Fig And Cream Cheese Tart Recipes

FIG AND CREAM CHEESE TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust with flour. Cut the puff pastry into 5 equal rectangles and lay out on the baking sheet. If the puff pastry rectangles become too soft, put the baking sheet in the refrigerator for 5-10 minutes to let them harden again. Spread the cream cheese evenly on top of each rectangle, leaving about a ½-inch space for the crust (I like using a small butter knife for this because it gives you the perfect angle without puncturing the puff pastry).
• Lay the fig halves, flesh side up, onto each puff pastry, about 3 per sheet. Crimp the edges of each puff pastry so that there's crust surrounding the figs. Lightly sprinkle the figs with the brown sugar, and brush the crusts of the puff pastry with the melted butter. Bake in the oven until the figs have cooked down and the crusts are golden brown, 20-25 minutes.

FIG, CREAM CHEESE AND MINT TART

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
• Roll out the pastry on a floured counter to the thickness of a 1-cent piece and use it to carefully line the pan. Homemade pastry is short and so will be quite crumbly. Don't be alarmed by this, you can patch it together in the pan. Take a small ball of the pastry (the size of a nickel) and use it to gently ease the dough down into the pan. Press the handle of a wooden spoon against the pastry all round the edges to coax it into the fluted grooves. Trim off the excess around the top and run a thin knife around between the pastry and the edge of the pan to loosen. Put in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes, or until firm.
• Remove the tart from the refrigerator. Take a piece of parchment paper slightly larger than the pan and scrunch it up, then unscrunch it and line the pan with it. Fill it with pie weights or dried beans and "blind bake" in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pastry feels sandy to the touch. Remove the paper and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
• For the filling, put the cream in a bowl and whip until beginning to thicken, then fold it into the cream cheese and mix with the honey and Marsala, if using. Put the filling in the tart case, then arrange the figs on top and scatter over the nuts and mint. Serve with a sweet wine such as Asti.
• Figs and mint are delicious, so sprinkling some torn mint leaves over the tart works really well. This tart is best eaten on the day it is made.

FIG & BLUE CHEESE TART

Steps:

• First make the pastry. Tip the flours into a food processor with ½ tsp salt and the diced butter. Pulse until you can't feel any lumps, then tip in the walnuts. Mix the egg yolks with 3 tbsp cold water, then dribble this into the machine while you pulse again until the pastry comes together. Tip the pastry out onto a floured surface, lightly bring it together into a ball, then roll out and line a deep 20-23cm tart tin with overhang. The pastry may crack, but just patch it back together, then cover and chill for 1 hr.
• To make the filling, melt the remaining butter in a large pan, then add the shallots and soften for 10-15 mins, until golden and squishy. Stir in the thyme for 1 min, then remove from the heat. Beat the eggs in a jug with the crème fraîche and cream. Crumble in the cheese and season with pepper and a small amount of salt.
• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Blind bake the pastry for 20 mins, remove the baking beans and paper, then bake for a further 15-20 mins until golden and sandy. Reduce the oven temp to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Add the cooled onions to the cream mixture and pour into the case. Sit the fig halves on top, cut side up, sprinkle with some more thyme and bake on the middle shelf for 1 hr-1hr 10 mins until the tart is browning and has a slight wobble - the cheese middle will firm up on sitting. Cool for about 15-20 mins, then remove from tin and serve with a green salad.