries that charge too much for their products.

I'm a college student, okay? I don't have much access to fancy things like electric mixers, I don't have much time, and I certainly have to clean up all my messes to a spotless degree if I don't want to be banned from the communal kitchen. There are shortcuts I take in my recipes for steps I deem unnecessary and ways to improvise for directions requiring more fancy stuff. Whenever a recipe calls for me to whip something with an electric mixer or melt with a double boiler, most of the time I beat things by hand and microwave respectively.

I bring this up because the original recipe calls for making your own crusts. Now usually, I'm all for this because I'm a freak that likes to know every single thing that goes into the food I make. But for the sake of time, I really can't. I used store bough tart crusts. If you really want to make your own crusts, I've posted the ingredients and recipe at the bottom. I can't offer any of my usual advice because again, I haven't made my own.



Fresh Fruit Tarts

Ingredients:

1 pkg store bought tart crusts

FILLING:
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 c. sugar
2 1/2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 c. chilled whipping cream

TOPPING:
Whatever fruits you like that are in season. I used:

Fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
Fresh blackberries
Fresh raspberries

GLAZE:
1/4 c. apricot preserves
1 tbsp. water

1) You have to bake the crusts beforehand. Follow the instructions on the box and make sure to pierce the bottoms of the crusts with a fork before baking them. Otherwise the crusts will puff up like the Pillsbury Doughboy and giggle when you poke them. Not pleasant.

2) Using electric mixer (aka, microwave to soften cream cheese and then mix everything together by hand) beat cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice in large bowl until well blended. I just squeezed in half a lime, but you can also go with the lemon juice. Add whipping cream and beat until light and fluffy.

3) Spread filling into tart shell. The recipe says refrigerate overnight. Bullshit. Three hours should be enough. I would recommend having a scapegoat tart that you can poke with a knife to see if the filling is ready. (If you are making the tarts for a party or something , the scapegoat tart is also the one YOU get to NOM eat NOM sample to make sure the dish is satisfactory before serving it to others)

The filling consistency should be almost cheese cake or flan like; if it is more yogurt like, it's not done yet. The filling should have a more solid consistency and shouldn't fill up the holes you poke into it but should hold them. Like those memory foam mattresses you see on T.V. with the material originally developed by NASA. (I met an astronaut [Kathryn Thornton] who said that was all a bunch of crap)

4) When THAT's done, arrange fruit on top in cool patterns. You can squish them down into the filling if you are transporting them and don't want anything to fall off.

5) To make the fruit look all pretty, melt the preserves and water into a bowl and brush over the fruit for the glaze. If you are using fruit with small detail (like the blackberries I used) don't glaze it. The glaze will fill in all the cracks in the berries and rob it of its definition. It will just make it look like one large blob. Save the glaze for relatively smooth surfaces like raspberies, cherries, strawberries, etc. To give you some ideas, the original recipe recommended blueberries, halved orange sections, and kiwis.
 

HOMEMADE CRUST
(If you have any questions about this part, I can't help you since I didn't make it. Good luck!)

1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
5 tbsp. chilled solid vegetable shortening
3 tbsp. chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
3 tbsp. (about) ice water

1) For crust: Combine flour, sugar and salt in medium bowl. Add shortening and butter and cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix in enough water by tablespoonfuls to form dough that just comes together. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes.

2) Roll dough out on lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thick round. Transfer dough to 9 inch diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Trim and crimp edges. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

3) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line tart with foil. Fill crust with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely.

 

Comments

[x-mog.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have to copy paste all these recipes and print them out! :O

You make me hungry~!

[foolish-m0rtal.livejournal.com]

:)
I add them into a Microsoft Access file. (You can get a template for recipes, which is super helpful)

So I either have them up on LJ or in the file.

[x-mog.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what that means. lol I'll just copy paste. Thats how I print all my recipes.

[rktikfox.livejournal.com]

This looks awesome. ♥

[foolish-m0rtal.livejournal.com]

It's so easy to make and tastes delicious.