If you are looking for a simple dessert that tastes like summer, then look no further! This berry cheese tart will be on your summer baking go-to list. It’s a fun cross between a lazy man’s tart and a cheesecake. You can’t go wrong with this fun and easy dessert recipe!
This berry cheese tart is made with a buttery puff pastry. The crisp and flaky golden brown base complements the smooth and velvety cream cheese filling. Then it’s topped with a vibrant medley of fresh, juicy berries. It’s the perfect dessert to enjoy summer’s abundance of local berries and to share with family and friends.
Ingredients
- Puff pastry
- Whipping cream
- Cream cheese
- Granulated sugar and powdered sugar
- Vanilla extract
- Lemon zest
- Fresh mixed berries
Variation
You can easily switch up the fruit to make any version you like. For example, you could stick to one fruit and make a blueberry tart, add extra lemon to give an extra bite. Or even add dollops of blueberry compote to your fresh blueberries.
Make Ahead
What’s great about this berry cheese tart is you can make the base in advance. The puff pastry base is a simple roll out, score and bake. You can do this up to two days in advance. And when you are ready to serve the dessert all you have to do is fill it with the cream cheese filling and top it with fresh berries.
I’d recommend making the cheese filling the day of, as it will start to firm up once you put in the fridge, making it difficult to spread out on the puff pastry.
I absolutely love the ease of this summer, fresh dessert. Puff pastry is simple and fun to work with and is always a hit! The only warning I’ll give is to make sure you defrost it in advance. Remember to take the puff pastry out of the freezer the night before and defrost it in the fridge overnight.
What’s Puff Pastry?
Puffy pastry is a beautiful laminated dough composed of dough and butter. It’s layered and folded over itself many times to give a light, puffy and airy pastry once baked.
Puff pastry can be made by hand or you can buy frozen sheets at your local grocery store (and all you have to do is bake it). There are a few tricks when working with frozen puff pastry. Most importantly is thinking a day ahead! You cannot use frozen pastry to make a dessert, you need to let it thaw before using it. So try and remember the night before to take it out of the freezer and place it in the fridge to thaw slowly and gradually. If your pastry gets wet or sits too long in moisture it will stick together and you won’t be able to roll it out.
Always keep puff pastry cold. This will help ensure you get those beautiful layers! Sometimes working in the kitchen it gets hot or we get busy doing other things all the while our pastry (and those fats) warm up. If you’ve had your pastry out too long, pop it back in the fridge or freezer to firm the dough back up before baking.
How To Make A Berry Cheese Tart
Step One: On a floured work surface roll out the puff pastry. Using a sharp knife score a rectangle around the edges of the pastry approx. 1/2 inch thick. Bake until puffed and golden brown. Once the tart shell is baked, let it cool on a wire rack.
Step Two: Gently push down the centre where you scored your lines, and re-cut lines if needed. Then, fill with cream cheese filling and spread out in an even layer.
Step Three: Top with fresh berries and dust with powdered sugar.
Berry Cheese Tart
This simple berry cheese tart is a fun cross between a lazy man’s tart and a cheesecake. But it’s made with a flaky, buttery puff pastry base, a fluffy, and light cream cheese filling and topped with fresh fruit bursting with summer sweetness. Recipe easily doubles.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 12 mins
- Total Time: 32 mins
- Yield: 9 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 sheet puff pastry, thawed and ready to use
- 1/2 cup whipping cream
- 6 oz (3/4 cup) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- zest of 1 small lemon
- 3 – 4 cups mixed berries
- powdered sugar, for topping
Instructions
- Heat oven to 400˚F.
- Roll out 1 sheet puff pastry onto a large piece of parchment paper.
- Using a sharp knife score a rectangle around the edges of the pastry approx. 1/2 inch thick. Be careful not to cut all the way through. Make a few pricks in the centre of the rectangle to let air escape as it bakes.
- Next, transfer your pastry onto a baking sheet and bake for 10 -12 minutes or until golden brown and puffed.
- Let the tart shell cool on a wire rack.
- Meanwhile, make your filling.
- In a bowl of a stand mixer whip whipping cream until soft peaks form, add vanilla extract and mix to combine.
- In a separate large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.
- Add half the whipped cream to the cream cheese mixture, gently fold together. Add the rest of the whipping cream and continue to fold until combined. Set aside.
- Using your hand gently press the centre of the pastry down. This will give you a pastry pocket (you can use a knife to recut the edges if your lines baked together while in the oven).
- Fill the tart with the cream cheese filling, smoothing out right to the edge of the puff pastry.
- Top filling with lemon zest, fresh berries and dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
This recipe uses only one sheet of puff pastry. Only thaw one sheet of puff pastry from the box and keep the other one frozen until you are ready to use.
The recipe doubles easily to make two tarts.
Cover any leftovers in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for one to two days. For best results serve the same day to keep the flakiness of the puff pastry.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 of 9
- Calories: 263
- Sugar: 13.7g
- Sodium: 144mg
- Fat: 15.2g
- Saturated Fat: 8.5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 29.2g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 4.4g
- Cholesterol: 28mg
Keywords: Puff Pastry, Cheesecake, Tart, Berries, Summer, Dessert, Easy Recipe
FAQ’s
Yes, you can put baked puff pastry in the fridge, but it’s best to store an undressed, baked puff pastry in an airtight container at room temperature or in the freezer. It will last approx. 5 days at room temperature and up to 2 months in the freezer.
Yes, baked puff pastry freezes well. Make sure the puff pastry is undressed when freezing it and is stored in an airtight container. Once ready to serve bring the pastry to room temperature or reheat in the oven at 350˚F for 8 minutes (from frozen). Then dress the pastry as desired.
Puff pastry is a laminated dough composed of dough and butter. It’s layered and folded over itself many times to give a light, puffy and airy pastry once baked.
Puff pastry can be made by hand or can be bought frozen in sheets at your local grocery store.
Puff pastry’s life span will depend if it is dressed or undressed. Undressed puff pastry will last approx. 5 days stored in an airtight container at room temperature or up to 2 months in the freezer. Once puff pastry is dressed with goodies it will last approx. 2-3 days and will lose its flakiness.
You may also like:
