Strawberry Tarts

I was invited to a little get together over the weekend – what to bring? While in the market on Saturday morning – I saw some nice looking strawberries and decided to make strawberry tarts. This recipe is adapted from The Frog Commissary Cookbook.

For the pastry dough:

• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 1 stick butter, very cold, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup ice water

Put flour, butter, and salt in a Cuisinart and process until it looks like coarse meal, about 10-15 seconds. Add the ice water and pulse until dough begins to clump. Place dough in a plastic bag and flatten into a disc. Refrigerate dough for an hour.

Cut the dough in eight pieces. Roll each piece on a lightly floured surface about 1/8 of an inch thick and place in tart pans. Prick the bottom of the dough with a fork, and bake in a 400º preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the shell is lightly browned. Let shells cool.

For the chocolate:

• 3 ounces of chocolate chips
• 1/2 tablespoon shortening

Microwave the chocolate chips and the shortening in 30 second increments, mixing after each addition until chocolate is melted. Brush a small amount of chocolate on the bottom of each shell. Refrigerate until the chocolate firms up.

For the cream cheese filling:

• 1 eight ounce bar of cream cheese
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract.

Combine all ingredients with a hand mixer or a food processor until well blended. Fill the tart shells.

Top with fresh strawberries. You can use other fruits – blueberries, raspberries, bananas, mangoes – mix it up! Keep tarts refrigerated until serving time, and it’s best to add the fruit at the last minute. This makes eight 4 inch tarts.