Mom’s Strawberry Tartlets

Name: Mom’s Strawberry Tartlets
Yield: makes 6 tartlets
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups hulled quartered strawberries; 1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar; Nonstick cooking spray; 5 ounces Maria crackers (about 32 crackers; see page 205) or graham crackers (about 10 whole crackers); 1/4 cup (packed) minced piloncillo (about 2 ounces) or dark brown sugar; 8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cubed; Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature; 1/2 cup sour cream

December 20, 2011

My mom made a variation of this dessert from the time I was a little girl. I’m not exactly sure where she got the recipe, but I know it came from one of my aunts in Guadalajara. You just need to know that my uncle Ernesto would drive from his house in San Diego across the border into Tijuana to go to my mom’s house when she announced she was making strawberry pie. It’s not traditional or very Mexican, especially in its original form. She used to use a store-bought graham-cracker pie crust (which you are free to use), but I have concocted a much tastier crust using the traditional Maria cracker and piloncillo (unrefined solid cane sugar, usually found in the shape of small truncated cones). What I absolutely left alone is the filling—a fluffy, creamy, perfectly sweet filling that I could eat an entire bowl of if given a spoon. The amounts given will also work with a 9-inch round tart pan with removable bottom if you don’t want to make individual tartlets.

Recipe notes

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