Mini Cheese Tart

Mini Cheese Tart

Tips for the pastry:

• If you are using icing sugar, the pastry will be softer. But if you are using caster sugar, the texture of the pastry will be more crunchy.
• For myself I prefer to use caster sugar instead of icing sugar, as I prefer it to be more crunchy & so do my hubby. Usually, I won't finish eating the cheese tarts in a day, I'll keep them in the fridge & enjoy them slowly whenever I feel like it.
• So what I'm trying to tell you in point no.2 is, if you're using caster sugar, the pastry will be gradually become softer on the next day, don't you think it's a good idea if you're preparing the cheese tarts for tomorrow's party?.
• If you're using UHT whipping cream, you will need to increase the sugar, as non-dairy whipping cream that I used was a sweetened whipping cream.
• The reason I use cold butter is because the dough won't be too sticky when I shape the tarts.

Ingredients for Pastry:

• Cold Butter - 150gm (cut into cubes)
• Caster sugar- 50gm
• Egg Yolk - 2 nos.
• Vanilla Essence - 1/4 teaspoon
• Plain Flour - 250gm

Ingredients for Cheese Filling:

• Cream Cheese - 250gm (at room temperature)
• Butter - 50gm (at room temperature)
• Icing Sugar - 60gm
• 'A' Egg - 1 no
• Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp. (but I used half of a Lemon)
• Non-Dairy Whipping Cream - 100gm (cold)
• Melted Cooking Chocolate - 4ogm

Method for Pastry:

1. Beat cold butter cubes & caster sugar to become pale in colour. Add in egg yolk & beat thoroughly.
2. Lastly, fold in sieved flour & mix into a soft dough. If you find your dough is too sticky, you may keep the dough into the refrigerator for 20 minutes before making the tart shells.
3. Place the tart shells into the pre-heated oven & bake at 170c for 25 minutes.

Method for Cheese Filling:

1. Beat cream cheese, butter & icing sugar until fluffy. Squeeze in lemon juice & beat until smooth. Add in 1 egg & beat thoroughly, now the mixture will become watery, don't be panic, just leave the mixture aside.
2. In another clean mixing bowl, whip cold non-dairy whipping cream until stiff . Mix the whipped whipping cream into the cheese mixture. After mixing in the whipping cream, the cheese mixture will become thicken & fluffy.
3. Use a piping bag with a nozzle to pipe the cream cheese batter into the baked tart shell.
4. Place the cheese tarts into the pre-heated oven & bake at 160c for 15 minutes. Leave the cheese tarts to cool before keeping them into the fridge.
5. After a few hours chilling, use a piping bag to pipe some melted chocolate onto the surface of the cheese tarts.

Place butter & sugar into a mixing bowl.

Beat them to become pale in colour.

Add in egg yolks & beat thorough.

Lastly, fold in sifted flour & mix into a soft dough.

You may chill the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes before making the tart shell. This is one of the method of making tart shell, place the soft dough onto a plastic sheet.

Cover with another sheet of plastic sheet & roll into a 5mm thickness flat dough.

Remove the plastic sheet on the dough & place the tart moulds upside down on the dough sheet. Press the tart mould, as you need to use the tart mould as a cutter to cut the dough.

Cover back the plastic sheet, as you'll need the help of the plastic sheet to invert the whole sheet of dough.

Both hands hold the plastic sheets & invert swiftly.

Remove the plastic bag. As you can see from the picture, the tart shells are clearly been cut out from the dough sheet.

Remove tart moulds from the dough sheet. Repeat the same process for the leftover dough.

The tart shell has been nicely cut out from the dough sheet

Prick a few holes on the dough, reason being to release some air from the mould, as the mould has been filled with dough until the brim.

Now you can start making the tart shell by pressing the dough onto the tart mould.

This is how my tart shell looks like

This is the second method, divide the dough into 10gm each.

Slowly press onto the tart mould

This is how I shaped the tart shell

Place all the tart shell into the baking tray

Wait! before sending into the oven, prick some holes on the tart shell.

This process will prevent the air being trapped in the bottom of the tart mould.

After baking at 170c for 25 minutes, the tart shell should be golden brown in colour. Now you can start preparing the cheese filling.

Place Cream Cheese, Butter & Icing Sugar into a mixing bowl.

Beat at high speed until fluffy.

Squeeze in Lemon Juice.

Beat into a smooth & creamy batter

Add in 1 whole egg

Beat them thoroughly, don't be panic if you feel that the batter is too watery.

In another clean mixing bowl, whisk the non-dairy whipping cream until stiff.

Transfer the whipping cream into the cream cheese batter.

Use a spatula to mix them up thoroughly, now the watery cream cheese batter will become creamy again.

Transfer the batter into a piping bag with a nozzle. Pipe the cream cheese batter into the baked tart shells.

Place the cheese tarts into the pre-heated oven & bake at 160c for 15 minutes.

When the cheese tart filling is baked, the filling will be raising up. But after the tart has cool down, the filling will sink back again.

After a few hours chilling in the fridge, I can start ice them with a piping bag of melted chocolate.

Now you can start icing the surface with some melted chocolate.

When I iced the melted chocolate onto the cold cheese tart surface, the chocolate become harden immiediately, that's the reason I chilled them before the chocolate icing.