Sunday 11 July 2010

Cream Cheese Tartelettes with Cherries in Red Wine


It is the cherry season!
I've seen baskets of cherries in Portobello market where I now routinely shop for fruits & vegetables.
Since I made my 1st jar of blueberry jam, I love the ideas of preserving fruits without additives.
So, when I came across the brilliant post (Chinese) in preserving cherries in red wine, I bookmarked it & told myself I must try this.
Although I don't drink wine, I still like the subtle & fruity taste of the cherries & red wine.




After making the cherries, I have been thinking what should I make with them.
Cherry tarts! As you're reading it.
I haven't baked tarts since the chocolate tarts as I realised that the traditional short pastry is quite heavy.
But I found a recipe for a low-fat one, it uses less butter & without egg yolks.
To make it healthier, I also used low-fat cream cheese for the filling.
A light yet delicious treat for the summer!

Recipe (6 x 10cm tarts):
Cherries in Red Wine
350g cherries
160ml red wine
4 tbsp sugar
1/2 lemon

Wash & dry the cherries.
In a small pot, heat the wine, lemon juice & sugar until sugar dissolved over low heat.
Add the cherries & bring to boil.
Turn off heating & leave it to cool down.
It's best to make this 1 day in advance, & it can be stored in fridge & used within 2-4 weeks.

Low-fat sweet short pastry
adapted from '吃不胖甜点 Low-fat Desserts' (Chinese)

40g unsalted butter
35g caster sugar
1 egg white
50g ground almond
110g plain flour
10g milk
1/4 lemon peel

In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy.
Add egg white & beat to mix.
Sift in the ground almond & plain flour, mix to combine.
Add milk & lemon peel, mix to combine.
Wrap the dough in plastic film & refrigerate for several hours (2-4 hours).
Roll the dough into 2mm thick & fill the moulds, make holes with forks & bake in a preheated oven at 150'C for 10 min.
Let the tart shells cool completely on a wire rack.

Cream cheese filling:
adapted from here (Chinese)

2 eggs
130g cream cheese
90g caster sugar

Combine all ingredients & stir until smooth.
Arrange cherries on the tart shells, pour in the filling.
Bake in a preheated oven at 160'C for 20-30 min or until golden colour.
Serve hot or cool as you like.

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