Cream Cheese Tartelettes with Cherries in Red Wine

It is the cherry season!

I've seen baskets of cherries in Portobello market where I now routinely shop for fruits & vegetables.

Since I made my 1st jar of blueberry jam, I love the ideas of preserving fruits without additives.

So, when I came across the brilliant post (Chinese) in preserving cherries in red wine, I bookmarked it & told myself I must try this.

Although I don't drink wine, I still like the subtle & fruity taste of the cherries & red wine.

After making the cherries, I have been thinking what should I make with them.

Cherry tarts! As you're reading it.

I haven't baked tarts since the chocolate tarts as I realised that the traditional short pastry is quite heavy.

But I found a recipe for a low-fat one, it uses less butter & without egg yolks.

To make it healthier, I also used low-fat cream cheese for the filling.

A light yet delicious treat for the summer!

Recipe (6 x 10cm tarts):

Cherries in Red Wine

350g cherries

160ml red wine

4 tbsp sugar

1/2 lemon

Wash & dry the cherries.

In a small pot, heat the wine, lemon juice & sugar until sugar dissolved over low heat.

Add the cherries & bring to boil.

Turn off heating & leave it to cool down.

It's best to make this 1 day in advance, & it can be stored in fridge & used within 2-4 weeks.

Low-fat sweet short pastry

adapted from '吃不胖甜点 Low-fat Desserts' (Chinese)

40g unsalted butter

35g caster sugar

1 egg white

50g ground almond

110g plain flour

10g milk

1/4 lemon peel

In a large bowl, beat butter with sugar until fluffy.

Add egg white & beat to mix.

Sift in the ground almond & plain flour, mix to combine.

Add milk & lemon peel, mix to combine.

Wrap the dough in plastic film & refrigerate for several hours (2-4 hours).

Roll the dough into 2mm thick & fill the moulds, make holes with forks & bake in a preheated oven at 150'C for 10 min.

Let the tart shells cool completely on a wire rack.

Cream cheese filling:

adapted from here (Chinese)

2 eggs

130g cream cheese

90g caster sugar

Combine all ingredients & stir until smooth.

Arrange cherries on the tart shells, pour in the filling.

Bake in a preheated oven at 160'C for 20-30 min or until golden colour.

Serve hot or cool as you like.