The heat is on in Missouri now but I
slipped out this morning for a little
"Tea In The Garden":
This morning by 10:00 am it was
already 92 degrees with 50% humidity
so I did this tea time as quickly as
I could. This year we have little
Carolina Wrens nesting in the
birdhouse on the wall of our little
porch entry area. It really wasn't
intended to be "used" by birds so
they were most unhappy this morning
with me scooting by with things I brought out
the front door nearby.
During the Corona Virus we have spent
time on many projects at home and also
in the garden. Several long term
garden projects are done including mulching
all the flower beds front, sides and back.
So let's sit and enjoy
these sweet little
Strawberry Tarts!
My recipe called for a quart of strawberries
but I only had a pint of them and it still
worked fine to make a 2 by 9 inch oblong tart
and 3 small round 3 1/2" tarts too!
Here is the recipe for a Strawberry Cream Tart: Ingredients for the Pastry: 1/2 Cup Butter, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1/4 tsp vanilla and
1 cup flour
This pastry makes what taste like a shortbread cookie and is delicious! In a small bowl, cream the butter and sugar, vanilla and add flour.
Press this onto the sides and bottom of your
tart pan with a removable bottom (2 x 9")
Make the cream cheese filling next.
Ingredients for the Filling:
1 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/4 cup of sugar, 1 egg and 1/2 tsp vanilla
In a small bowl, mix all this and set aside while you preheat the oven to 450 degrees. You are going to spread the filling over the pastry and bake it at
450 degrees for 8 minutes - reduce heat to
350 degrees and bake 8-10 more minutes.
Now cool this tart shell.
Ingredients for strawberry topping:
1 pint - 1 quart strawberries, Reserve 1 cup of strawberries sliced for final top and chop the rest putting them in a sauce pan with 1 cup of sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 cup water and 3 Tb cornstarch
Bring all this to a boil until it thickens - cool!
When your strawberry topping is cooled it is ready to pour over the cream cheese base. It is nice to have sliced fresh berries to fill in across the top.
This recipe is really very easy to do and once you make it once -
even easier the next time!
You may have noticed the hummingbird feeders are no longer on the deck. We
caught one raccoon in a cage and a friend relocated him for us but unfortunately we seem to have an abundance of them and
they are not afraid of us. I was refilling
the hummingbird feeders every day which
is a lot of work. Yes, they drank it all.
If you make the tarts - I think
you will love them!
I hope you find ways to enjoy
each day this summer!
