Strawberry tart

Fresh fruit tartlets

Adapted from “The Classic Party Fare Cookbook” by Martha Rose Shulman. This is my go-to book for appetizers; all the ones I've tried have been instant hits. This is only the second dessert I’ve attempted from the book, but I was looking for something a bit different to wish a co-worker happy birthday, since this is her last year with us before she goes off to pursue better things.

Ingredients

Tartlets

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt

2 tablespoons sugar

Zest of 1 orange

2 teaspoons orange liqueur such as Cointreau (I used some of the holiday excess)

Pastry shells made with Almond Dessert Pastry

Fresh fruit of your choice, such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries, etc., or a mixture

¼ cup apricot jam

Almond Dessert Pastry

½ cup ground almonds

1 cup flour, sifted

2 tablespoons superfine sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

2 to 3 tablespoons water

Method

In a food processor, mix ground almonds, flour, sugar and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add extract and with the blade running, add enough water to bring dough together.

Place dough on a sheet of waxed paper. Flatten to about 1-inch thick. Cover with another sheet of waxed paper. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll out dough between two pieces of waxed paper until it’s about ¼ inch thick. (This dough is really crumbly and delicate to work with; a cold rolling surface really helps. Cut into rounds if making tartlets, or use waxed paper to help you transfer dough to one larger tart. (The recipe warns it’s tougher to make it into one cohesive tart, and they weren’t kidding.) The dough makes enough for one 10-inch tart, 10 3-inch tartlets or 16 2-inch tartlets. Sadly, I only have the 10-, 5- and 4-inch varieties, so the die was cast.

Press dough into tart pans, pressing up the sides. Take care not to stretch the dough, to avoid shrinkage when it bakes. Use the rolling pin to roll over the tops to cut off any excess. Chill for at least 2 hours, or double-wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. (Can you imagine just having these in your freezer, ready to deploy? We’ll see if I can pull off that trick sometime.)

Preheat oven to 375. Line tarts with aluminum foil, shiny side up. Fill with pie weights or dry beans. Bake full size tart for 20 minutes, small ones for 10, then remove foil. At this point, the recipe calls for baking the full size tart for another 20 minutes and small ones for 10. Big mistake. I caught a whiff after 14 minutes and it was very nearly too brown to use, a waste of a really nice crust. I suggest checking after 10 minutes, maybe sooner.

Let cool for 10-15 minutes until cool enough to handle and carefully remove the pastry from the shells. Let cool completely.

In a food processor, blend together cream cheese, yogurt, sugar, zest and liqueur until smooth. Spread into cooled tart or tartlets. Top with desired fruit sliced to fit the tart or tartlets. Melt jam in a saucepan. Brush over fruit while still warm. Chill until ready to serve.

Rating: Fine, but not as much of a wower as I had hoped for given the ingredient list and how long it takes to make from start to finish. How much of that was due to the crust getting too crispy, I’m not sure. I’d like to try it again in tartlet form and see how that works out. If I ever get to the point where I’m the kind of person who has these in the freezer ready to bake off for a party.... I'd come to that party.

These are the strawberry tart recipes I considered and didn't make from Martha Stewart and this basil-infused one from PBS that looks awesome but not a likely candidate for surviving the trip into the office. But sometime. Dinner party fodder.