Test Kitchen - White Chocolate Fruit Tarts

I've had this recipe saved in my bookmarks for a long time, and when I wanted to make a light, summery dessert involving fresh fruit for a church dinner I was catering, I decided to give it a try. It is from the blog of What A Dish!, and her rapt description of the "melt in your mouth" crust persuaded me to try it instead of a regular pie crust. I made mini tarts and topped with fresh blueberries, strawberries, and kiwi.

The crust recipe, originally intended to make a 12 inch crust, made 12 tart shells and 8 cupcake sized shells for me. They were easy, looked enticing, and tasted delicious--a real winner in my book! The recipe below is with my adaptations, and the original may be found here.

White Chocolate Fruit Tarts
by What A Dish! originally from Recipezaar.com

3/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 (6 ounce) package white chocolate squares, chunked
1/4 cup whole milk
1 (8 ounce) package Neufchâtel cheese, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Assorted fruit

Heat oven to 300°F. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Blend in flour. Press mixture into bottom and up sides of mini tart pans or cupcake pans (I used both). Prick bottoms a few times to prevent crust from puffing up. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until just lightly brown. Cool completely.

Carefully melt white chocolate bars and milk in microwave. Cool slightly. Beat cheese and vanilla, then gradually add white chocolate. When crust is cool, pour melted chocolate/cheese mixture into shells, dividing evenly about 2/3 full. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until ready to serve--at least 3 hours. Place fruit on top and serve.

Test Kitchen: Crabcakes

At my house, there is an ongoing friendly battle between testing new recipes for my catering business and making the old favorite standbys for my family. My daughter is a great cook and willing participant in trying new things, so after debating various menus yesterday, we decided to go to Sam's to purchase fresh shrimp to make shrimp cakes as a variation of crabcakes, which are one of my husband's favorite dishes. Sam's had only frozen shrimp, so we decided to substitute lump blue crab meat instead and make crabcakes.

We found an interesting version called Green Chile Crabcakes with Tomatillo Salsa in one of my favorite cookbooks, Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather. We adapted it to the palates of the whole family by leaving out the jalapeno and green chiles and served it with homemade tartar sauce. They were delicious!--light and crispy with tender bites of sweet crab. We decided that next time we will go ahead and add the jalapeno for a bit more spiciness.

Crabcakes
Adapted from Pastry Queen's Green Chile Crabcakes with Tomatillo Salsa

1 pound lump crabmeat, cleaned
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of lime
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 cups panko breadcrumbs, divided
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons olive oil

Combine crabmeat, bell pepper, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, eggs, 2 cups of breadcrumbs, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper in large bowl. Mix lightly with hands and form into eight 3-inch patties. Chill for one hour.
Pour remaining 1 cup breadcrumbs into shallow bowl or paper towel. Coat patties in crumbs. Melt butter and olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add crab cakes and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until surface is golden brown and crispy. Serve immediately.

I made a couple of mini crabcakes and placed them on my salad--YUM!