Spring & Summer is the perfect time for making sweet Mini Raspberry Tarts. You will love this easy sweetened shortbread crust & creamy filling. All you need to make these is my buttery crust & cream cheese filling recipes, a scalloped edge cookie cutter and mini muffin pan. Served with a hot pot of Vanilla Almond Tea makes this treat divine!
How to Make Mini Raspberry Tarts
Making these little tarts are pretty easy whether you use refrigerated pie crust or my home made shortbread crust. Honestly the shortbread crust is so light and slightly sweet you will want to make these tarts with this crust.
To make the crust, you will need a food processor making it quick to whip together. Chilled shredded real butter, flour, little bit of sugar and ice water. Super simple single pie crust swirled around the food processor bowl until the dough comes together. Once dough is formed, remove dough from processor and pat into a round flat disc. Wrap in plastic wrap or wax paper and chill about 30 minutes.
Next dust your work surface with confectioners sugar; this will keep your tart crust more on flavorful rather than using regular flour to roll out crust. Roll the dough to 1/8″ thickness. Grease the back side of the mini muffin pan with cooking spray. (You are using the back side of the muffin pan. If you use the normal side with cups your dough will not bake right and you will be so… disappointed.) You can also use standard cupcake pan but the tarts will not be mini’s.
With your scalloped edge cookie cutter cut out the shapes. Place one cookie tart round evenly over the back side of mini muffin pan ensuring the dough is pressed snuggly close to the cup and fluted edge rests on muffin pan. Use a fork and prick the tart shell.
Tip: Skip every other muffin cup to form tarts as the dough fluted edge needs to spread around the cup evenly. Also chill the tarts before baking about 20 minutes if you can.
Bake tarts in 375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown. Tip: If you bake your tarts on a dark mini muffin pan your tarts will be golden brown, if you bake them on an aluminum or stainless muffin pan they will be light in color. I used a dark mini muffin pan.
Fill tarts with cream cheese filling or lemon curd and serve.
PrintMini Raspberry Tarts
Light and flaky sweet shortbread crusts that look like flowers filled with cream cheese frosting and single raspberry makes cute Mini Raspberry Tarts For a special treat, put a layer of lemon curd in tart shell then add filling.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes crust 15 minutes for fillinges
- Cook Time: 8-10 minutes
- Total Time: 60 minutes
- Yield: 20 mini tarts 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Shortbread Tart Crust
1–1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 stick or 4 ounces of butter, shredded and frozen
3 tablespoons ice water
Filling
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons softened butter, not margarine
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/4–1/2 teaspoon vanilla- to taste
1–2 teaspoons milk or cream
Optional: Purchased or home-made microwave lemon curd.
Garnish
20 fresh raspberries or fruit of choice
Instructions
1. In bowl of food processor fitted with steel blade, add dry ingredients, flour, sugar, salt. Pulse 3 seconds.
2. Add frozen shredded butter, not margarine to processor bowl. Pulse 3-4 seconds.
3. Add exactly 3 tablespoons ice cold water, pulse until mixture turns to crumbles, then forms soft ball around bowl. Remove dough ball and flatten into a round disc. Wrap in wax paper or plastic wrap. Chill 30 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray the back side of a mini cupcake pan with cooking spray. Spray every other back side of muffin cup as you will be placing the dough rounds on every other cup instead of side by side. You need space for the tart edges to form the flower shape.
5.Sprinkle work surface with confectioners sugar, and with rolling pin, roll out chilled dough. If dough cracks, allow dough to warm up a bit, and roll into 1/8″ thickness.
6. With a scalloped edge round cookie cutter, cut out mini tart shells. Place dough round on the prepared mini muffin pan allowing the decorative edge to be shaped snuggly around the raised muffin cup. With a fork prick the tart’s bottom two -three times.
7. Place tarts in refrigerator to chill about 8 minutes just to help firm up before baking.
8. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool 5-7 minutes before removing from pan. You can take a sharp knife tip and release the shell from the pan if necessary. Allow shells to completely cool before adding filling.
Filling
1.In medium mixing bowl, add softened cream cheese & butter. Whip on medium speed with hand held mixer until mixture is creamy and smooth.
2.Add confectioners sugar one cup at a time. Add extract and cream, mix until blended and smooth.
3.Filling will be medium thickness so you can pipe it into a pretty shape. Optional, you can add 1/2 teaspoon lemon curd to crust before piping the creamy filling.
To pipe into shells
Fit disposable piping bag with tip # 1 M or 2 D, large shell design. Fill with the cream cheese filling and pipe into cool tart shells. Add one fresh raspberry to each tart or fruit of choice. Chill until serving time. Recipe makes 20 -2″ flower shaped tarts.
Notes
- Tart shells can be made ahead and frozen until ready to fill and serve. Place in ziplock baggie and freeze.
- Filling can also be made ahead and placed in piping bag with tip, right before serving fill tart shells.
- Allow filling to come to room temperature for easier piping.
- Filled Tarts will chill in refrigerator up to 2 days. Store covered in refrigerator.
If you want to make one large tart, use a 9″ round fluted tart pan with removable bottom for best results and bake 12-15 minutes until crust is baked, prick crust with fork before filling and use dried beans or pie weights to keep crust from losing shape during baking. Chill after baking before filling.
Spreading a little bit of lemon curd before adding the creamy filling adds another depth of flavor.
Other Ideas You Might Like to Try:
No-Bake Chocolate Berry Ganache Tart
