Match Made in Heaven, Taste Hailed on Earth - Blueberry Cheese Tarts

Blueberry Cheese Tart is one of those international delicacies loved by many Malaysians. Despite the sweet and tart taste of the cream cheese batter, the overall look of the blueberry cheese tart is appetizingly inviting.

The Individual Tart pans for molding and baking the Tart Shells

The typical construction of a blueberry cheese tart is simple! There are 3 components to make up these lil' sweet things; the tart shell (sugar crust), blueberry filling, and the cream cheese batter. The tart shell is as basic and classic pastry crust as you could ever imagine. Sugar Crust is better suited for sweet desserts like blueberry cheese tarts. For this blueberry cheese tarts, the sugar crust or the tart shells will be blind-baked first before proceeding to the assembly and make up process (the second bake is for the cream cheese batter which does not require a long time to cook). Sugar crust recipe has been innovated through various ways and ingredients until now. It can be quite overwhelming to pick an ideal and mistake-proof recipe out of the bunch. However, I’ve seen now that these tart shells being sold increasingly in bakery supply shops. For those who always in time-constraints can always benefits from this. But regardless, sugar crust is versatile that it could compliment other pastries too.

Perfectly baked Tart Shells should come out Golden Brown. You can make a bunch of these in advance to ease future production.

 The blueberry filling is actually optional, but to say a tart is a blueberry variation, of course you have to put in something to do with blueberry right? The way we normally do it is to put some of the filling in the center of the cheese tart shell. When talking about the filling, there are several options in the matter of form. Blueberry Filling is much more favorable option as it is better in keeping the tart shells from getting soggy. Budget friendly filling always opted for blueberry jam or preserves. These work as well but the higher moisture content in these types of jellies will result in soggy tarts. Unless if they are to be consumed right away then it will be fine.

A well balanced recipe will produce Soft but Firm Tarts (not tough and hard) with Crumbly Crust. Too much moisture will soften the crust and make them Soggy.

As do with other bakers, marbling the cream cheese batter has always been the fun factor in making the cheese tarts. Here in Malaysia, we can see that some baker will marble part of the blueberry filling on top. However, due to the different texture of both filling and batter, the baked cheese tart will have irregular texture on top. The swirled filling will dry out in the process of baking and create some ridges and wells. Although this might look unsightly to some people, the taste of the cheese tart never altered. Another way to create the marbling effects on the cheese tart is by using the batter itself. Have fun with colors! Usually, bakers will spare a little batter and tint it deep purple to mimic the color of blueberry. The tinted batter then, used to create swirls on the poured batter in the tart shells. An advantage of using this technique is that the surface of the tart will baked smoothly without any weird texture.

Simple Swirls and Marbling Effects to uplift the Appetite

So much to say about little pastries but never the less, the taste speaks for itself. I'd say it's a match made in heaven of Blueberry and Cheese. Like those of White Chocolate & Raspberry, Lemon & Poppy Seed, and Pecan & Coffee.