Cooking With Colette ~ Fruit Tart

I've decided to push my comfort zone a bit & do a few cooking tutorials - my fruit tart was a no-brainer to put on my to-bake list & I just happened to be making one about the time I made the decision.  Took me 2 months to edit LOL but here it is:

 

 

 

If you'd like to make it yourself, here is the original recipe with some notes on how I do it at the end - I've posted it on the blog before, & may eventually upload it to GoogleDocs also, so I can have recipes there all in one place, but I don't know when I'll get around to that: 

 

Fruit Tart

 

Cooking Time:  about 30 minutes

Preparation Time:  about 45 minutes

 

Ingredients for Shortbread Crust:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

 

Ingredients for Cream Cheese Filling:

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

 

Ingredients for Fruit Topping:

• About 3 cups fresh fruit, such as berries, peaches or plums, sliced small if large
• Apricot preserves or apple jelly (optional)
• Freshly squeeze lemon juice (optional)

 

Directions for Shortbread Crust:

 

Heat oven on Convection Bake mode to 325 degrees F. Use an electric mixer to cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Mix in vanilla. Add flour and mix until a dough forms. Pat dough into a flat disc and press it evenly into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

 

Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. (Crust can be made up to two days ahead. Wrap tightly in foil when cool and refrigerate.)

 

Directions for Cream Cheese Filling:

 

Use an electric mixer to beat cream cheese and sugar together. Add egg and vanilla; then beat until fluffy. Pour filling into baked crust. Bake at 325 until just set, about 20 minutes.

 

Directions for Assembling Fruit:

Cool tart for a few minutes. Arrange fruit in a decorative pattern on top of torte, anchoring each piece by pressing it slightly into the soft cheese filling.

 

If using apricot preserves, heat them slightly in a small saucepan. Strain and discard the pieces. Place strained preserves or apply jelly in saucepan along with a squeeze of lemon. Bring to a boil over moderately high heat. Brush glaze over fruit. Chill tart until cream cheese filling is firm, about 3 hours.

 

So, that's the official version - now on to a few notes of how I do it =)

 

The first note I have is that we don't have a Convection Bake mode on our oven. So for the crust, I usually set the regular oven between 325-350, and check the crust at around 20 minutes. It should be just turning golden around the edges when you take it out. Same temp goes for the filling, and I'd suggest checking it at about 25 minutes. Give it a little wiggle to see if the middle is set or still jiggly.

 

For the pan that you use, if you have a tart pan with high sides, you're probably OK using that. I usually use a spring-form pan that's probably intended for cheesecake or something. It does have a removable bottom, but the sides are tall enough to keep the fruit from falling off if you pile it high & then need to transport the dessert. I also line the pan with a layer of parchment paper, so that the crust doesn't stick to the bottom.

 

As far as mixing the ingredients, you're fine with either a spoon or electric mixer.  I've used both. As long as you've softened the butter & cream cheese, it's not that hard to do with like a wooden spoon or whatever utensil you'd like to use.

 

I cut up my fruit while the filling is cooking. I really don't know if I use the full 3 cups recommended, but this all comes down to personal taste. Whatever's in season & whatever fruit you like, it will be delicious on top of this.

 

The apricot preserves or apple jelly really are totally optional. It will give the tart a glossy look, but it's an extra step that really doesn't add anything so feel free to skip it. If you do chose to do it - DO NOT microwave the preserves or jelly. Made that mistake one time & it just was not pretty, it totally caramelized & hardened into this thick dark sludge. Not cute.

 

When you're ready to serve, go around the outside of the pan with a knife, just to help release the crust & filling from the edge. Release the spring-form & lift out the bottom. With the parchment, it's also pretty easy to slide the whole tart off of the bottom of the pan as well, which makes it a little easier to cut (the one I have has a lip around the edge) - the crust is almost like a cookie-texture, so you need to make sure you cut all the way through.

 

& that's that!  I hope you guys enjoyed =)

Thanks for reading.

~Colette

MN State Fair 2011 (Part 2)

Round 1 was on a Monday Round 2 was the following Saturday & it was just me & Mom =)  We wandered around & it was even more crowded, but a really nice day - not to hot but sunny & lovely.  We tried a few foods we missed the first time around, and we wandered around inside of places like the grandstand & the creative arts building.

 

We still managed to try a lot of foods, even with only 2 mouths instead of 4 =)  ziplock baggies came SO in handy this round as well.  I don't think I took pics of everything, like stuff we had the first time around, but I got a lot more pics of other stuff.

 

Mom's Corn dog:

 

 

Sample of sweet potato fries:

 

 

More deep fried mashed potatoes for me - one to eat & one to take home LOL:

 

 

Lemonade - we decided this stand (near the horse barn) was not one of the best because of all the ice & the huge piece of lemon, meant you actually didn't get that much lemonade:

 

 

Corn on the cob ... best corn on the cob ever if I didn't mention last post, so sweet & literally dipped in butter:

 

 

More lemonade (since the first didn't last long!)

 

Mom fell in love with this adorable little house:

 

 

Cheese curds - from a different stand, orange curds instead of white & served with marinara instead of ketchup:

 

 

Chicken fried bacon with cinnamon maple sauce:

 

 

Some cool crafts from the creative arts building - lots of cross stitch which many of you know I love even though I rarely get time to do it myself anymore:

 

Little fairy-house display in the horticulture building:

 

Bonsai!:

 

Orchids:

 

Peaches & whipped cream crepe:

 

 

Another teriyaki chicken & egg roll:

 

 

& another deep fried cookie dough - this pic with a bit out so you can see the deliciously gooey center:

 

 

And there you have it =)  Going to edit & post my first Halloween look now - thanks for reading.

 

~Colette

MN State Fair 2011 (Part 1)

I really, honestly, almost totally forgot about these pictures.  I don't even remember right now what it was that reminded me that I still hadn't posted them ... but I though I should get them up, the last gasp of summer, before our current warm streak ends & winter looms.  Around this time last year we had snow!

 

Mostly I have food pics for you.  And I know how much you all love/hate the temptation LOL!  The first time I went it was me, Mom, Dad & Uncle.  It was kind of funny that as much as I like taking pics & sharing - both with you guys & with Grandma & Grandpa when I went to see them - they had to keep reminding me to get the food before it was gone - so that's why a lot of stuff already has a bite taken out!

 

Dad started it off with a hot dog:

 

 

I got bacon on a stick:

 

 

Uncle got a corn dog:

 

 

Lemonade to share around:

 

 

Corn on the cob:

 

 

Veggie Fries:

 

 

Hawaiian Ice:

 

 

Beer:

 

 

I loved the paint job on this motorcycle - although this pic doesn't really capture the duo-chrome green-blue, I want a polish this color!:

 

 

Water - like the best water ever, I remember I was so thirsty LOL:

 

 

There are so many cool things that weren't around when I  was a kid - did you guys ever get to play in this many bubbles?:

 

 

Kettle Corn:

 

 

More beer:

 

 

I think this was Coke:

 

 

Of COURSE - cheese curds:

 

 

Tied with one other thing for my favorite new food discovery this year - deep fried cookie dough.  Hell yeah, these things were as big as small fists!  Even I, with my huge sweet tooth, couldn't finish all 3 - luckily Mom had ziplock baggies:

 

 

Honey ice cream with sunflower seeds in it - better than I expected actually:

 

 

Snow cone:

 

 

Some gorgeous flower on display in the horticulture building:

 

French fries:

 

 

My dad with local meteorologist Belinda Jensen - as I mentioned on my Facebook page, we made it on TV in the background when she did the weather ... first time ever LOL even though we stop there just about every year while they're broadcasting live:

 

 

Pretzel ... my camera battery started dying at this point, so I had to turn of the screen & shoot blind ... which happens often enough that I've gotten pretty good at it =):

 

 

More lemonade & corn dog:

 

 

We had the coupon book this year & it was worth it just for this one coupon - buy one get one free smoothies:

 

 

My other favorite food discovery this year, deep fried mashed potatoes:

 

 

Fried apple pie & cinnamon ice cream ... I like the ice cream better.  I expected the pie to be more like old-school McDonald's fried pies were, and so although it was still good I was a little disappointed:

 

 

More beer & beer I think:

 

 

Strawberry lemonade:

 

 

Teriyaki chicken & egg roll - a weird thing for me at the fair, but the chicken was so tender & delicious I actually got it again when I went back:

 

 

So, that was the first trip =)  I also went back with Mom & I'm going to try & toss those pics up tomorrow ... better late than never!

 

Thanks for reading.

 

~Colette