I think we can all agree, there’s just nothing like Mom’s home cookin’. It just tastes better, doesn’t it? For that reason I’ve asked my Mom to submit some of her favorite recipes for me to share with y’all each Monday. Let’s get cooking in the kitchen with Mom!
One of my favorite things about summer is all of the berries that come in season – blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, yum! Aside from grabbing handfuls right out of the fridge, we like to serve them a variety of ways, one of which is a fruit tart. And what makes a tasty fruit tart even better? When you add in a cheesecake filling 🙂 Checkout Mom’s recipe for this cheesecake tart – we used strawberries this time, but you could substitute any summer fruit you like on this one.
Ingredients:
For the crust:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup pecans
- 3 tbsp. sugar
- ½ tsp. fine salt
- 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces
For the Filling:
- 1 2/3 cup whole milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- ½ cup sugar
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- For the garnish:
- 4 cups strawberries, sliced
- 2 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tbsp. orange liqueur
To make the crust:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat to 375 degrees. Using a food processor, pulse the flour, pecans, sugar and salt until the pecans are finely ground. Pulse in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 2 tbsp. ice cold water and pulse until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap, form into a disk, wrap and refrigerate until slight firm, about 15 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator and press the dough into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough into an even layer on the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Freeze the crust until firm, about 10 minutes. Remove from the freezer and place the tart pan on a baking sheet. Line the crust with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until the edges of the crust begin turning golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the foil and pie weights and continue baking until the crust is golden brown, 15 to 20 more minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool completely.
To make the filling:
Whisk 1 cup milk, the egg yolks, ¼ cup sugar and the cornstarch in a medium bowl. Heat the remaining 2/3 cup milk and ¼ cup sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. While whisking, slowly pour the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture. Return to the saucepan and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture starts to bubble and is very thick, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, and whisk in the cream cheese, lemon juice and vanilla until smooth. Pour into the cooled crust and spread into an even layer. Refrigerate until set, about 1 ½ hours.
Garnish and serve:
Slice the strawberries and toss with 2 tbsp. sugar and the 1 tbsp. orange liqueur. Let sit at room temperature, about 20 minutes. Top the tart with the strawberries and serve.
Enjoy!