Delicious Berry Cream Tarts

My husband and I enjoy exploring new neighborhoods on the weekends, and by explore, I mean walk around and eat a lot of food.

A few weeks ago, we spent an afternoon walking around Bay Ridge. It’s a somewhat remote neighborhood in Brooklyn that’s only served by one subway line. We weren’t sure what to expect, but we really loved it.

There were so many delicious looking restaurants – everything from Middle Eastern to Greek to Italian – that I’m already plotting my return. Of course, we had to check out a couple places. One of our stops was Paneantico Bakery, where the displays cases were filled with beautiful pastries. I had an amazing berry cream tart that I couldn’t wait to recreate once I got home.

You are going to love these Berry Cream Tarts! I started by baking almond-scented shortbread cookies with a cute scalloped edge. The cookies are topped with a generous dollop of rich cream filling that tastes just like cheesecake! I finished the tarts by piling on the sweet berries.

These tarts would be perfect for a Mother’s Day brunch or anytime you feel like a sweet treat!

Berry Cream Tarts

Yield: 10 tarts

Berry Cream Tarts

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 lb. strawberries
12 oz. blackberries
12 oz. raspberries

For the Shortbread:

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8 tsp. almond extract
1 cup flour

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare shortbread:

Place butter, granulated sugar, and almond extract in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix until butter is light and creamy.
Add flour to butter mixture. Mix just until dough comes together.
Lightly flour a large cutting board. Place dough on board.
Using a rolling pin, gently roll out dough until it's about 1/4-inch thick.
With a 3-inch fluted cookie cutter, cut out 10 cookies.
Place cookies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and, prick each cookie a few times with a fork.
Bake cookies just until the edges start to turn golden brown, about 20 - 25 minutes. Do not overcook.

Remove cookies from oven and place on a wire rack to cool.

Prepare cream:

Pour heavy cream into the bowl of a stand mixer and, with the whisk attachment, beat until stiff peaks form.
Remove cream from bowl and set aside.
Add cream cheese and powdered sugar to mixing bowl, and with the paddle attachment, mix until completely smooth.
Using a spatula, gently fold 1/3 of heavy cream into cream cheese until well combined. Repeat 2 more times with remaining heavy cream. Set mixture aside.

Assemble tarts:

Hull strawberries and cut into thirds vertically.
Slice blackberries in half vertically, if very large.
Top each cookie with 3 - 4 strawberry slices, placing them around the edges.
Cover strawberries with a 1/10th of the cream mixture, and then press additional strawberries into cream (in between the other berries).
Top each tart with a blackberry or raspberry, and then fill in the sides with additional blackberries and raspberries.