White Christmas Tarts

So there I was, all set to make a certain filed-away tart recipe for the office Christmas luncheon when I re-read the recipe and realized it uses uncooked eggs! Yikes! Perhaps I'm overly cautious on this point, but I officially do not make uncooked egg recipes. So, I ended up surfing the web, making some substitutions, experimenting, and I'm calling what I came up with White Christmas Tarts. They got good reviews at the office (a friend ate two before the luncheon even started!), so I was pretty happy with the results and thought I'd share the recipe today.

White Christmas Tarts

Crust:

1-1/2 small (3-ounce) packages cream cheese
1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:

1 cup (half a package) white chocolate chips (I used Nestle Toll House chips in the yellow bag)
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
Garnish: 1 small container fresh raspberries

For crust: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine crust ingredients with a pastry blender until a stiff ball forms. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Once thoroughly chilled, place ball on a piece of parchment paper and break off a piece about the size of a walnut. Roll piece of pastry into a ball, then flatten into a circle about 2-1/2 to 3 inches in diameter before fitting into and along sides of tart pan sprayed with cooking spray. (Note: I used Nordicware's tart pan, but you could also make the tart crusts in mini-muffin pans.) Prick bottoms of tarts with a fork and bake for 25-30 minutes, until just beginning to turn golden. Place tart pan on wire rack to cool for 10 minutes, then remove tarts and allow to cool completely on wire rack.

For filling: In a small saucepan, heat white chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of the whipping cream over low heat, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted. Stir in vanilla. Set aside and let cool about 15-20 minutes. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese in large bowl on medium speed until smooth. Add cooled white chocolate mixture. Beat on medium speed until creamy and set aside. Beat the remaining 1-1/2 cups of the whipping cream in a large chilled bowl. Beat on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold half of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture and beat until blended. Fold in remaining whipped cream and beat. I let the tart shells sit overnight and filled them with a heaping teaspoon of filling the next morning so they would not get soggy on the bottom. Garnish tarts with fresh raspberries and enjoy! Yields 24.