Raspberry and Cream Cheese Tartelettes

There is a good chance that my partner and I will be hired to cater for the parliament elections at the French embassy in a couple of weeks. We've already worked up a menu, both for lunch and dinner courses, but I wanted to experiment with a new crust recipe this weekend, before I use it for one of the desserts I plan on making for the big event. I was pleased with the result. The pâte sablée (crumbly crust) came out great and worked wonderfully with the cream cheese and the fresh raspberries.

RASPBERRY AND CREAM CHEESE TARTELETTES

Makes about 10 tartlets or 1 whole pie

Pâte Sablée / Crumbly Crust

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 cup white sugar

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon water

pinch of salt

Beat egg yolks, sugar and water with hand whisk until mixture sugar dissolves and mixture turns a pale yellow.

Mix flour and salt. Cut butter into squares. Using your hands, squeeze butter chunks and flour until texture looks like sand. Pour egg mixture over flour/butter mix and incorporate by hand. Shape dough into a ball.

Roll dough with non-stick rolling pin or just press dough into pans (2 to 3 millimeters thin).

Bake at 350 degrees (180 Celsius degrees) for 15 minutes or until crust turns golden brown.

Let cool and remove from pans.

Cream Cheese Filling

2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 14-ounce can (1 1/4 cups) sweetened condensed milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups fresh raspberries

Using an electric mixer set at medium-high speed, beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until smooth. Beat in the condensed milk a little at a time, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the lemon juice and vanilla.

Pour the filling into the crust, smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Refrigerate until firm, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Arrange fresh raspberries on top.