Cream Cheese Fruit Tarts

Posted by Nicole: 

Its recess week and that means I've found some time to bake! I have never done anything non-chocolate before, because chocolate is just inescapable for me (!!). But since I have been craving cheese cake and fruits, I have decided to combine them. Cream Cheese + Fruits = Cream cheese fruit tarts (lol!). 

Unfortunately, not every recipe on this blog is perfect. I'm sorry but I have to be honest to you readers; the recipe didn't turn out exactly the way I wanted. Firstly I think I added too much lemon zest to the cream cheese filling, so it turned out to have a bitter after taste. Secondly, the tart shell didn't hold to well, so some of the top crumbled.  It was probably because I tried to make them very thin. To give it some credit, it tasted good. And my fruit arrangement is just .... :-) However! I still believe they have the potential to be really amazing, because the combined taste is actually not bad!! The recipe below is a modified version of what I think should be improved, so be cautious ok 

The recipe is adapted from JoyofBaking and FoodNetwork.com

Tart shell 

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 1/2 cups plain flour 

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

Combine icing sugar, flour and butter in a large bowl. Mix and beat using an electric whisk until it becomes a dough ball. Use your fingers, and press dough against aluminium cups to form the tart shell. Bake dough for 10-12 mins, or until it is lightly browned, at a temperature of 180ºC

Cream cheese filling (much more fuss-free than regular custard fillings: A PLUS POINT!) 

250g of cream cheese (I used Philadelphia's Cream Cheese) 

400g of sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup of squeezed lemon juice 

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract 

Beat all ingredients until it is thick and creamy. Place it in a piping bag and chill for 3-6 hours. 

Fruits

12 Sliced strawberries

3 Kiwi, sliced 

Cubed canned peaches, drained of syrup 

Assembly

Pipe cream cheese filling into the tart shells and arrange cut fruits. The trick is not to violently stick the fruits into the filling, but use the fruits to gently cover the surface of the filling. Serve! 

Now back to my bO.Oks

Love,

Nicole