Cream Cheese Tart Crust Recipes

CREAM CHEESE PIE CRUST

Steps:

• Combine water and vinegar in a small bowl. Combine flour and salt in another bowl. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut butter and cream cheese into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining.
• Add water mixture to dough in a slow, steady stream, stirring, until mixture just begins to hold together. (Alternatively, pulse ingredients in a food processor.) Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap, and wrap. Press dough into a disk using a rolling pin. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour or overnight. (Dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw before using.)
• Roll dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Trim edge, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Turn overhang under so that edge is flush with rim. Flute edge. Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes.
• Make filling (see our Pecan Pie recipe).

CREAM CHEESE CRUST

Steps:

• Soften cream cheese and butter and mix together incorporating flour a little at a time.
• Roll out with a rolling pin between 2 wax papers. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate and prick with fork before half-baking to prevent shrinkage. Bake for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

CREAM CHEESE TART SHELLS

Steps:

• Blend cream cheese and butter or margarine. Stir in flour just until blended. Chill about 1 hour. This can be made ahead and chilled for up to 24 hours.
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Shape dough into 24 one-inch balls and press into ungreased 1 1/2 inch muffin cups (mini-muffin size) to make a shallow shell. Fill with your favorite filling and bake for 20 minutes, or until the crust is light brown.

CREAM CHEESE PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• Process the butter, cream cheese, and cream in a food processor, electric mixer, or by hand to thoroughly combine.
• Add the flour and salt. Process just until combined and the dough holds together in a ball. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Divide into 2 pieces. Flatten into disks and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling out. If the dough is chilled overnight, take it out 15 minutes before rolling out.
• Rub flour all over a rolling pin. Working with one dough disk at a time, place the disk on a clean, well-floured surface. Applying some pressure with the rolling pin, roll gently from the center of the dough to the top and bottom edges. Rotate the disk and roll to the top and bottom edges again. Reflour the work surface and rolling pin, turn the dough over, and continue to roll the dough from the center out to the edges. Turn over and roll again, rotating the disk to ensure even rolling until the dough is about 12 inches in diameter, thin but not transparent.

APPLE CREAM CHEESE TART

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and sugar; beat in vanilla. Stir in flour. Press onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of a 6-in. springform pan coated with cooking spray; set aside. , For filling, in a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, egg and vanilla. Pour over crust. In a bowl, combine the apple, sugar and cinnamon; arrange over filling. Sprinkle with almonds. , Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until apples are tender. Cool on a wire rack. Remove sides of pan. Garnish with whipped cream and nutmeg if desired. Refrigerate leftovers.

CREAM CHEESE TARTS

Steps:

• Mix first five ingredients, beat at high speed.
• Line tart pan with paper liners (small).
• Put vanilla wafers in liners bottom side down.
• Spoon 1 T batter onto wafer.
• Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees F. Let cool.
• Top with cherry pie filling or any fruit.
• Yields 3 dozen large tarts or 6 dozen small tarts. These can be frozen.

CREAM CHEESE CRUST

Steps:

• Pulse the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until it is the size of peas. Add the cream cheese and pulse until it is the size of peas. Add the vinegar and 2 tablespoons ice water and pulse a few times, until the dough holds together when squeezed. Gather into a ball on a sheet of plastic wrap. Pat into a disk, wrap and chill at least 4 hours.

CREAM CHEESE SWIRL TART WITH CHOCOLATE CRUST

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a medium bowl, stir the flour, oats, brown sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking powder to combine. Add the butter to the bowl and mix with your hands (or a fork or pastry cutter) until the butter is incorporated and the mixture starts to look crumbly. (Try to work quickly, so the butter stays chilled.) Add 2 tablespoons cool water and mix until the mixture comes together to form large clumps. (It should hold together firmly when squeezed.) If the mixture looks dry, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it comes together. If it feels too soft, transfer to the refrigerator to firm up for a few minutes.
• Using your fingers, press the prepared streusel into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable base. Work your way around the edges of the tart pan, pressing firmly to make sure it is evenly thick. Break away any excess that pops over the edge of the pan so that it is relatively flush. Crumble the excess streusel into the base of the pan, and press it into an even layer.
• Transfer the crust in the tart pan to the freezer while you heat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Transfer the chilled crust to a baking sheet and bake until it appears set and dry to the touch in the center, 20 to 23 minutes. Cool completely.
• While the crust cools, prepare the filling: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whip attachment (or if using a hand mixer, in a large bowl), whip the cream cheese and confectioners' sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula.
• With the mixer running on medium-low speed, gradually add the cream a little at a time, allowing each addition to incorporate before adding more. Continue to whip on medium-high speed until the mixture is thick and creamy, 3 to 4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl well. Add the vanilla and almond extract and whip until well combined.
• In a small pot, heat the jam until warm; this should loosen the mixture considerably. If the jam contains large pieces of fruit, you can use a fork or potato masher to crush them slightly, once the mixture is warm. Strain the jam through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing firmly to extract as much as possible. Discard any solids or seeds that remain in the strainer.
• Drizzle about 1/2 of the warm, strained jam over the cream cheese filling. (Don't worry about adding the warm mixture to the cold filling; it will set up as it hits the cold mixture). Gently fold it a few times to loosely combine the two. Scoop the filling into the cooled crust and spread into a relatively even layer. Drizzle the remaining jam over the surface of the filling. Use a small offset spatula or the back of a small spoon to swoop across the filling back and forth a few times to lightly swirl the jam into the filling, leaving some large streaks of jam. (Note: If you mix too much, the two mixtures will combine and you'll end up with a tinted filling rather than a streaky filling.) Serve immediately, or chill for up to 24 hours, loosely covered, before serving.
• To remove the tart from the pan, support the base with one hand and push upward to release it from the outer ring. If desired, run a small offset spatula around the bottom to help release the tart from the base and slide it onto a serving platter. (Alternately, you can leave the tart on its base and simply set on top of a serving platter.)

CREAM CHEESE PASTRY DOUGH

Steps:

• In a food processor blend the butter, the cream cheese, the flour, and the salt, pulsing the motor, until the dough just begins to form a ball, gather the dough into a ball, and flatten slightly. Dust the dough with flour and chill it, wrapped in plastic wrap, for 1 hour. The dough may be made 1 day in advance and kept wrapped well and chilled.

QUICK CREAM CHEESE PASTRY (TART SHELLS)

Steps:

• Beat butter and cream cheese in a bowl until smooth. Add flour; beat just until a soft dough forms. Form into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap; chill for 1 hour or overnight.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F/220°C.
• Shape dough into 1"/2.5 cm balls. Place each ball of dough into cups of mini muffin pan. Dip Mini-Tart Shaper into flour; press into dough to form tart shells. Pierce shells with a fork. (If you don't have a Mini-Tart shaper just use your fingers and form into shells).
• Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool in pan for 5 minutes; carefully remove tart shells from pan. Cool completely. Fill as desired.