3 ounces cream cheese (Shelby uses fat free)
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1 cup all purpose flour
Mix until smooth, wrap in plastic and chill for an hour. This dough is lovely and very easy to work with. While the dough is chilling, make the blueberry filling.
BLUEBERRY FILLING
4 cups of blueberries (if frozen - thaw and drain well)
Juice of one lemon
3/4 cup sugar (Shelby uses Splenda)
1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1/8 cup cold water
Mix the blueberries, lemon juice and sugar in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring to a slow boil and then whisk in the cornstarch slurry (cornstarch and water mixed together). Keep stiring so that lumps do not form. Continue to cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until very thick. Remove from heat and let cool.
CRUMB TOPPING
1 cup all purpose flour
3 tablespoons brown sugar (Shelby uses Splenda brown sugar)
3 tablespoons butter at room temperature
Work these ingredients together, with your fingers, until you get a soft crumbly texture.
NOTE: This makes a TON of crumb topping. I cut the ingredients in half and I STILL had too much topping, so I put the rest in the freezer for my next baking project.
ASSEMBLY
Roll the chilled dough into 1" balls (this recipe makes about 20-24 tarts). Place each ball of dough into ungreased mini-cupcake pan.
Use a tart tamper (or anything in your kitchen that has a large rounded end that you can use) to tamp down the dough, making sure the dough comes up on the sides of each tart. You can also use your fingers to make a depression in the dough ball and work the pastry crust up the sides of the tart well.
Fill each tart with the cooled blueberry filling and a generous teaspoon of the crumb topping.
NOTE: I love versatile recipes like this one. I think ANY fruit filling would work well here; I'm trying apple next!!
