Graham Crust Butter Tarts Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the crust: crumble the graham crackers by hand or with a potato masher to get fine crumbs. Heat the butter in a saucepan or microwave until half-melted. Work the butter into the crumbs with your fingertips until the crumbs look like wet sand. Using your fingertips, press the crust into a 9-inch pie plate or disposable aluminum pie pan to make an even layer over the bottom and sides of the pan. Bake until the crust is a shade darker, about 12 minutes, and let cool completely.
• Make the pudding according to the package directions. Let stand about 5 to 10 minutes stirring occasionally to keep a skin from forming on the top of the pudding.
• Use a spoon or rubber spatula to scrape the pudding into the graham cracker shell and smooth it into an even layer. Put the tart in the refrigerator until the pudding is chilled and set, at least 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, cut the stems off the strawberries and wash with the other berries in a colander under cold water. Drain then spread out on paper towel to dry. You can either arrange the berries nicely over the pudding or just sort of gently tumble them onto it. Cover the tart lightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. You can make the tart up to 4 hours in advance. Serve cold.

Steps:

• Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter or margarine, and cinnamon until well blended . Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.
• Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 7 minutes. Cool. If recipe calls for unbaked pie shell, just chill for about 1 hour.

Steps:

• To prepare the graham cracker shells cream the butter and sugars together until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the honey and beat until well combined.
• Sift together the flours, salt and cinnamon. Add to the butter mixture in two batches, scraping sides of bowl between additions. Mix until well combined. Form into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 325*F. Roll out the chilled dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick.Using a 3 inch cutter, cut out 16 circles of dough and press them into greased 2 inch tart pans. Prick dough all over with a fork and chill for 20 minutes.
• Bake until golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. (they can be made up to 1 cay ahead and frozen for up to 3 months).
• For the pastry cream, combine 3/4 cup of the milk and 3 TBS of sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch and the remaining 2 TBS sugar. Whisk the remaining 1/4 cup milk into the egg yolk mixture. Remove the milk mixture from the heat and add a little of the hot mixture to the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to keep the egg yolks from cooking. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the hot milk mixture, whisking constantly as you pour.
• Return to the heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Let cook for 1 minute or so until it thickens. Add the cream cheese and vanilla, whisking until smooth. Strain through a cheesecloth lined sieve into a clean bowl. Cover the surface with plastic cling film and chill. Once chilled, whisk until smooth and fold in the whipped cream.
• To make the blueberry compote mix together 1 cup of the blueberries with the sugar in a medium saucepan. cook over low heat until the berries have all popped and broken down. (about 5 minutes) Strain the cookied berries into a bowl, discarding the solids. Add the remaining berries to the syrup and toss to combine.
• To assemble spoon the pastry cream into each tart shell and top with about 2 TBS of the blueberry compote. Serve soon after assembling.
• You can also make two large tarts. (use 9 inch tart pans.) Prick and bake as above increasing time to 25 minutes.