Fruitopia

Frui·to·pi·a/frooˈtōpēə/

Noun: An imagined place or state of things in which fruit is perfect.

Summer fruit is in abundance in produce aisles and farmers' markets across the country.  Peaches, plums, apricots, berries--it's all ripe for the picking!

SOURCE

I wanted to make a beautiful dessert to showcase some of the fruits of summer and went directly to Queen (Paula) Deen, Southern cook extraordinaire.

SOURCE

In my experience, most Southern women are excellent cooks.  But Paula's piercing blue eyes, sparkling personality, and lilting Southern drawl elevates everything she makes to show-stopping!

This recipe is from foodnetwork.com with a couple of adaptations from me in parentheses.  One thing I love about cooking is that you can tweak recipes to make them your own.  I kept the basic formula the same but did just a few things differently based on personal tastes and what I had on hand.

Paula Deen's Fresh Fruit Tart
(click here to print)

Crust:

• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened and sliced

Filling:

• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used confectioners' sugar to reduce any grittiness)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I also added 1/8 tsp. orange oil - you could use orange zest, too)

Topping:

• Fresh strawberries, kiwi slices, blueberries, raspberries

Glaze:

• 1 (6-ounce) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed (I used what I had: pink lemonade)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice (I used lemon juice)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Whipped cream, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust: In a food processor, combine the confectioners' sugar, flour, and butter, and process until the mixture forms a ball.

With your fingers, press the dough into a 12-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, taking care to push the crust into the indentations in the sides. Pat until the crust is even.

 
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until very lightly browned. Set aside to cool.

For the filling and topping: Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Spread over the cooled crust. Cut the strawberries into 1/4-inch slices and arrange around the edge of the crust. For the next circle, use kiwi slices. Add another circle of strawberries, filling in any spaces with blueberries. Cluster the raspberries in the center of the tart.  (I ordered the fruit a little differently but used the same ones Paula did.)

For the glaze: Combine the limeade, cornstarch, lime juice, and sugar in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until clear and thick, about 2 minutes. ( I did this in the microwave and cooked for about 2 minutes on High power.)  Let cool.

With a pastry brush, glaze the entire tart. You will not use all of the glaze.  (I think you could halve the glaze recipe because there was a lot left over.)

 Keep the tart in the refrigerator. Remove about 15 minutes before serving. Slice into 8 wedges and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

It was perfect for a hot summer night and magic, too, because--poof!--it disappeared in a flash!


Linking to: