These ream Tarts are all the rage!!! Also know as cream biscuits or cream cakes, they are beautiful and unique twist on traditional cakes. You can cut them into letter, numbers or shapes and decorate them with fruits, flowers and all your favourite candies.
These lovely cream tarts with double-decker pastries cut into letters or numbers has been appearing a lot on my Pinterest. It intrigue me as they are beautiful. So I did a little web sleuthing. These gorgeous desserts are brainchild of Israeli baker Adi Klinghofer. Its been many twist from her version. There are tarts made out of red velvet or chocolate cake, sponge cake and even rice crispy treats!
The cookies I made have a light honey flavour, which is lovely when paired with white chocolate frosting I used. The best thing about them is the texture, Unlike sugar cookies or tarts dough, they stay soft and supple after baking.
Ingredients:
For the tart dough:
- 1 egg
- 80g granulated sugar
- 60ml honey
- pinch salt
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 43g butter
- ¼ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 190g plain flour
For the white chocolate frosting:
- 142g white chocolate, finely chopped or white chocolate chips
- 145ml double cream
- 226g cream cheese, room temperature
For decoration:
- flowers, berries, meringues, candies or anything else you want!
Method:
Combine the egg, granulated sugar, honey, salt and vanilla extract in a medium saucepan, and whisk together. Add the butter and place the pan over medium heat. Watch the pan and whisk frequently while the mixture heats up and the butter melts. Continue to whisk until it starts to simmer, but don't bring it to a full boil.
Once the honey mixture is hot, remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the baking powder and baking soda. It will foam up and get thick and frothy. Set aside to cool until it is warm but not hot.
While you are waiting for the honey mixture to cool, sift the flour to remove any lumps, then pour half of it out onto a cutting board or your countertop.
Stir the other half of the flour into the honey mixture and whisk until it is all incorporated. The batter should be still pretty runny. Scrape the batter out onto the flour on your work surface, and gently use your hands to work the flour into the dough, gently kneading it just until the flour is incorporated and the dough is mostly smooth and only a bit sticky. Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for an hour, until firm.
Preheat oven to 175ºC/160ºC for fan assist oven. Roll the dough out onto baking paper, dusting with a bit of flour only if necessary to prevent sticking. Cut out 6" hearts, then use a smaller 2.5" heart cutter to cut out the middle. Alternately, you can cut any shape you like out of cardstock, and trace the shape with sharp knife onto the dough. Re-roll the dough until you have use up all the dough to get enough pair.
Place the large hearts a few inches apart on baking paper. bake for 6-8 minutes. The cookies will not take on any colour on top, but should puff and expand a bit, and if you use a spatula to take a peek under the cookie the bottom should be golden brown.
Let them cool completely before decorating.
To make the White Chocolate frosting:
Combine the chopped white chocolate and double cream in a medium bowl, and microwave it for 1 minute. Whisk the cream and white chocolate together until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on top, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until completely cold. It should have the texture of thick syrup after it has been chilled.
Place the room temperature cream cheese in the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat until the cream cheese is creamy and no lumps remain. Switch to the whisk attachment, and add the cold white chocolate ganache. Mix on low at first, to incorporate the ingredients, then scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for a few minutes until the frosting becomes thick and holds its shape well.
To decorate:
Fit a piping bag with rounds coupler, and fill it with white chocolate frosting. Take one cookie and pipe two rows of frosting around the edges of the cookie, covering the top surface completely. Gently place a second cookie on top of the first, and repeat the frosting pattern.
Decorate the top of the cookie with fresh flowers, fresh berries, candies, macarons or anything else you like !. They look best when covered with a colourful assortment of treats. Repeat until all of the cookies are frosted and decorated.
Since the cookie remain soft after decorating, they can be enjoyed right away, but I think the texture is best after they have been refrigerated for at least an hour, so the frosting can firm up a little bit and the cookies soften a bit more-at that point, they have a cakey texture that;s divine !!. They can be enjoyed up to 8 hours after assembly, but I wouldn't recommend pushing it much past that-the edges will start to get a bit stale. If you do need to do parts in advance, the cookies and frosting can both be made several days ahead of time, and then it's short work to assemble everything on the day of serving
While you are waiting for the honey mixture to cool, sift the flour to remove any lumps, then pour half of it out onto a cutting board or your countertop.
Stir the other half of the flour into the honey mixture and whisk until it is all incorporated. The batter should be still pretty runny. Scrape the batter out onto the flour on your work surface, and gently use your hands to work the flour into the dough, gently kneading it just until the flour is incorporated and the dough is mostly smooth and only a bit sticky. Flatten the dough into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate it for an hour, until firm.
Preheat oven to 175ºC/160ºC for fan assist oven. Roll the dough out onto baking paper, dusting with a bit of flour only if necessary to prevent sticking. Cut out 6" hearts, then use a smaller 2.5" heart cutter to cut out the middle. Alternately, you can cut any shape you like out of cardstock, and trace the shape with sharp knife onto the dough. Re-roll the dough until you have use up all the dough to get enough pair.
Place the large hearts a few inches apart on baking paper. bake for 6-8 minutes. The cookies will not take on any colour on top, but should puff and expand a bit, and if you use a spatula to take a peek under the cookie the bottom should be golden brown.
Let them cool completely before decorating.
To make the White Chocolate frosting:
Combine the chopped white chocolate and double cream in a medium bowl, and microwave it for 1 minute. Whisk the cream and white chocolate together until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on top, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until completely cold. It should have the texture of thick syrup after it has been chilled.
Place the room temperature cream cheese in the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment. Beat until the cream cheese is creamy and no lumps remain. Switch to the whisk attachment, and add the cold white chocolate ganache. Mix on low at first, to incorporate the ingredients, then scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Turn the mixer to medium speed and beat for a few minutes until the frosting becomes thick and holds its shape well.
To decorate:
Fit a piping bag with rounds coupler, and fill it with white chocolate frosting. Take one cookie and pipe two rows of frosting around the edges of the cookie, covering the top surface completely. Gently place a second cookie on top of the first, and repeat the frosting pattern.
Decorate the top of the cookie with fresh flowers, fresh berries, candies, macarons or anything else you like !. They look best when covered with a colourful assortment of treats. Repeat until all of the cookies are frosted and decorated.
Since the cookie remain soft after decorating, they can be enjoyed right away, but I think the texture is best after they have been refrigerated for at least an hour, so the frosting can firm up a little bit and the cookies soften a bit more-at that point, they have a cakey texture that;s divine !!. They can be enjoyed up to 8 hours after assembly, but I wouldn't recommend pushing it much past that-the edges will start to get a bit stale. If you do need to do parts in advance, the cookies and frosting can both be made several days ahead of time, and then it's short work to assemble everything on the day of serving
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