Pineapple Apricot Cream Cheese Tart Food

TROPICAL FRUIT TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425°F. Unfold crust.
• Using wet fingertips, press together any cracks to seal. Rub crust with flour. Place crust, floured side down, in 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Fold overhang in; press firmly, forming double-thick sides. Pierce bottom of crust with fork. Bake until golden, about 14 minutes. Cool completely.
• Beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until smooth. Beat in whipping cream, lemon juice and vanilla. Spread filling in prepared crust. Refrigerate until filling is firm, about 1 hour.
• Arrange pineapple, kiwis and mango atop tart. Stir preserves in saucepan over low heat until melted. Brush preserves over fruit. Chill tart up to 2 hours.

STRAWBERRY-PINEAPPLE MINI TARTS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 400ºF.
• Process flour, butter and cream cheese in food processor 30 sec. or until mixture is blended and starts to form ball. Divide dough evenly into 6 pieces.
• Roll out each dough piece on lightly floured surface to 7-inch circle. Place in 6 (4-1/2-inch) tart pans with removable sides. Cut off excess dough by rolling pin across top of each pan. Line pie crusts with piece of buttered foil, butter side down; fill foil with dried beans or rice. Bake 10 min. Remove beans and foil. Prick bottom of shells all over with fork; bake 15 to 20 min. or until lightly browned. Let cool 10 min.
• Beat pudding mix and milk in large bowl with whisk 2 min. Fill crusts with pudding; top with fruit.
• Melt apricot jam with water; brush on fruit. Refrigerate 1 hour before serving.

CHERRY-APRICOT CREAM CHEESE TART

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and process, using on/off turns, until mixture resembles very coarse meal. Add yolk and process until moist clumps form. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill 1 hour. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)
• Make filling:
• Beat cream cheese and orange peel in medium bowl to blend. Whisk sugar, yolks, cornstarch and flour in small bowl until smooth. Bring milk to simmer in saucepan. Gradually whisk hot milk into yolk mixture; return to same pan. Whisk over low heat until custard thickens and boils. Cool custard 15 minutes. Beat barely warm custard into cream cheese mixture. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of filling; chill until cold, at least 3 hours and up to 1 day.
• Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Press dough gently into place; trim excess dough. Freeze 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 400°F. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust 10 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake crust until golden, piercing with fork if bottom bubbles, about 5 minutes. Cool crust in pan on rack.
• Spread cream cheese filling over crust. Arrange cherries, cut side down, in 2 concentric circles around edge of tart. Arrange apricots in middle of tart, overlapping slightly. Place any remaining cherries in center. Stir preserves in saucepan over low heat until beginning to melt. Strain into small bowl. Brush enough preserves over fruit to glaze. Serve immediately or chill up to 6 hours.

GRILLED PINEAPPLE TART WITH RASPBERRIES AND CHIPOTLE CREAM

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour tart pan, knocking out excess flour.
• Stir together all crust ingredients in a bowl with a fork until combined well, then press mixture with your fingers and the back of a spoon evenly and firmly onto bottom and up side of tart pan.
• Bake crust until a shade darker, 8 to 10 minutes, then transfer to a rack and cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
• Make filling and grill pineapple:
• While crust cools, whisk together sour cream, brown sugar, chiles, and zest in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved. Beat cream cheese in a bowl with an electric mixer until smooth, then add sour cream mixture and beat until combined well. Keep covered with plastic wrap until ready to use.
• Prepare grill for cooking. If using a charcoal grill, open vents on bottom of grill, then light charcoal. Charcoal fire is medium-hot when you can hold your hand 5 inches above rack for 3 to 4 seconds. If using a gas grill, preheat burners on high, covered, 10 minutes, then reduce heat to moderately high.
• While coals are lighting, put pineapple quarters on a cutting board, long cut sides down, and cut lengthwise into slices slightly less than 1/4 inch thick with an adjustable-blade slicer or a knife (use caution; peeled pineapple is extremely slippery). Grill pineapple in 2 batches, covered only if using a gas grill, on lightly oiled grill rack, turning over once with tongs, until tender, about 5 minutes total. (If pineapple sticks to rack, use a metal spatula to loosen before turning.) Transfer to a platter and cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes. Trim pineapple and discard core from slices.
• Assemble tart:
• Spread filling in tart shell, then press raspberries into cream. Gently push up bottom of pan to loosen pan bottom (with crust) from side of pan, then carefully lift out tart and transfer to a work surface. Gently insert a thin wide metal spatula between crust and pan bottom, then run spatula under crust to loosen from pan. Using spatula, slide tart shell carefully onto a serving platter. Arrange pineapple decoratively over cream.
• Make glaze:
• Melt jelly with water in a small saucepan over moderate heat, stirring until smooth, then brush glaze onto pineapple with pastry brush.

PINEAPPLE CREAM TART

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425*. Roll the piecrust to a 13" circle. Press into a 10" or 11" tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake for 9-11 minutes until golden. Cool in pan.
• Combine sugar and gelatin in a small pan. Stir in the water & let stand for 2 minutes to allow gelatin to soften. Heat, stirring to dissolve gelatin. Remove from heat.
• Put cottage cheese and crushed pineapple in a blender, whirling until smooth. Add the gelatin mixture & whirl smooth.
• Pour into prepared tart shell. Refrigerate until firm - about 4 hours. Remove side of tart pan before serving. Garnish with raspberries if desired.

APRICOT CREAM TART

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Pulse almonds, flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until almonds are very finely chopped. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some small (roughly pea-size) butter lumps. Add yolk and extracts and pulse just until mixture begins to clump.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice with a forward motion to distribute fat. Gather dough together into a ball with scraper and transfer to tart pan. Pat dough with floured fingers into tart pan in an even 1/4-inch-thick layer, including side (side should be flush with top of rim). Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
• Make filling while dough chills:
• Toss apricots with Amaretto and 1/4 cup sugar, then let macerate until juicy, at least 1 hour.
• Whisk together preserves, whole egg, yolk, cream, almond extract, a pinch of salt, and remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in another bowl until combined. Chill, covered, until ready to use.
• Bake tart shell:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, 18 to 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until bottom is pale golden, 5 to 7 minutes more. Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 15 minutes.
• Fill and bake tart:
• Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.
• Lift apricots from liquid with a slotted spoon and arrange, skin sides down, in tart shell. Whisk remaining apricot liquid into egg mixture, then pour over apricots(fruit will poke through filling). Cover edge of tart shell with a pie shield or foil and bake tart until filling is set and slightly puffed, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool tart completely in pan on rack.