This Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart is Tart. Sweet. Creamy. & Bitter. All at once.

It is made up of tart yellow lemon curd, silky white cream cheese, served with fresh red strawberries on a bittersweet black cocoa biscuit crust. IMHO, the eclectic fusion of the different flavors and textures is Heaven on a Spoon! 😊

A spoonful of Heaven!

I first made this Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart in June 2020 when the George Floyd incident blew up in the U.S.

George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after being pinned down by a Minneapolis police officer who held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. On the video captured of the incident, Floyd pleads, “I can’t breathe.” 

His death ignited long-simmering anger over racism with national eruption of demonstrators hitting the streets. Protests extended from Minneapolis to dozens of American cities.

Red and yellow, black and white …

I remember thinking that if the world could be this Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart – where the white, the yellow, the black and red all coexist in harmony and in its fusion … come together as an entire other amazing cohesive whole – like how the cacophony of different textures and tastes elevates this tart to a whole new level … how wonderful this earth could be.

The recent spate of hate crimes against Asian Americans during the pandemic again reminds us racial bigotry is an unseen sword that kills with prejudice and violence. It feels sad to see how man can be so brutal and savage to its own kind.

‘There is no such thing as race. There is only ONE human race.’

– Toni Morrison

Let not the inability to recognize, accept and embrace differences be our failing. Let’s start with self and take that telephone pole out of our eyes before we complain about the toothpick in another.

If the world could be this lemon tart …

If the description fits, may our world be like this scrumptious Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart … where red and yellow, black or white are undivided and altogether precious in one bite.

~~~~~

The Sugar Crumble and Daughters started tart.ful during COVID lockdown last year baking tarts for charity and this Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart was easily the 🌟 of the show – read about tart.ful here. And my favorite lemon tart review? From a poetic young man after my own heart (or was it my daughter?!😉  )

“I’m positively gobsmacked”

“Holy crap, I literally want to cry now”

“I don’t think I have ever experienced such a gamut of emotions from tarts”

“I feel like I would offer these if I had a last meal before being sent to the gallows”

♥️♥️♥️

Check out my recipe tutorial and see how we made this absolutely wonderful & delicious Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart.

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here! Thank you 😊

Tips!

#1 Tart Crust

How to get this beautiful tart crust every time?

Beautiful dark cocoa tart crust!

Always use COLD, COLD, COLD butter and work quickly. I used a food processor to pulse the flour, sugar and butter until it formed small clumps. The small clumps come together to form a very malleable pastry which you can work by hand to mould into the tart tin. No rolling is required.

Allow sufficient freezing time for the tart shells to firm up before baking and always bake from frozen, straight from the freezer to the hot oven. This helps the tart shell to hold its shape well during the 15 minute baking time.

I don’t blind bake this tart crust as it is stable and usually does not puff up during baking. This is because the tart pastry is poked with a fork before baking which helps to release heat during baking. Occasionally, if there is a little puffing, just poke the tart base gently with a wooden skewer to release the heat during baking. Once the trapped heat is released, the tart crust will bake intact again.

If you must blind bake, use beans

Be gentle when removing the tart shell after baking. My 8-inch non stick tart tin with removable bottom makes it easy to remove the shell well. Be extra careful handling the tart shell once un-moulded. Always use a palette knife to hold the bottom when moving the tart shell. Shortcrust pastry is quite crumbly and trust me, a chipped shell spoils even the prettiest looking tart.

This tart crust pastry is a good make ahead. Once moulded into the tart pan, it can be kept frozen in a ziplock bag or cling wrap for up to a week before use.

#2 Don’t skip the Lemon Curd

It is not common to have store-bought lemon curd in Asia. Therefore the solution is Make-Your-Own. I prefer home-made lemon curd anytime as it is fresh, tastes delicious and more importantly you control the amount of sugar that goes in.

And it’s really SIMPLE to make ..….. 4 ingredients, ~ 10 minutes on the stove and it is done! Check out my lemon curd recipe tutorial below. For full instructions, check here.

#3 Cream cheese

Soften the cream cheese by hand and do not over-whip after adding the heavy cream. Otherwise it might turn grainy and will no longer be that silky velvety beautiful luscious cheese that just sets this Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart apart.

Luscious silky cream cheese, up close …

#4 Make ahead and storage

The tart crust can be baked ahead and frozen. Fill the tart the day before serving to allow the cheese to set and flavors to fuse nicely. Decorate with strawberries just before serving and voila, enjoy!😄

This Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart keeps well for 2-3 days chilled in the refrigerator, although I’ll betcha it will be gone before then.

Guess which daughter ate the most lemon tart?

Did you make this? I would love to know how it turned out. Please leave me a review or tag me on Instagram or FB @thesugarcrumble.com

Thank you!

Print Recipe

Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart

Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart on a buttery cocoa crust. Tart. Sweet. Creamy ... with hints of bittersweet chocolate and biscuit - Simply delightful.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time15 minutes mins

Resting Time1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Total Time2 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Keyword: lemon curd, lemon tart

Servings: 8 inch tart

Author: Kai

Ingredients

Cocoa tart crust

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3/4 cup cake flour
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 120 g cold butter, cubed (unsalted)

Cream cheese filling

• 80 g cream cheese
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp gelatine powder (bloomed in 2 tbsp cold water)
• 2/3 cup lemon curd (for lemon curd recipe, check video below)

Topping

• Fresh strawberries

Instructions

Cocoa Tart Crust

• Lightly grease an 8 inch (20cm) round tart pan.
• In the food processor, blitz the flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt for a few seconds to mix well. Add in the cold cubed butter and pulse until the pastry starts to come together and form clumps.
• Transfer the pastry to the prepared pan and using your fingers, evenly press the pastry up the sides of the tart pan and onto the bottom. Gently pierce the bottom of the crust with the tines of a fork. This is to prevent the pastry crust from puffing up while it bakes.
• Cover the tart crust with cling wrap and place it in the freezer for an hour or overnight to firm up. This helps to prevent the crust from shrinking while it bakes.
• Preheat oven to 220C (450F). Optional: Just before baking, place a piece of foil or parchment onto the frozen shell and weigh it down with some beans. If baking without weights, simply pierce the base gently with a skewer during baking should the pastry puff up. This will help to release the air that is trapped and flatten out the puffed crust.
• Place the frozen tart shell on a larger baking tray and bake the crust at the lowest rack of the oven. Bake for ~15 minutes, then remove the foil with beans and bake for another 5 minutes until golden. If baking without weights, bake for 15 minutes or until golden.
• Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cooled, un-mould from pan and chill in the fridge whilst making the filling.

Cream cheese filling

• Dissolve the gelatine well in the cold water. Set aside to bloom
• Soften cream cheese with a spatula. Once softened, add the lemon juice and heavy cream, switch to a whisk and whisk till soft and velvety.
• Microwave the bloomed gelatine for 5 seconds. Add the liquified gelatine mixture to the cream cheese and mix till just combined. The mixture will be soft and of a slightly thick pouring consistency.

Assembly

• Layer in the lemon curd unto the tart crust and spread it out evenly with a pastry brush. Next, layer in the cream cheese and spread out gently with the pastry brush till it is nicely level and fills the crust well along all the edges.
• Remove any air bubbles with a toothpick. Freeze for 40 minutes to let it set.
• In the meantime, hull the strawberries. Once the cream cheese is set, decorate with strawberries and some freshly grated lemon zest. Optional: if you like glistening strawberries, brush on some fruit jam (I used blueberry jam which I had on hand) to keep them shiny.
• Chill for at least an hour to fuse the flavors. Enjoy.

Video

Notes

If you like this recipe tutorial and like to see more, subscribe to my YouTube channel here! Thank you 😊

 

#1 Tart Crust

How to get this beautiful tart crust every time?

Always use COLD, COLD, COLD butter and work quickly. I used a food processor to pulse the flour, sugar and butter until it formed small clumps. The small clumps come together to form a very malleable pastry which you can work by hand to mould into the tart tin. No rolling is required.

Allow sufficient freezing time for the tart shells to firm up before baking and always bake from frozen, straight from the freezer to the hot oven. This helps the tart shell to hold its shape well during the 15 minute baking time.

I don’t blind bake this tart crust as it is stable and usually does not puff up during baking. This is because the tart pastry is poked with a fork before baking which helps to release heat during baking. Occasionally, if there is a little puffing, just poke the tart base gently with a wooden skewer to release the heat during baking. Once the trapped heat is released, the tart crust will bake intact again.

Be gentle when removing the tart shell after baking. My 8-inch non stick tart tin with removable bottom makes it easy to remove the shell well. Be extra careful handling the tart shell once un-moulded. Always use a palette knife to hold the bottom when moving the tart shell. Shortcrust pastry is quite crumbly and trust me, a chipped shell spoils even the prettiest looking tart.

This tart crust pastry is a good make ahead. Once moulded into the tart pan, it can be kept frozen in a ziplock bag or cling wrap for up to a week before use.

#2 Don’t skip the Lemon Curd

It is not common to have store-bought lemon curd in Asia. Therefore the solution is Make-Your-Own. I prefer home-made lemon curd anytime as it is fresh, tastes delicious and more importantly you control the amount of sugar that goes in.

And it’s really SIMPLE to make ..….. 4 ingredients, ~ 10 minutes on the stove and it is done! Check out my lemon curd recipe tutorial below. For full instructions, check here.

#3 Cream cheese

Soften the cream cheese by hand and do not over-whip after adding the heavy cream. Otherwise it might turn grainy and will no longer be that silky velvety beautiful luscious cheese that just sets this Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart apart.

#4 Make ahead and storage

The tart crust can be baked ahead and frozen. Fill the tart the day before serving to allow the cheese to set and flavors to fuse nicely. Decorate with strawberries just before serving and voila, enjoy!😄

This Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart keeps well for 2-3 days chilled in the refrigerator, although I'll betcha it will be gone before then.

If you like this Strawberry Lemon Cheese Tart, you may also enjoy the following: