Cream Cheese Jewel Tart Food

CREAM CHEESE TART SHELLS

Steps:

• Blend cream cheese and butter or margarine. Stir in flour just until blended. Chill about 1 hour. This can be made ahead and chilled for up to 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Shape dough into 24 one-inch balls and press into ungreased 1 1/2 inch muffin cups (mini-muffin size) to make a shallow shell. Fill with your favorite filling and bake for 20 minutes, or until the crust is light brown.

CREAM CHEESE TARTS (PAULA DEEN)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup (12 total) of muffin pan.
• Beat cream cheese with electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
• Place a vanilla wafer FLAT side down, in each muffin cup. Spoon cream cheese mixture over wafers filling each to about 1/4 inch from top of paper.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Allow tarts to cool completely before filling. When you remove the tarts from the oven, they will be puffed up, but as they cool, the center will sink, creating the perfect well to fill with a couple of spoonfuls of your favorite filling.
• Chill thoroughly before serving.

CREAM CHEESE JEWEL TART

Steps:

• 1. Heat oven to 450°F. Prepare pie crust for one-crust baked shell using 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Bake at 450°F. for 9 to 11 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 30 minutes or until completely cooled.2. In small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and liqueur beat until smooth and well blended. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly in cooled baked shell.3. Top with berries brush berries with melted jelly to glaze. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Store in refrigerator.Nutrition Information Per Serving: Serving Size: 1/8 of Recipe * Calories: 320 * Calories from Fat: 150 * % Daily Value: Total Fat: 17 g 26% * Saturated Fat: 9 g 45% * Cholesterol: 40 mg 13% * Sodium: 190 mg 8% * Total Carbohydrate: 39 g 13% * Dietary Fiber: 3 g 12% * Sugars: 20 g * Protein: 3 g * Vitamin A: 10% * Vitamin C: 25% * Calcium: 4% * Iron: 4% * Dietary Exchanges: 1 Starch, 1 1/2 Fruit, 3 1/2 Fat or 2 1/2 Carbohydrate, 3 1/2 Fat

CREAM CHEESE JEWEL TART

Steps:

• 1. Heat oven to 450°F. Prepare pie crust for one-crust baked shell using 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Bake at 450°F. for 9 to 11 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool 30 minutes or until completely cooled.2. In small bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and liqueur beat until smooth and well blended. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly in cooled baked shell.3. Top with berries brush berries with melted jelly to glaze. Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving. Store in refrigerator.Nutrition Information Per Serving: Serving Size: 1/8 of Recipe * Calories: 320 * Calories from Fat: 150 * % Daily Value: Total Fat: 17 g 26% * Saturated Fat: 9 g 45% * Cholesterol: 40 mg 13% * Sodium: 190 mg 8% * Total Carbohydrate: 39 g 13% * Dietary Fiber: 3 g 12% * Sugars: 20 g * Protein: 3 g * Vitamin A: 10% * Vitamin C: 25% * Calcium: 4% * Iron: 4% * Dietary Exchanges: 1 Starch, 1 1/2 Fruit, 3 1/2 Fat or 2 1/2 Carbohydrate, 3 1/2 Fat

KIWI-CREAM CHEESE TART

Steps:

• For crust:
• Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter. Using on/off turns, process until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 1 tablespoon ice water and blend until moist clumps form. Add more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Transfer dough to floured surface. Gently knead nuts into dough. Press dough onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Freeze crust 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375°F. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust until sides begin to set, about 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until cooked through and pale golden, piercing with fork if crust bubbles, about 10 minutes longer. Cool crust completely.
• For filling:
• Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar, lime juice and lime peel in large bowl until smooth and fluffy. Beat whipping cream in medium bowl until firm peaks form. Fold into cream cheese mixture. Spoon filling into crust; smooth top with knife. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Arrange kiwis in concentric circles atop filling, overlapping slightly. (Can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead. Cover with plastic and refrigerate.) Cut tart into wedges and serve.

JEWEL FRUIT TART

Steps:

• Beat together butter and 1/2 cup honey in a large bowl.
• Beat in egg, 1/2 t. vanilla and lemon juice.
• Sift flour into liquid ingredients, stir to mix.
• Form dough into a ball and chill for 1 hour.
• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Butter a 12 inch pizza pan.
• Press cookie dough into pan, trimming edges; prick with fork.
• Bake on middle shelf for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
• Cool Thoroughly in the pan.
• Beat together cream cheese, honey and vanilla; spread on cooled cookie crust.
• Arrange fruit in an attractive design.
• Heat apricot preserves in a small pan; brush lightly on top of fruit.
• Chill before serving.

STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE TARTS

Steps:

• Combine sugar, thawed strawberries, and any strawberry juice in a heavy pot over medium heat. Stir constantly and bring to a boil, being careful not to burn the sugar. Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature, 15 to 30 minutes. Place syrup in the refrigerator to chill, about 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 24-cup mini muffin tins.
• Cut butter into flour until well mixed and granular. Mix in just enough water (1 tablespoon at a time) to make a dough.
• Roll dough on a floured working surface with a floured rolling pin until very thin and almost transparent. Use a large round cookie cutter to cut out circles of dough. Lightly press circles into the prepared muffin cups.
• Bake in the preheated oven until light brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool.
• Meanwhile, beat powdered sugar, cream cheese, and whipping cream together until well mixed.
• Fill each cooled pastry crust with cream cheese filling, then drizzle with strawberry syrup and garnish with mint leaves.

CREAM CHEESE SWIRL TART WITH CHOCOLATE CRUST

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a medium bowl, stir the flour, oats, brown sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder to combine. Add the butter to the bowl and mix with your hands (or a fork or pastry cutter) until the butter is incorporated and the mixture starts to look crumbly. (Try to work quickly, so the butter stays chilled.) Add 2 tablespoons cool water and mix until the mixture comes together to form large clumps. (It should hold together firmly when squeezed.) If the mixture looks dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it comes together. If it feels too soft, transfer to the refrigerator to firm up for a few minutes.
• Using your fingers, press the prepared streusel into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable base. Work your way around the edges of the tart pan, pressing firmly to make sure it is evenly thick. Break away any excess that pops over the edge of the pan so that it is relatively flush. Crumble the excess streusel into the base of the pan, and press it into an even layer.
• Transfer the crust in the tart pan to the freezer while you heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Transfer the chilled crust to a baking sheet and bake until it appears set and dry to the touch in the center, 20 to 23 minutes. Cool completely.
• While the crust cools, prepare the filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment (or if using a hand mixer, in a large bowl), whip the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula.
• With the mixer running on medium-low speed, gradually add the cream a little at a time, allowing each addition to incorporate before adding more. Continue to whip on medium-high speed until the mixture is thick and creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl well. Add the vanilla and almond extract and whip until well combined.
• In a small pot, heat the jam until warm; this should loosen the mixture considerably. If the jam contains large pieces of fruit, you can use a fork or potato masher to crush them slightly, once the mixture is warm. Strain the jam through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing firmly to extract as much as possible. Discard any solids or seeds that remain in the strainer.
• Drizzle about 1/2 of the warm, strained jam over the cream cheese filling. (Don't worry about adding the warm mixture to the cold filling; it will set up as it hits the cold mixture). Gently fold it a few times to loosely combine the two. Scoop the filling into the cooled crust and spread into a relatively even layer. Drizzle the remaining jam over the surface of the filling. Use a small offset spatula or the back of a small spoon to swoop across the filling back and forth a few times to lightly swirl the jam into the filling, leaving some large streaks of jam. (Note: If you mix too much, the two mixtures will combine and you'll end up with a tinted filling rather than a streaky filling.) Serve immediately, or chill for up to 24 hours, loosely covered, before serving.
• To remove the tart from the pan, support the base with one hand and push upward to release it from the outer ring. If desired, run a small offset spatula around the bottom to help release the tart from the base and slide it onto a serving platter. (Alternately, you can leave the tart on its base and simply set on top of a serving platter.)