Easy Blackberry Cream Cheese Tart.

Ina Garten, also known as the Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network,  inspired me when she put together her Italian Plum Tart to think about the carton and a half of blackberries in my refrigerator just waiting to become something delicious.

They had been $1.00 per carton Friday at the store and I had used the other two and a half cartons in fresh fruit salads,  At any rate I thought to try cream cheese and the berries in an adaptation of her recipe and it has turned out a delicious and easy tart I will make again and again.  Easy because the crust came together in the food processor and pushed right into place when plastic wrap was used as a barrier between the crumbs and my hands.  Here is how it came together:

Ingredients:

9-10 Oz. fresh blackberries
2 T. minute tapioca
1/2 C. sugar for berries plus 1 C. sugar for crumb crust
pinch of salt
2 T. water for filling plus 2 T.  cold water for crumb crust
1 stick cold butter cut into dice
1 1/4 C. all purpose flour
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. baking powder
4 Oz. cream cheese

Preheat  the oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a 9" spring form pan generously and set it upon a sheet pan. Combine the berries, tapioca, first amount of sugar, pinch of salt,  and water in a mixing bowl, stir well  and let stand about 15 minutes.   Meanwhile, measure into the bowl of your food processor the dry ingredients.  Add the diced butter and pulse until you achieve crumbles.  Add water a tablespoon at a time pulsing for 30 seconds in between to form larger moist crumbles.  You may add a very few additional droplets if necessary. 

Set aside 3/4 c. of the crumb mixture for the topping. Place the rest of the crumbs in the bottom of the prepared pan.  Fit a section of plastic wrap directly over the crumbs and pat them into a crust pushing the edges up the side about an inch.  Discard the plastic and dot the crust with small portions of the cream cheese.  I cut them into loose cubes the size of dice.  Spoon the berry filling over the cream cheese and sprinkle the remaining crumb topping evenly over the tart.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the crumbs are browned.  Cool for about 12-14 minutes than remove the sides of the pan.  Serve warm or at room temperature.