A Timeless Tart (a.k.a. The Little Black Dress of Desserts)

This weekend, I was reminded that like the little black dress in your closet, everyone needs a timeless dessert recipe. A recipe that, much like a little black dress that you have worn to multiple weddings and parties, you can make for many occasions but change it’s “accessories” so that it always feels fresh and new and is perfect for any occasion, especially in a pinch when the shopping excursion doesn’t yield just what you were hoping to find.

Fast forward to Monday morning at my apartment. I set out this weekend to make a key lime pie topped with fresh raspberries with a graham cracker crust accompanied by a raspberry coulis. However, my plan was derailed when I could not find key lime juice at multiple grocery stores and I did not have time to hit a specialty store like Dean and DeLuca or Balduccis.

These are the moments when you need a tried and true dessert recipe to call on. I try not to make the same dessert twice for the same group of people. To me, part of the fun of cooking is to try making new things to challenge myself and to get feedback from people on the new culinary offering. Given my key lime juice predicament, I came back to my Timeless Tart recipe. As I clicked through my online recipe box, it felt like going to my closet and finding the black dress I had forgotten about for a last minute party and putting it on and having it fit perfect, feel good and look fabulous with a few new accessories!

My Timeless Tart is a true classic. And, fairly easy to make. Until I found this recipe, the thought of making a tart was quite intimidating. I had always seen the beautiful French tarts in patisseries and bakeries and marveled at the artistic arrangement of the fruit and the beautiful tart crusts that held the creamy filling.

I used an 11 inch tart pan for this recipe but you could certainly use a smaller tart pan or even individual tart pans.

The crust for this tart is simple. If you can crush graham crackers and melt butter in the microwave and have sugar on-hand, you’ve got yourself a tart crust. I deposited my graham crackers in a ziploc bag and used the flat side of a meat tenderizer to crush the graham crackers in the bag.

I made a bit more of this portion of the tart than I actually needed since I have found that adding a thicker layer of crust makes it stay together better when slicing it once you are ready to eat the tart. As you go to put the tart crust in the pan, it will start to bind together because of the sugar and butter and will be easy for you to press into the crevices in the pan using your hands. However, don’t hesitate to use the back of a spoon to help press the crust into place and into the little crevices in the pan. This crust would also work well for a pie crust if you don’t have a tart pan handy.
The filling is creamy and divine. Unlike some fillings for tarts that require a laborious process creating a custard or letting the filling set overnight in the refrigerator, this filling is delightfully simple and requires none of the above. The filling consists of sour cream, brown sugar, vanilla and cream cheese with a bit of lemon zest to give the tart a nice, tangy and refreshing flavor. You can certainly use low-fat cream cheese and sour cream for this recipe as well. The lemon flavor is not overwhelming but just enough. In fact, you can definitely leave out the lemon zest as the filling on its own is delightful. This would be the perfect dessert to make in the fall minus the lemon zest as the brown sugar in the filling would work well with some baked cinnamon apples as a topping for the tart or even cranberries.

The final piece of the tart is the topping or the “accessories”. Feel free to use anything! If you’ve planned, pick up certain kinds of fruit at the store and create a design like the one on the tart I have made using blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Or, if you have odds and ends of fruit in your refrigerator, go for a more “rustic” look and sprinkle the fruit here and there on the tart.
The end result should be a very attractive and tasty tart that makes it hard for anyone to resist having a second helping. In fact, after our Memorial Day barbecue last night, I found my husband paying my cooking a very high compliment. I walked into the kitchen after putting our son to bed and found my dear husband eating the remains of the tart with a spoon and washing it all down with a big glass of milk. Needless to say, we finished it off together and there wasn’t a crumb left. Clearly, no matter how many times my husband has eaten this exact tart -- albeit in many different reincarnations thanks to changing toppings -- he still hasn’t tired of this dessert. Now that is the kind of timeless dessert that everyone needs in his or her repertoire.
Ingredients
3 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
1 ½ sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
6 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
¾ cup sour cream
¾ teaspoon vanilla
12 oz cream cheese, softened
3 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
Fruit of your choice for topping

Details
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a baking sheet on the middle rack.
*Stir together the graham cracker crumbs, granulated sugar and butter in a bowl with a fork until combined well.
*Press mixture with your fingers and back of a spoon evenly and firmly onto bottom and up the sides of the tart pan.
*Put tart pan on the baking sheet and bake the crust until slightly darker, approximately 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool the tart crust. Gently push the bottom of the pan to loosen crust and place on a plate.
*While the crust cools, whisk together the brown sugar, sour cream and vanilla in a small bowl until the sugar is dissolved.
*Beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until smooth and then add the sour cream mixture and lemon zest. Beat until smooth and combined well.
*Spread mixture into tart crust and decorate with fruit topping.
*Chill until serving.

Recipe adapted from Gourmet, July 2003