Cream Cheese Tarts (Paula Deen)

Sharlene~W's Note:

A wonderful little cheesecake for a dessert buffet. It is incredibly easy to make and looks and tastes very impressive. I saw Paula Deen make them on FoodTV and I couldn't wait to try them myself. Use canned pie filling, fresh fruit or use your imagination!

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 12 vanilla wafers
• 1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling (or whatever else suits your fancy) or 1 (21 ounce) can blueberry pie filling (or whatever else suits your fancy)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Place a paper cupcake liner in each cup (12 total) of muffin pan.
3. Beat cream cheese with electric mixer until fluffy. Add sugar and vanilla, beating well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
4. Place a vanilla wafer FLAT side down, in each muffin cup. Spoon cream cheese mixture over wafers filling each to about 1/4 inch from top of paper.
5. Bake for 20 minutes.
6. Allow tarts to cool completely before filling. When you remove the tarts from the oven, they will be puffed up, but as they cool, the center will sink, creating the perfect well to fill with a couple of spoonfuls of your favorite filling.
7. Chill thoroughly before serving.

Reviews

[gailanng]

I'm singin', "Ain't no Scrooge in me. Ain't no Scrooge in me"! I did adapt the recipe slightly from my usual sour cream-topped standby. I doubled the recipe to make 24, baking just short (about 2 minutes) of the 20 minute baking time--turning off oven. I had prepared, in the meantime, 2 cups sour cream with a 1/2 cup sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. After waiting about a minute or so for the puffed cakes to sink slightly, I topped each with the sweetened sour cream mixture, dividing evenly among the 24 cakes. Immediately, I replaced the cakes into the already heated oven for an additional 2 minutes to set the sour cream topping. A fruit topping adds a festive touch covering the imperfections that naturally arise during baking. These tasty treats will make a believer out of ya for sure!

[Linda's Busy Kitchen]

I made these delicious little tarts for my niece's senior music recital at Gettysburg College. They were a BIG HIT. I made them along with a few other recipes from Zaar and they all came out wonderfully! I used the little tiny mini cups, and bought the mini Nilla Vanilla Wafers. They fit in the bottom beautifully, although during baking some of them rose to the top. It didn't matter though, as I put canned strawberries and blueberries on them and they looked adorable. The pics didn't come out the greatest, but I will post it so you can see. Thanks so much for this recipe Sharlene. I saw Paula make them and knew they would be delicious! Linda

[MommyHoke]

Easy, great taste and presentation!