Kiwi Strawberry Tart

Photo: flickr user Muffet

Ingredients

Crust

1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

3/8 cup butter (6 tablespoons)

small chilled and cut into pieces

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons ice water (3 to 3 ½)

Filling

1/2 cup yogurt cheese* made from 1 cup

small low-fat vanilla yogurt, or 1 ⅓

1 pkt (4 ounces) cream cheese, at room

temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup heavy cream

Topping

1 1/2 cups strawberries (about ½ pint)

hulled and sliced lengthwise

3 mediums kiwis peeled and sliced

length wise

3 tablespoons apple jelly

1 teaspoon water

Preparation

Crust: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt. With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing the mixture with a fork or your fingers until it holds together. Form the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disk, wrap it in plastic and chill for several hours or overnight.

Let the dough rest at room temperature for 15 minutes. Roll it out to 1/4-inch thickness and fit it into a 9-inch pie plate. Roll and crimp the top edges of the crust decoratively between your forefinger and thumb, and prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Chill for 30 minutes.

When the crust has chilled, bake it in a preheated 350F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until it's golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Filling: In a medium bowl, mix the yogurt cheese or softened cream cheese gradually into the sugar and vanilla, beating all the while until the mixture is very smooth. Whip the cream to stiff peaks and fold it gently into the cheese mixture, just until it's fully incorporated. Spoon the filling into the cooled, baked crust and smooth with a spatula.

Topping: Arrange the fruit in concentric circles over the top of the tart. (Starting from the outside of the crust, we laid the kiwi slices down in two circles, then filled the center with some of the strawberry slices and finally tucked the rest of them, pointed side up, into any remaining space. Any arrangement you think looks nice will work well.)

Melt the jelly and water in a small saucepan over low heat, cool slightly, then brush it over the entire surface of the tart. Chill for several hours before serving. We actually refrigerated it overnight, and the next day the crust was amazingly crisp!

Yield: 14 servings

NOTES : Somewhere in the territory between tart and pie, yet ultimately more akin to a tart, here's an attractive and refreshing dessert to serve beside steaming black coffee. Complete with flaky crust, satiny filling, fresh fruit and a glistening glaze, our taste-test tart, full of flavor and texture contrasts, disappeared awfully quickly...