A Rustic Strawberry Tart with Lemon and Mint Cream Cheese

I’d been dreaming about a strawberry tart ever since Nehe’s patch started producing earlier this month.  With nearly 60 pounds of ripe, juicy berries that we harvested, I wanted to make something sweet and memorable to commemorate “Nehemiah’s Strawberry Patch.”

My strawberry patch, my strawberries were good. I like my strawberry garden. (Nehemiah just jumped on my lap and wanted to share a bit about his garden.  These are his words and he typed the message.)

I decided on a rustic tart made beautiful by its imperfections.

For the crust of the tart I made a pate brisee which I have completely fallen in love with.  The french version of a classic pie dough.

It’s quick and easy to make in a food processor.  In five minutes you can make a buttery, flaky dough that can be used in any sweet or savory dish.

It lends to quick supper on the table during these hot and busy days.

To fill the tart, I wanted to use a cream cheese base for richness and to that added lemon zest and fresh mint from the garden.

A refreshing and rustic, summer tart.  Perfectly crispy and flaky.

The strawberries are nearly done and my freezers are filled for smoothies and jam later in the year.  It’s funny how the seasons work.  Now that we’ve had our fair share of strawberries, we’re kind of sick of them and ready to move on to raspberries, blueberries and the plethora of stone fruit about to come into season.  Oh summer fruit joy!

Whole Wheat, Rustic Strawberry Tart with Lemon and Mint Cream Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe pate brisee
• 8oz cream cheese
• zest of 1 organic lemon
• 2-3 tbls fresh mint, chopped finely
• 1 tbls pure cane juice (azucar morena)
• 1lb fresh strawberries
• 1 tbls arrowroot powder
• 1/4 cup pure cane juice (azucar morena)
• juice of 1/2 the lemon
• egg white for brushing on the tart

Method:

1. In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, lemon zest and 1tbls of pure cane juice.  Add the mint and mix gently.  Allow the cream cheese mixture to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour to incorporate flavors.

2. Once the cream cheese has rested, preheat your oven with a baking stone in it at 400F.

2. In a separate bowl, mix 1/4 cup of cane juice with 1tbls of arrowroot powder.  Add the lemon juice and strawberries.  Mix until the strawberries are well coated with the sweetener.

3. On a floured surface (that you can transfer the tart to the oven on) or on parchment paper, roll out your pate brisse to an 1/8″.

4. Spread the cream cheese mixture allowing enough room on the edges to fold over the tart.

5. Add the strawberries from the mixture with a slotted spoon as not to add the liquid.

6. You can arrange thinly sliced lemons on top for decorative purposes.

7. Once filled, fold over the edges of the pate brisee to create a rustic tart. Add the remaining juice from the strawberry mixture over the strawberries of the folded tart.

8. Brush egg whites on the edges of the tart for a glowing browned crust.

7. Transfer the tart to the baking stone by sliding off like a pizza peel or bake directly on the parchment paper by placing on the baking stone in the oven.  This method will ensure that you get a nice crispy bottom.

8. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

9. Once baked allow to cool for 10 minutes and transfer to a serving dish.  This can be served warm or at room temperature.

Buen Provecho!