From “Wine Food & Friends” by Karen MacNeil
Serves 10, Calories 289 per serving
Ingredients:
Crust:
36 Honey Graham Crackers
2 tbsps sugar
2 tbsps butter, melted
4 tsps water
cooking spray
Filling:
3/4 cup light cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
Topping:
6 cups small fresh strawberries
2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp sliced almonds
Preheat oven to 175°C
Crust: Process crackers in a food processor until crumbs, add sugar, butter, water and pulse until moist. Place mixture in 9″ tart dish coated with spray, pressing into sides. Bake for 10 mins until lightly browned.
Filling: combine cream cheese, sugar, and extracts in a medium bowl until smooth. Spread over cooled crust.
Topping: Place 2 cups of strawbs in a food processor & puree. Combine this with sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Whisk until boiling, reduce heat for a further minute. Let glaze cool, stirring occasionally.
Toss remaining strawbs in juice and arrange over filling. Spoon glaze over berries. Sprinkle nuts around edge. Cover and chill for 3 hours.
La Femme Version:
I’m ashamed to say that for ease I used a pre-made pastry sheet as the crust. However I do think it would have been great with a digestive biscuit base (Graham crackers?). I also used about twice as much cream cheese. The glaze was a fail so I used it below the berries instead as a layer of puree and it was delicious.
Wine Matching:
Well it was an interesting lesson in which we tasted a dry Muscat from the Alsace, a Vin Doux Naturel – Muscat again and a surprisingly lovely sweet Malbec. The VDN was a clear winner as a match but the other 2 wines were definitely a more than acceptable accompaniment – wonders will never cease…………….
Le Vin:
Personal Import, Laurus, (Muscat a petit grains), Gabriel Meffre, Beaumes de Venise, AOC, 2010, Estimate MYR75