This free-form strawberry tart in a buttercrust pastry is thickly glazed and beautiful. You can use a tart pan, but going free-form is kind of fun. Be sure to use perfectly ripe, sweet strawberries.Ingredients | Lemon Pie Recipes With Cream Cheese
1 (8 ounce) ball sweet pastry dough
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons creme fraiche
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 large egg yolk
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 pound fresh ripe strawberries, hulled, halved
¼ cup apricot jam
2 teaspoons water
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place pastry dough on a lightly floured work surface. Roll out dough to a round disk about 1/8-inch thick and 12 inches in diameter. Transfer to prepared baking sheet.
Brush outside 2 inches around the edges of circle lightly with water. Tightly curl up a bit of the edge of the dough to give it a rounder shape with a slightly thickened edge. If some edges are thicker than others, pinch off excess and add to thinner edges forming a circle with even edges. Roll each edge again just once to make the edges thick enough to crimp. Crimp crust with your floured fingers.
Use a fork to "dock" the bottom surface, covering it with tiny holes to prevent the dough from bubbling up as it bakes.
Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool about 10 minutes. Do not turn off the oven.
Place cream cheese, creme fraiche, egg yolk, sugar, salt, vanilla, and lemon zest in mixing bowl. Mix together thoroughly. Carefully pour a thin layer of mixture evenly into pastry shell (you may not need all the cheese mixture).
Transfer filled tart to oven. Bake until cheese layer is set and crust is browned, about 20 minutes. Let tart cool completely to room temperature before adding berries.
Arrange berries cut side down, pointy end out starting with the larger berries around the edges. You can lean strawberries up a bit as your work your way toward the center. Cut some berry halves in half again to fit into any gaps on the cheese layer.
Place apricot jam and 2 teaspoons water in saucepan. Heat over low heat until thin enough to brush. Let cool slightly before brushing generously over all berries and crust. Transfer tart to serving plate.
For a homemade crust, use 1/2 of my recipe for Buttercrust Pastry Dough.
To crimp edges of tart shell, flour your hands. Hold your thumb and forefinger about 2 inches apart lightly against the outside edge; push the dough from the inside against the 2 fingers to create crimping.
You can substitute 8 ounces fromage blanc for the cream cheese.
Info | Lemon Pie Recipes With Cream Cheese
prep:
20 mins
cook:
20 mins
additional:
1 hr 30 mins
total:
2 hrs 10 mins
Servings:
8
Yield:
1 12-inch tart
