British-themed Trendy Cookie Cream Tart
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Jo and I are in love with the trendy new flower-covered, cream-filled, cookie cake creations we've seen all over Instagram. For the longest time, we weren't even sure what to call these delicate, scrumptious creations that are usually in the shapes of numbers or letters. We finally learned they go by several names, including "cookie tart cakes", "cream biscuits", "cream cakes", "cream tart cakes", and most commonly, "cookie cream tart". We knew instantly we wanted to make one of our own.
We were inspired to use a British theme on our cookie cream tart, to celebrate the upcoming royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. How lovely a cookie cream tart would be when covered with Union Jacks, gold crowns, and luxurious decorations to match!
The first thing to decide on was the tart layers. You can use just about any type of cookie or dense cake you like for this, and we settled on a shortbread-style cookie.
Cream Tart Cookie Recipe
- 2 egg yolks
- 4 tbsp cold water
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2-1/2 cups flour
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter (not margarine!)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small bowl, mix yolks, water, and vanilla. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, and salt. Cut the butter into 1/2" cubes. Add the butter to flour mixture and cut in using a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal, with pieces of butter no larger than pea-sized. Add egg mixture and stir just until combined. Roll dough out on parchment paper to 4mm thick (1/6"). Cut to desired shape then transfer paper to tray and bake 12-16 minutes until the edges just start to brown. Cool and decorate.
After mixing the dough according to the recipe, I rolled it out to 1/6" thick (4mm). This may seem like an odd measurement, but 1/4" was too thick, and the orange ring on my Joseph Joseph rolling pin with thickness rings measures 1/6" and made it super easy to get a perfect, even, result.
Since my cookie cream tart shape was round, I used a dinner plate and bowl as templates for cutting out two large rings of dough. I did this directly on parchment paper so that I could slide the paper onto a cookie sheet to bake until firm and just barely brown.
The options for filling a cookie cream tart are plentiful as well, but you want to make sure you pick something that's firm, light, and not too sweet. I filled mine with a simple, yet delectable, sweetened cream cheese filling.
Cream Tart Filling Recipe
- 8oz cold cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Using the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium-high for 2 minutes until smooth. Add the cream and vanilla and beat on high for 2-4 minutes until light and fluffy.
I placed one cookie on the platter (put a little filling underneath to use as "glue" to keep it from sliding around!) and covered it with round blobs of filling that I piped using an icing bag fitted with a large 2A round icing tip. Then I carefully placed the second cookie on top and covered it in with more filling. To keep it as pretty as possible, I first went around the edges, then filled in the middle.
The featured decorations on our cookie cream tart were a few Walker's Union Jack shortbread cookies that I painted with red and blue Wilton food coloring, thinned with a little water. What a simple way to add an incredible pop of color to these otherwise ordinary cookies!
Decorating the tart was the most fun part. We made white chocolates with a crown candy mold and dusted them with gold pearl dust to make them sparkle. We continued the red and blue colors with strawberries, blueberries, and tiny meringues. Finally, we dropped in some red candies and tiny gold sugar pearls.
To take it over the top, we added some fresh food-safe flowers, choosing tiny red roses and white carnations. It came together so beautifully!
And as beautiful as our cookie cream tart is, it's just as delicious. The filling is perfectly balanced with lightness and richness, and not too sweet. The shortbread cookie layer is crispy and adds a perfect crunch. And when those strawberries hit that cream cheese filling... something magical happens on your taste buds!
4 comments so far:
You ladies are amazing! This is the prettiest dessert!
All this looks amazing!
Your cake is beautiful!
I’m curious how well it cuts? Does the cookie layer crumble or has it softened from the filling?
Thanks,
Jackie
Jackie, thank you! We had no trouble cutting it. The cookie softens a little, but it's pretty crumbly (like shortbread) to begin with, so even fresh it cuts pretty easily.