Palmabella's Passions

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July! We're keeping cool in the pool.

For a red, white and blue treat, try this Triple Berry Tart:

I began with a disk of my frozen sweet tart dough:

Sweet Tart Dough
(This makes enough for 4 9" tart shells)

1 cup plus 2 T unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 t. salt
2 large eggs at room temperature
3 1/2 cups flour

Using a mixer, combine butter, sugar, salt, and mix on medium speed until smooth. Mix in eggs, one at a time. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add flour all at once, and mix on low, just until incorporated. On a lightly floured surface, divide dough into 4 balls, and shape each ball into a flattened disk. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.

When ready to make tart, place dough on a floured surface, and roll out to 1/8" thickness, and two inches larger than pan you are using. Fold dough, spread it into tart pan, pressing gently into place on bottom and sides of pan. Trim dough from top of pan with a knife, and chill dough in fridge or freezer for 15 minutes. Then poke holes in the crust with a fork.

Any remaining dough can be frozen for future use. (I keep them in disks ready to go in the freezer.)

For this recipe, I baked the shell covered in foil with pie weights for 10 minutes at 350, then another 10-15 minutes after removing foil and weights. Cool on a rack.

Almond Crumb Topping
1 1/2 cups (7 ounces) all-purpose flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
1/3 cup (2.5 ounces) sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup (1 ounce) slivered or whole blanched almonds, coarsely chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

Stir together all dry ingredients. Stir in melted butter. Spread crumbs on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until lightly golden. Cool and set aside until ready to assemble tart.

Berry Filling

1 pound cream cheese, softened
1 cup (4 ounces) confectioners’ sugar, sifted after measuring
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups of rinsed and cut berries. I used strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.
Confectioners’ sugar in a shaker for finishing

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat well.

Assembly:

Spread half of cream cheese filling over cooled, baked crust.

Top with berries, cut sides down.

Spread remaining cream cheese mixture over berries.

Top with crumbles, sprinkle with powdered sugar, chill for two hours before serving.