Chocolate + Strawberries = Summer Dessert Tart

This dessert features fresh strawberries, chocolate, cream cheese, and drizzles of fudge. How can it not be good??! It is the perfect summer dessert - it looks patriotic, it tastes yummy, and it is cool and refreshing. It also is pretty!

CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY CREAM CHEESE TART     

CRUST:

¾ cup all-purpose flour

½ cup finely chopped almonds toasted

6 Tbsp. butter, melted

½ cup baking cocoa

¼ cup packed brown sugar

FILLING:

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 cups halved fresh strawberries

3 Tbsp. hot fudge ice cream topping

1.    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine crust ingredients; press onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Bake 12-15 minutes or until crust is set. Cool on a wire rack.

2.    In another small bowl, beat cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread over bottom of the prepared crust. Arrange strawberry halves, cut side down, over filling. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. 

3.    Just before serving, drizzle fudge topping over tart. Refrigerate leftovers. 

Yield: 12 servings

Rustic Tomato and Cheese Pie

"The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts, all on a summer's day". This tart recipe is a great summer recipe that you'll want to make also. 'Tart' is a strange name, the word has a variety of meanings, not all good! Tart may describe a bitter sour taste. Or maybe a girl who is a tease or flirt (or worse!). The old English meaning of the word is 'sharp, rough'. Perhaps that is why a rustic open pasty filled with fruit or vegetables and without a top got the name 'tart'. It certainly sounds less refined than it's cousin 'pie', defined as a baked dish of fruit or meat and vegetables with a top and base of pastry.
Whatever the definition, this pie/tart is a good meal to use the bountiful tomatoes of summer. I got the recipe from Chef Alli's website and she credits Find Cooking magazine of August/September 2013.

Rustic Tomato and Cheese Pie                                            

this makes a good summer supper with bacon and fruit

¼ cup flour combined with ¼ cup corn meal

Buttermilk Biscuit Dough

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. granulated sugar

½ tsp. baking soda

¾ tsp. kosher salt

6 Tbs. cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

¾ cup buttermilk (or 1 Tbs. cider vinegar + milk to make ¾ cup)

Filling

1 ½ -2 pounds nicely ripened tomatoes, peeled and sliced 1 ¼ -inch thick. (Approximately 5-6 medium tomatoes)

4 oz. creamy goat cheese, softened

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup chopped basil (or ½- ¾ tsp. dried basil leaves)

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

            Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, baking soda and salt. Using a pastry blender or a knife and fork, cut the butter into the flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse meal in texture. Using a silicone spatula or large spoon, stir in the buttermilk, just until the flour mixture is moistened. Don’t over mix! The dough should just come together and will be sticky.

            Sprinkle a 12x17-inch sheet of parchment paper with half of the flour/cornmeal mixture. Place biscuit dough onto this flour/cornmeal mixture and pat into a 5-inch round. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the biscuit dough into a 13-inch circle, lightly dusting with flour to keep dough from sticking, if needed.

            Slide parchment sheet with dough onto a large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle the remaining half of the flour/cornmeal mixture over the dough, leaving a 1 ½ -inch border. Arrange the sliced tomatoes over the dough in two circles, slightly overlapping them.

            Combine the goat cheese, mayo, and basil in a small bowl; dollop mixture in generous spoonfuls over the tomatoes. Fold the dough border over the edges of the tomatoes, pleating the dough where needed. Season pie with freshly ground black pepper.

            Bake, uncovered, until the crust is nicely golden brown and tomatoes are tender, approximately 20 minutes. Let tart cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before cutting into wedges to serve.

dough is rolled out

and covered with sliced tomatoes

add cheese and fold edges up

Key Lime Tart - A Refreshing Taste

Summer tastes are tart, sweet, and refreshing. This Key Lime Tart is just that. With key lime juice, coconut crust, and whipped cream topping you can almost imagine you're in the tropics on a warm summer day. A little high in calories, but cut the pieces small and enjoy. Since I got a tart pan a couple of years ago, I've been on the lookout for recipes to use it with. You could also do this in a large pie plate if you don't have a tart pan.
Key limes are a tropical fruit similar to lemons. They are native to Southeast Asia and with Crusaders and other early travelers, made their way to the West Indies where Columbus found them. These are the type of limes that are used in most of the world. We in the U.S. often confuse them with the larger limes we find in the grocery stores that are a hybrid developed in the early 20th century. Key limes are smaller, yellower in color, and more sour. They were grown commercially in southern Florida and Florida keys before the groves were destroyed by a hurricane in 1926. They are now grown in some backyard gardens and commercial production is making a slight comeback.
Key limes are primarily know for their flavor in Key Lime Pie but the fresh juice is also a tasty flavoring for fish, meats, and in marinates.  Key Lime Pie recipes include sweetened condensed milk, which the pie was invented to use soon after condensed milk was developed as a luxury food.

Key Lime Tart in Coconut Crust

Coconut Crust                                            

Crust ready to bake

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

3/4 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling       

Filling 

4 large egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup Key Lime juice

1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whipped Cream      

Topped with whipped cream

1 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Garnish: Toasted coconut and/or lime

   zest (optional) 

To make the Crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine graham cracker crumbs, coconut, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in melted butter and vanilla. Press into bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart pan. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until golden. Cool

To make Filling: Lightly whisk egg  yolks in a mixing bowl. Whisk in sugar, Key Lime juice, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Pour into cooled crust and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Chill pid several hours or overnight. 

To make the Whipped Cream: Place cream in a mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla, and continue to beat until stiff. Spread or pipe over pie. Garnish with toasted coconut and/or slivers of lime zest.

Ummm, good!

Makes one 9-inch tart

from Bonnie Aeschliman, Cooking with Bonnie: Farm to France