Hungarian Tarts

Hungarian tarts are miniature pastries with a rich cream cheese dough pressed into tiny tart pans and filled with your choice of nut or cheese filling. This recipe gives you five filling options: almond, pecan, walnut, coconut, and farmer’s cheese. One batch of dough, an entire holiday dessert spread.

The tart dough is equal parts butter, cream cheese, and flour by weight. It’s incredibly rich and short, which means it crumbles when you bite through it rather than being chewy. An overnight chill in the fridge is required. The dough is too soft to work with straight from the mixer.

Each filling has its own character. The almond filling sits on a layer of pineapple preserves. Pecan tarts get a halved pecan pressed into the bottom before filling. The walnut paste cooks on the stove with warm milk, egg whites, and lemon juice before cooling. Coconut tarts start with a spoonful of jelly.

Chef Tips

• Chill the dough overnight, not just a few hours. The cream cheese needs to firm completely for the dough to hold its shape in the pans.
• Press the dough into the tart pans thinly and evenly. Thick spots bake unevenly and the center stays raw.
• Fill each tart only ¾ full. The fillings puff during baking and overflow if too full.
• Cool the walnut filling completely before using. Hot filling melts the butter in the raw dough.

Variations

• Use ricotta instead of farmer’s cheese for the cheese filling if dry cottage cheese isn’t available.
• Fill with apricot or poppy seed filling for a more traditional Central European flavor.
• Dust finished tarts with powdered sugar for a classic holiday presentation.