The crisp crumb topping with a hint of chopped almonds is a perfect contrast to this tart’s light cream cheese filling and juicy strawberries. This recipe is great on many levels. First of all, though it does take some time overall because the dough needs to chill for the pie crust, all of the pieces come together quickly. You can also make everything in advance and just assemble it shortly before eating it. Strawberries are excellent, but you can also use blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or a combination of berries. Really sweet diced peaches or mango would also work well.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Crumble Tart Recipe

Ingredients:

Crust:

• 1/8 cup almonds (slivered or whole blanched)
• 3/8 cup confectioners sugar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 stick unsalted butter (cut into pieces)
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:

• 1 lb cream cheese (softened)
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 lb strawberries (halved or quartered)

Topping:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 cup slivered or whole blanched almonds (chopped)
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• pinch of sea salt
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter (melted)

Preparation:

Combine the almonds and confectioners sugar in the bowl of a food processor, pulsing until finely ground. Add the flour and the salt and pulse a few times to mix. Next add the butter and pulse repeatedly until no visible pieces of butter remain. Add the yolks and vanilla and continue to pulse until the dough forms a ball.

Remove the dough from the food processor, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least one hour. When ready to make the tart, remove the dough from the fridge and allow it to soften to a cool room temperature, about 20 minutes. Unwrap and roll out on a floured work surface to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Carefully transfer the dough to the tart pan and press it into the pan, trimming away any excess dough. Refrigerate for several hours.

To make the crumble topping, preheat the oven to 350 F, with oven racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir in the almonds before using a spatula to stir in the butter. Allow the mixture to start for a few minutes before breaking it into small crumbs with your fingers. Scatter the crumbs onto a parchment lined baking pan.

Baking:

Before baking, top your tart crust with a piece of parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake the tart crust on the lower third of the oven and the crumb topping in the upper third for 10 minutes. Remove the weights from the tart crust along with the parchment paper and swap the crust and the crumb topping, so that the crust is now on the upper rack and the crumb topping is on the lower rack.

Bake the crumble topping for an additional 10-15 minutes, until deep golden and firm, before removing from oven. Bake the crust for an additional 15-20 minutes, until dry and light golden. To make the cream cheese filling, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add confectioners sugar, lemon zest and vanilla, beating until light.
To assemble the tart, spread half of the cream cheese filling on the bottom of the tart crust. Top with sliced berries. Cover with the remaining filling before scattering the crumb topping over everything. Cover and refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve.

Enjoy it.