Recipes

Mini Blueberry Tarts

Cream cheese, almond paste and blueberries are a match made in puff pastry heaven

By Caren McSherry /

Credit: Flickr / Theskinimin

One bite of these mini blueberry treats and you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them

Cream cheese and almond paste give these blueberry tarts an extraordinary richness that will have you back for seconds

Blueberries are one of our planet’s superfoods.

They weigh in heavy against the powerhouse kale, but my vote goes to the big blues.

Whether you enjoy them plain, in a salad or in tart form, such as in this recipe, BC blueberries are good for you and good for our local farmers.

Ingredients

  • Flour, for rolling out
  • 1 lb. frozen puff pastry, thawed (purchased in the frozen section of good gourmet stores)
  • 2 oz. berry sugar
  • 1 (4 oz.) pkg. regular Philly Cream Cheese, softened
  • 4 oz. almond paste or marzipan
  • 2 large free-range eggs, lightly beaten
  • ½ tsp. almond extract
  • 1-½ cups fresh BC blueberries
  • ½ cup flaked almonds
  • Icing sugar, to finish

Instructions

  1. Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Roll out the pastry on the work surface to ⅛-inch thickness.
  2. Select a round-fluted cutter that is ¼ inch larger than the cups of your chosen mini tart tin and cut out 24 pastry circles.
  3. Press the pastry circles into the tart cavities of the tin making sure that you press to the sides and bottom. Chill the tart shells in the tin while preparing the filling.
  4. To make the filling, beat together the sugar, cream cheese and almond paste until light and fluffy.
  5. Add the eggs and almond extract and beat until combined.
  6. Spoon the cream cheese mixture evenly into the prepared tart shells. Press a tablespoon or so of blueberries into each tart and top with a few flaked almonds.
  7. Bake tarts in a preheated 385°F oven for 20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the filling begins to bubble.
  8. Allow to cool before dusting with icing sugar.

Makes 24 mini tarts.

Originally published in TVW. For daily programming updates and on-screen Entertainment news, subscribe to the free TVW e-newsletters, or purchase a subscription to the weekly magazine.