Sometimes you want something different in a dessert. I don’t know about you but I love a sweet, salty and delicately spicy combination in desserts…and when it comes together as it should it’s true nirvana.
I often have cheese and fruit for dessert, so I wanted to combine some of my favorite cheese items into a delicious tart, but you can use just about anything you like. I like to use either cream cheese or mascarpone as a base, and then add my cheese of choice to the base.
One thing to remember, is don’t overcomplicate it…first decide what element you want to focus on, and what I mean by that is do you want to have a combination of a few gooey cheeses to add to your base (which would be totally outrageous) or do you want to focus on the flavors of a bleu cheese, gorgonzola or something along the lines of a good quality, creamy feta.
The base you choose will help bring it all together and also help round out the sharpness of some of the more flavorful items. For this application, I chose a cream cheese base combined with a good quality bleu cheese and I also added a little finely grated parmesan cheese to the crust along with a little black pepper, but not much….it goes so well with the figs.
I made 2 different batches of the dough. In one of them I used bread flour and added just enough water until it came together to roll out for the base. This base made 2-6” crusts.
Then I made the same recipe but added all purpose flour and just a little more water and it was a little softer and not dry. This I used for the streusel on top, it was so flaky and tender and very reminiscent of delicate but savory shortbread…simply unforgettable.
Flaky Dough (Base Crust)
2 ½ cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
6 oz salted butter
2 oz shortening
Good pinch of ground black pepper
1/3 -1/2 cup water **just enough to have dough come together
Before I make this type of dough, I chill everything for a few hours so that it is all very cold. Then I add it all to the bowl of my food processor and whirr it together until it becomes a coarse meal but sticks together when you squeeze it into a ball. Pour this out onto some plastic wrap and seal it all up, then use the base of your hand to press it all together into one big piece of dough. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
When ready to use, roll the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Remove the top piece of parchment and cut a 6”circle in the dough, then score it all over with the tines of a fork. Refrigerate the crust until you make the filling. When ready to assemble, add half of the filling and spread out over the crust, then top with half of the quantity of streusel topping all over. When ready to bake, drizzle the top with some heavy cream and bake in a 350°F oven for 20-25 minutes until it is golden brown all over.
Streusel Flaky Dough (Top Crust)
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese
6 oz salted butter
2 oz shortening
Good pinch of ground black pepper
1/3 -1/2 cup water **add enough to make this a little more moist than the last one
Follow the same instructions as above, but this dough will be a little softer with the addition of a little more water, more like a thick paste. Once you have made it, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use.
Cheese Filling
8 oz pack of cream cheese, softened
½ cup to ¾ cup crumbled bleu cheese
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
2-3 tablespoon sour cream (or heavy cream)
Add the softened cream cheese to the bowl of your stand mixer and cream slightly, then add the bleu cheese until just combined. Lastly, add the mustard and the sour cream or the heavy cream to loosen the filling just a little so that it is easy to spread over the dough. We definitely don’t want this to be runny because the tart does not have an edge and you do not want it to spill over the crust.
Caramelized Figs
6 figs, cut into quarters
1 cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon corn syrup (prevent crystallization)
1/3 cup heavy cream
Clean and quarter the figs and then set them aside. Add the sugar, water and corn syrup to a small stock pot and cook until the sugar begins to turn a golden amber color. At this point, slowly add the heavy cream and stir with a wooden spoon until it is all mixed well together. Be careful when adding the cream because it may bubble up a little. Allow this to cool slightly and then toss in the figs just before serving. If it is too thick just add a few more drops of cream. The sauce should not be too thin.
Leave a Reply