Lemon Cream and Blackberry Tartlets

Delicious, but not quite what I was after, these tart shells are extremely versatile for either a sweet or savory filling, and while the lemon cream was fluffy, creamy and lemony, I think it could be put to better use elsewhere, like in a full-sized pie. Similarly, though the blackberry sauce is tasty, in the sauce-making process it lost the tartness I think the lemon needed to balance it out. That said, these are still very good and not very complicated, so I thought I’d share it all the same.

Though I am calling this recipe mine, it is comprised (like most recipes) of pieces of others. These shells actually belong to a recipe for Pecan Delights that my dad sent me 3 years ago, which are ridiculously tasty, but I’m the only one in this household who likes pecan pie. (it’s wrong, I tell you. Just wrong.)

 

Tart shells:
1 standard muffin tin
1 stick of butter
1 cup of flour
4 oz cream cheese
1 Tbsp. sugar
Pinch of salt (fyi, a pinch is generally 1/8 tsp)

Cream the cheese and butter until fluffy, then add the sugar, salt and flour.

Mix well and divide into 12 equal parts. Place each part inside muffin tin and conform to shape.

Bake at 350F for 15 minutes, reduce temperature to 250 and cook for 10-15 more minutes. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. I let mine cool for very nearly half the day, as I wanted them at room temperature before filling, but a quick visit to the fridge would accomplish that much faster.

(for what it’s worth, my idea of 12 equal parts was to spoon up some and roll it into balls that looked roughly uniform. remember, though, that baking is a science and theoretically we should all be weighing each ball to make sure they are equal. i should also be drinking 8 glasses of water a day, exercising and spending less time on the internet though, so balls to that. Roughly uniform size it is!)

Deviating from the recipe, after I shaped the shells I used some egg white to wash the edges, because I like that glossy look on pastry dough. It’s personal preference though – if you want to do it, just put an egg white into a bowl, beat it a little, and brush it on with whatever you have handy that can perform the function of a pastry brush. In my case, it was a cheap paintbrush from an unopened package of watercolors. Hey, it worked for me.

Another thing worth noting is that since I’m adapting this recipe – the original bakes with a filling, and I just want the shells – mistakes were apt to be made and they were. You need to poke holes in the bottom of the shell with a fork and/or fill with pie weights/dried beans, otherwise the centers will puff like any puff pastry will when the steam can’t escape or isn’t weighted.

Blackberry sauce: (adapted from Mark Bittman’s fruit sauce recipe in How To Cook Everything, which I totally need to buy)
1 c blackberries
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 c sugar
1/8 tsp arrowroot powder

Melt butter and sugar over medium heat until syrupy but not browned.

Add in your berries and continue simmering for 2-3 minutes (I let mine simmer for closer to 5-8 with no harm done) or until berries are soft and juice has given way.

Smash berries with the back of a spoon or ladle into a fine mesh sieve to gey all the juicy goodness out and discard the remains. I deviated from the recipe here because I was unhappy with the thickness of the sauce. I knew refrigeration would give it a little more bulk but I was still afraid it would be too thin, and I think I was on target there.

I took about 1/4 cup of the juice out after it had cooled a bit and made a slurry with the 1/8 tsp of arrowroot powder (it’s a pure starch like cornstarch, but with a finer texture, more neutral flavor, and generally plays a bit nicer with food than cornstarch does – feel free to wiki it!) and added it back in, chucked it back over medium heat while whisking for a few minutes, and then took it back off to cool again. This gave me a more pleasing texture and thickness, but I still put it in the fridge for about 3 hours.

After everything was cooled to my satisfaction, I took the blackberry sauce out of the fridge and once again using those handy toddler spoons placed about 1/2 tsp of the sauce in each of the tart shells, spreading it around so that the surface was covered. Placed the shells on a plate, covered with foil, back into the fridge while I whipped up – quite literally, actually – the lemon cream.

Lemon cream: (adapted from The Love Bite)
Zest of 2 Meyer lemons
2 tsp lemon juice
8oz cream cheese
1 c confectioner’s sugar
1/4 c heavy whipping cream

(You’ll notice there are no process-of pics for the cream. Yeah, I was making dinner at the same time and, uh, forgot. You try multitasking at 7 months pregnant. My brain, it doesn’t work so good. )

In a stand or with a handheld mixer, whip the heavy cream, cream cheese and lemon zest until combined and fluffy. Add the confectioner’s sugar and whip to combine. Add the lemon juice and continue whipping for 2-3 minutes. Texture should be light and rich. Chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours for best results, or freeze for 20 minutes. Basically, you want it to be cold and a bit firm. Once your cream is appropriately chilled, grab your tarts, your cream and a ziploc bag/piping bag and tip and prepare for fun. If you’re using the piping bag you already know what to do, else you wouldn’t own a piping bag.

For the rest of us, there’s a Ziploc sandwich bag with the corner cut off – I cut mine at about 1/4". Add some cream in there (just a note, I had a ton left over, if you’re only making 12 consider halving the recipe), seal it up, cut off your corner, squeeze the air out from the top down, and pipe the cream onto the blackberry sauce however you see fit.

When you’re done, take a bite and see if you like it. If you do, have another. If you don’t, there are always friends, neighbors and relatives to foist them on. You could garnish with a little more zest, or with candied lemon peel, or a mint leaf, or any other type of thing, if you were so inclined.