I don’t usually buy strawberries this early in the year because even when they look gorgeous, the taste is often hugely disappointing. I’ve been eating granola and yogurt for breakfast though, and I was desperate for some fruit to mix in, preferably berries. Aside from the strawberries, the blackberries were the only thing that looked good at the store. Unfortunately, I really don’t like blackberries and I knew I’d probably regret buying them (because then I’d have to eat them 🙂 ) so I took a chance on the strawberries.
And you know what? They were surprisingly good! In fact, I ended up buying them 2 or 3 weeks in a row. But then my fruit and yogurt ran into some breakfast competition, and the strawberries sat untouched in the fridge. I kind of forgot about them to be honest. When I found them, they were still good, but just barely, so I decided to repurpose them into a baking project. It wasn’t difficult to decide what to make – I’ve been eagerly awaiting strawberry season ever since I bookmarked this strawberry cream cheese crumble tart. It was finally time to give it a shot!
Since my pictures basically make the tart look like a big mountain of crumble topping (not necessarily a bad thing, who doesn’t love crumb topping?), let me tell you what else is going on here. The base of the tart is a sugar cookie-like crust with some ground almonds mixed in for texture and flavor. The filling consists of the completely irresistible combination of sweetened cream cheese and juicy strawberries. It’s sort of cheesecake-like in flavor, but way easier since it’s no bake. And of course it’s finished with the almond crumb topping, and lots of it. You can spread the components out over the course of a day (or even a few days) and assemble when you’re ready to serve, making this a cinch to whip up.
It’s a little bit tricky to cut the perfect slice (the mountain of crumble sort of has a mind of its own…) but you won’t care once you try a bite. The crisp crust and buttery crumb topping are the perfect contrast to the juicy berries and fluffy cream cheese filling. I sent most of the tart to work with my mom and it drew rave reviews there too. And while it’s good for dessert, I liked it even better for breakfast 🙂
You can find the recipe on Nick Malgieri’s blog here. His instructions are thorough and detailed – I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do much better, so I’m not going to retype them here (plus the photo over there is gorgeous, if mine don’t convince you to try this, his will!). The only changes I made were to use slightly fewer strawberries – probably closer to 3/4 lb, and, if you can believe it, I didn’t use all of the crumb topping. Also, he notes that it’s best to assemble this as close to serving as possible as the crust softens after being refrigerated. I didn’t notice a huge difference in texture after mine sat in the fridge overnight so you can definitely assemble in advance at least one day.
Wow, that looks phenomenal!
Gorgeous and delicious! This just might grace my Easter table!
This looks so fabulous Tracey! Perfect for spring too!
the crumb topping, the filling, the whole thing…incredible looking!
lovely crust! and i love strawberries and cream cheese so this is a great tart to have on a spring day. great job on it, your slice looks perfect even if it was hard to cut 😉
I’ve had the same experience with strawberries in my area, too. I’m not complaining at all since I love strawberries. I can see why you’d hold on to this recipe. It’s gorgeous!
I love your blog!! And this crumble looks amazing.
Ana
You don’t like blackberries? Oh I love them so much! Although buying from the grocery is tricky because they can be so tart sometimes. I’ve been lucky with strawberries too, although to find the good ones I sit there and smell a couple containers first and look like a crazy person. Definitely need to sniff out some good ones for this recipe! Love the addition of almonds.
This is so gorgeous. I’m a fool for that crumbly topping!
Wow that looks amazing. I love the the crumble topping is nice and chunky
I am so happy to see your blog today. This tart was the main reason I bought the book Bake! I saw the photo while flipping through the book and I couldn’t say no! It was worth every penny (especially since I’ve loved every recipe I’ve made so far), this tart is delicious and completely worth making!
This looks delicious and puts me in the mood for summer. I’ve been seeing strawberries in the grocery store but haven’t tried them yet. I think I will now!
Guess I need to go buy some strawberries now 🙂 Love that summer fruit is on its way!
I LOVE the thick crumble topping! Nothing wrong with that at all.
Oh my goodnes! Look at the crumb on that tart. I would happily eat any left over crumble. Oh and the tart itself looks good too 😉
delicious looking tart….crumble totally awesome
I was excited to see this! I bookmarked this recipe from Nick’s blog last year too and have been itching to make it ever since. I am determined to get it in this strawberry season. How can you go wrong with all that crumb topping. 🙂
I’ve never had a crumb topping on a tart. How genius!
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to load up on strawberries to make it:-)
Found you via Brown-Eyed Baker. That looks absolutely delicious! Easter sounds like a perfect day to break that out!
Stunning job, Tracey! Your photography is spectacular. One can never have too much crumble. Yum!
xo
http://allykayler.blogspot.com/
Holy cow. This is the greatest thing I’ve seen in a long time. I love that it has almonds in the crust and in the topping!
I’ll have to keep this one in mind, since I just bought a ton of strawberries at Costco this morning. I love crumble, and wouldn’t have thought to put it on top of a tart like this one.
This is a mouth watering crumble…wowzer.
You had me at crumbles… looks delicious!
very tempting
Oh my goodness, it looks so “summery” – if there is such word! Looks beautiful Tracey!
just bookmarked this–it’s a must make for me this summer!
YUM! I do love a mountain of crumble!
This is absolutely gorgeous!! Bring on strawberry season!!
This tart sounds absolutely heavenly! I love the crumble topping on the cream cheese and berries.
This was fantastic. I shared with my co-workers and one of them liked it so much he went back for thirds. I think the crumb topping was great.. Full of almond flavor and definitely added an extra layer of goodness.
These look so comforting. I hardly ever make muffins these days either, but fresh homemade ones are so good!
I made this and brought it with me to work today! It was so delicious. I was glad you said you didn’t notice much of a difference after refrigerating overnight. So I went ahead and made/assembled mine last night and it was absolutely perfect this morning!
I must was confused about one thing in the instructions (and perhaps I missed it) was I supposed to use beans/pie weights? I couldn’t fine mine.. and I took a chance and luckily it was okay!
Thanks for sharing!
@Carolyn – Ahhhh yes, I meant to point that out. The instructions talk about removing pie weights midway through baking, but really never tell you to use them in the first place. I did use them in mine, but I’m glad you had good luck even without them. I need to update my post to point that out, thanks!
I’m so glad you liked the tart 🙂
You don’t happen to have or know of a video on how to make this crust do you?
I saw a hint on Facebook about keeping strawberries: when you bring them home wash in a weak vinegar & water solution. The first time I did this the strawberries were forgotten afterward and pushed behind some other items in the fridge. However, after a week they had NO mold on them, and were dried up just a bit. I salvaged most of the pint. Now I always use the vinegar & water solution for strawberries! There is NO aftertaste once the berries dry.