4th of July Fruit Tart

In honor of the 4th of July here's a very tasty and very red, white, and blue dessert recipe!

Crust:

1 c. room temperature butter

1/2 c. powdered sugar

2 c. flour

a pinch of salt

Filling:

1/3 c. heavy cream

1/2 c. powdered sugar

1 package room temperature cream cheese

strawberries

blueberries

1. Set the oven to 350 degrees

2.  To make the crust, cream the butter and the sugar together until they are completely combined

3.  Add the flour and salt to the butter mixture until a dough is formed

4.  Press the dough into the bottom and sides of a tart pan and bake for 20 minutes

5.  While the crust is baking, make the filling by combining the heavy cream and powdered sugar and whipping up to a thick consistency (but not all the way to stiff peaks)

6.  In a separate bowl, whip the cream cheese until it is soft and smooth

7.  Whip the heavy cream combination and cream cheese together until they are combined

8.  Before filling the tart shell, be sure it has cooled to room temperature

9. Once the shell is room temperature, fill the tart and decorate the top with strawberries and blueberries

10.  Chill in the refrigerator for a couple hours

That's it!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July!

-amy gat

Favorite Frosting

Cupcakes are hands down my favorite baked good ever.  I've made a ton of different kinds of frosting before but I can easily say that this is my favorite of all time...Swiss Meringue Buttercream.

I mentioned in a weekly favorites that Molly's Cupcakes in Chicago made the best cupcakes that I've ever tasted; this recipe will make frosting that is very very similar to buttercream that they use there.  It tastes buttery and light but not too sweet.  Absolutely perfect.

Also, before I get into it...This recipe doesn't make a lot of frosting because I usually don't make a ton of cupcakes at one time.  It will probably make enough for about 6 regular sized cupcakes or probably 16 mini cupcakes.  So if you know you're going to be making more cupcakes, then double, triple, quadruple, etc.

Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick room temperature butter, cubed

1.  Place a glass bowl on a boiling pot of water (make a double boiler)
2. Whisk egg whites and sugar together in the glass bowl.  Heat until egg mixture is hot to the touch.  Remove from heat.  **Another way to tell if the egg mixture is ready is to rub the mixture between your fingers, if it feels smooth (not gritty) then it is ready.
3.  Continue to whisk the mixture off of the heat until the mixture has thickened and completely cooled.
4.  Add butter a little at a time.  Keep whisking until the mixture has reached a sturdy consistency.
5.  Add whatever flavoring you would like the frosting to be (vanilla, chocolate, coffee, etc.)

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