Brioche Fruit + Cream Cheese Tarts
Photo by Mark Weinberg
MAKES
12 individual tarts/pastries
TAKES
Prep time: 16 hours (includes overnight rise time)
Cook time: 40 minutes
Total: 16 hours 40 minutes
✻ ABOUT THIS RECIPE
I love using yeasted brioche dough as an alternative to pie or tart crust. In this recipe, topping it with cream cheese filling makes a pastry that is somewhat Danish-adjacent. You can use just about any fruit to make these - citrus (as pictured), berries, stone fruit, etc. These tarts will serve just as dutifully as breakfast pastries as they will as a simple dessert, all year round.
INGREDIENTS
Brioche Dough
301 g / 2 ½ cups bread flour
50 g / ¼ cup granulated sugar
6 g / 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt
6 g / 2 teaspoons instant yeast
113 g / 2 large eggs
21 g / 1 large egg yolk
124 g / ½ cup whole milk
226 g / 8 ounces unsalted butter, at room temperature
Tarts
226 g / 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
zest of 1 medium orange or lemon (optional)
seeds scraped from 1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise (optional)
56 g / ½ cup powdered sugar
56 g / 1 large egg, lightly whisked
1 g / ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
egg wash (see Note)
about 454 g / 1 pound small fruit or about 600 g / 1 ⅓ cup pounds larger fruit, prepared as needed (see Note for more details)
99 g / ½ cup granulated sugar
pinch of ground cinnamon
pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
I Love Pie - Here’s Why:
METHOD
1. Make the brioche dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, mix the flour, sugar, and salt on low speed to combine. Add the yeast and mix to combine, 10 to 15 seconds more. Add the eggs and milk and mix for 4 minutes. The dough should form a sticky, shaggy ball around the hook.
2. Increase the speed to medium and continue slowly, adding the butter 14 g / 1 tablespoon at a time and being careful to incorporate each addition before adding the next. (The entire process should take about 3 minutes. If you add the butter too quickly, it can create a greasy disaster in the bowl, so pace it out.) Scrape the bowl down once or twice to make sure everything is homogenous. Continue to mix the dough on medium speed for 1 minute more—the dough should be very smooth (but sticky).
3. Grease a large bowl with nonstick spray. Transfer the dough to the bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 10 to 15 hours.
4. The next day, make the tarts: On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a rectangle about ½ inch / 1 cm thick and about 12 x 16 inches / 30 x 40 cm. With one of the longer sides facing you, use a pastry wheel or knife to cut the dough into 12 even squares by first cutting it horizontally into three 4 inch / 10 cm strips, then cutting it vertically into four 4 inch / 10 cm strips, resulting in twelve 4 x 4 inch / 10 x 10 cm squares.
5. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Divide the pieces of dough between the prepared baking sheets. Cover both sheets with greased plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature while you prepare the filling.
6. In a medium bowl, use a silicone spatula to mix the cream cheese until smooth. Add the citrus zest and vanilla bean seeds (if using) and mix well to combine, then add the powdered sugar and egg and mix until fully incorporated. Add the salt and mix to combine.
7. Remove the plastic wrap from the surface of the brioche dough and egg-wash each piece of dough all over. Scoop 28 g / 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture into the center of each piece of dough and spread it slightly flatter using a small offset spatula. Place the prepared fruit in the center, on top of the cream cheese, about 45 g / 3 heaping tablespoons of the small fruit or about 20 g / one ¼ inch / 6 mm slice of larger fruit.
8. In a small bowl, stir the granulated sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg together to combine. Then sprinkle 8 g / 2 teaspoons of the spice sugar over each pastry.
9. Preheat the oven to 375°F / 190°C with the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven. Transfer the pans to the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Rotate the pans between the racks and bake for 15 to 20 minutes more, until the dough is deeply golden brown and the fruit is soft. Cool completely before serving.
NOTES
To prepare small fruit such as berries or pitted cherries: cut them in half, or quarter them if they are large. Smaller fruit can be left whole.
To prepare larger fruit such as citrus, apples, or stone fruit: peel, core, and pit the fruit as needed, and cut into ¼ inch / 6 mm thick slices.
To make egg wash, whisk 56 g / 1 large egg, 15 g / 1 tablespoon water, and a pinch of salt together to combine.
✻ HAVE YOU BAKED IT?
Tag @emcdowell on Instagram or use #happybaking. I’d love to see your bakes!
