A "No-Fail" Strawberry Tart

This vintage recipe was one of my mother's favorites.

“No-Fail, High-Class Stripper” is certainly a recipe title to make a reader look twice when paging through Mildred Knopf’s 1959 The Perfect Hostess Cookbook. In the case of this recipe, it’s the well-stained pages that make me pause and remember how much my mother loved this recipe.

Of all my cookbooks, Mrs. Knopf’s are my most treasured and not just because they were my mom’s favorites and bear her fingerprints made from chocolate soufflé batter. Mildred was the sister-in-law of Alfred Knopf, founder of the eponymous publishing house, and Cook, My Darling Daughter, Cook, along with Mrs. Knopf’s other popular recipe collection (she published six cookbooks in total) The Perfect Hostess Cookbook, are full of desserts and other delights that make me want to drop everything else I’m doing and run to the kitchen. In fact, this summer, I will be doing just that. I’ve spent too many years just ogling the recipes. I’ll share what I make, and we can even bake along if that intrigues.

My mom made this delightful recipe for “fancy” company, because it’s simple and presents well. The dough is rolled out and baked as a large flat crust, then when cool, topped with strawberries and glazed with currant jelly. My mother never fussed with slicing and arranging the strawberries, she merely trimmed the green tops off and lay the strawberries cut side down, in reasonably straight lines. She served it with lightly sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.

I want to make sure I get this substack out to you in time for you to make and chill Mrs. Knopf’s “no-fail cream cheese dough,” but over the next few weeks I’ll bring you more about her fascinating life.

If you’re new to cream cheese crusts, WELCOME. Your world will never be the same. It is tender and flaky with a touch of tang from the cream cheese. It’s versatile (from savory tarts to cookies) and I think I already mentioned it’s easy. So easy. The only thing to be sure of is chilling the dough for at least 5 hours, although overnight is best.

This cream cheese dough recipe is worth memorizing. That way you can make all sorts of things with extra dough…like these here rugelach.

The dough recipe is enough to fill an entire 13 x 9-inch cookie sheet and feed about 12, although I made my stripper with a half recipe. I’m envisioning all sorts of other crazy uses for the remaining half of the cream cheese dough, including rugelach, individual fruit galettes and miniature Nutella tarts. Whatever you choose to do, enjoy.

No-Fail Strawberry Tart

(adapted from Mildred O. Knopf’s Cook, My Darling Daughter, Cook, 1959)

What You’ll Need

For the cream-cheese dough:

8 ounces cold butter, cut into 16 pieces

8 ounces cold cream cheese

2 cups all-purpose flour

For the tart topping:

1 to 2 quarts strawberries, or other fruit of you choice

1 to 2 jars currant jelly (or seedless raspberry jam)

Confectioners’ sugar

What You’ll Do:

Make the cream cheese dough ahead of time (it needs at least 5 hours to chill, but can be made a few days ahead of time or frozen)

1. Blend the butter and cream cheese with a stand or hand mixer until you cannot tell one from the other. Add the flour and mix on low speed until just incorporated.

2. If you are planning to use the entire dough to make a very large tart, empty the contents of the bowl onto a piece of parchment or wax paper and flatten so it’s about 2-inches thick. Wrap well so weird refrigerator odors cannot attack it, and chill (both the dough and yourself. Damn! hasn’t it been a week/year/years?).

Make the tart:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line your baking sheet with a piece of parchment.

2. On a well-floured surface with a floured rolling pin, roll the dough to about a 1/2”-thickness. Cut the pastry with a sharp knife to create a clean edge. Transfer to your lined baking sheet. Fold the edges up and crimp them decoratively. My mom used the tines of a fork to pretty hers up. Prick the dough all over with a fork to prevent bubbling. Place the dough in the oven and immediately turn the oven down to 400 degrees. Bake until light golden brown. Cool.

3. When the pastry dough is completely cool, decorate the top of the tart with strawberries, or other fruits of your choice. Melt currant jelly and use a pastry brush to paint the berries and all over the tart. Let sit at room temperature. Immediately before serving, dust the edges of the tart with confectioners’ sugar if you want to be like my mom. My mom was great. Be like my mom.

   

   My mom in her kitchen with her oh-so-beloved grandson.

Did your family growing up have a go-to “fancy company is coming” dessert? Do you have a special one now?

*Although our understanding and attitude toward sex work has changed since the 1950s, thankfully.