Bluberry Cream Tarts

Ingredients

• 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 12 vanilla wafers
• 1 (21-ounce) can blueberry filling, or other pie filling

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup of a muffin pan.

Beat cream cheese with a handheld electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Place a vanilla wafer, flat side down, in each muffin cup. Spoon cream cheese mixture over wafers. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow tarts to cool completely. Serve with blueberry filling on top, or pie filling of your choice

A Paula Dean Recipe

MAPLE- APPLE TARTLETS

1 sheet puff pastry
½ tsp ground cinnamon
2 Tbs granulated sugar
3 medium Granny Smith apples
2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbs maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Thaw puff pastry, if frozen.

2. In a small bowl, mix cinnamon and sugar. In another small bowl, melt butter in microwave. Set both aside.

3. Peel, core and cut apples in half. Place one half, cut-side-down, on a cutting board. With a small, sharp knife, thinly slice the apple half into about 12 thin slices. Do not move or separate the slices. Repeat with the remaining 5 halves. Leave cut side down.

4. Place puff pastry on a cold surface (I use a stone cutting board). Cut into 6 rectangles and place on the baking sheet about 1 inch or so apart. Pick up one apple half without disturbing the slices. Place on a pastry rectangle and apply slight pressure on the diagonal to fan out the apple slices until they nearly fill the length of the pastry rectangle. Leave a border of ¼-inch all the way around. Repeat with remaining rectangles of puff pastry and apple halves.

5. Sprinkle each tartlet with the cinnamon/sugar mixture. Drizzle with melted butter.

6. Bake 25 minutes, until the pastry is golden around the edges and the apples are softened. Drizzle each with 1 tsp. maple syrup. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Servings: 6
Yield: 6 tartlets

Cooking Tips
*These are best when they are eaten the day they are made.

Short Crust Pstry for Cookies and Cakes

This German sweet shortcrust pastry recipe can be used for fruit tarts, cheese cakes, Christmas cookies and many more German dessert recipes.

The secret for a successful shortcrust pastry (Muerbeteig) is to use cold ingredients and cool hands. Don't knead the dough too long, it might get crumbly. 



The traditional Muerbeteig is based on the 1, 2, 3 principle. That means you use 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter, 3 parts flour. Whether an egg belongs to the recipe, or not, is often discussed.
The dough with an egg is not so crumbly and slightly easier to handle. that's why I always use the version with an egg :).

Based on the 1,2,3 principle you can easily adjust the amount of sugar, butter and flour, depending on the size of the tin, and how thick you like the pastry.
Tip: Prepare twice as much dough, and put one (raw) portion into the freezer to make a quick fruit tart for unexpected guests.

Ingredients for a 26cm (10 in) tin:

• 50g (3/8 cup) sugar
• 100g (1/2 cup) cold butter
• 150g (3/4 cup) flour (Type 405)
• 1 egg
• 1 pinch salt

Additionally, you can flavour with lemon essence or vanilla sugar

Directions:

Sift the flour on a large board or clean table, make a hollow like in the picture above.

Add the sugar and the egg into the hollow,
cut the cold butter into pieces and put it on the rim.

Mix the egg and sugar with your fingertips, then quickly rub butter into the flour and blend all ingredients together. Don't knead too long.

Form a ball with the dough, wrap in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Quickly knead the dough again, roll it out on a floured table.

Grease a flat baking tin, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, put the dough into the tin, prick some holes into the dough to avoid bubbles.

Bake at 200°C / 400°F for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Let the cake rest for 5 minutes and remove it from the tin while still warm. Let it cool on a wire before you top it with fruits.

Shortcrust dough ready to place into a tart tin

Variations:

This sweet shortcrust pastry recipe can be used for fruit tarts (like this fresh strawberry tart), cheesecake, plum cake or as a firm base for filled sponge gateaus.

Try it for Christmas cookies, sprinkled with sugar, chocolate chips or almond slivers. The cookies will have a crunchy consistence and a fine butter taste.