Description
These Berry Cream Cheese Puff Pastry Tarts have a flaky crust with a cream cheese custard center and are topped with fresh berries. The sweet and tart flavors make a mouthwatering Summer dessert.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 (13 ounce) Puff Pastry Dough, fresh or completely thawed from freezer
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon water
- 1 (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
- 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup strawberries, washed and dried
- 1 cup blueberries, washed and dried
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, grated on microplane
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Separate the egg yolk and egg white into 2 bowls. Whisk a teaspoon of water into the egg white and set aside.
- Whisk 1 tablespoon of sugar with 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon in bowl until combined and set aside.
- Add the cream cheese into the bowl of the stand mixer with beater attachment and beat on medium speed for 90 seconds.
- Pour in remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and beat on medium speed for 60 seconds, scraping the sides of the bowl half way through. Add in vanilla and egg yolk. Beat again on medium speed for 60 seconds scraping half way down the bowl. Allow to sit on the counter while preparing the puff pastry.
- Roll out the puff pastry dough. Using a pizza cutter, slice halfway down the longest portion. Then, slice twice more the opposite way to create 6 rectangular pieces. (See step 5 in post above).
- Line a full size cookie sheet with parchment paper. Transfer the puff pastry rectangles onto the parchment paper spreading them out as much as possible. Note: They don't spread that much when baking, but you don't want any of them touching.
- Use a paring knife to score a rectangular border around the pastry. You want to slice about half way through the dough, not all the way. This will allow the outer portion to puff up the most while baking (see photo above). Use a fork to prick holes in the inner portion of the scored area to help that dough stay flatter when baking.
- Brush the egg white wash over the outer scored border. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the egg wash. Use a spoon to place about 1 tablespoon of cream cheese filling in the center portion of the tart and spread to cover the inner area. Bake for 13-16 minutes on middle rack in oven until the pastries are golden, and the cream cheese filling is slightly toasted, but not too brown.
- While the pastries are baking, wash and dry blueberries and strawberries. Remove stems. Place the strawberries with the base where the stem was, on the cutting board and cut into about 6-8 thin slices. These fan out nicely onto the pastries.
- Remove the tarts from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes on a baking rack. Top with about 6 strawberry slices, 8 blueberries and a sprinkle of lemon zest. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- Allow the cream cheese to soften on the countertop for at least an hour before making the filling or you will end up with a lot of chunks in the filling. A few lumps are no big deal and will smooth out when baking.
- Leave the puff pastry in the fridge until right before using. It gets sticky and harder to work with as it warms up to room temperature.
- Dry the fruit really well to avoid water over the custard tops.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cooling Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American