Blackberry tart with a walnut crust

It has been a berry sort of week I suppose, and it is seems necessary to round out such a week with blackberries. We had pie (instead of cake) at our wedding, and I specifically requested blackberry pie for one of the pie tiers, despite everyone's protestations that my beautiful white wedding dress would end up like one of those Rorschach inkblot tests: smeared in blackberry ink. Nonetheless, I persevered, if only because I really love blackberry pie. I'd gotten a good deal on blackberries several days ago, and I was concerned that my blackberries were going to go bad, so I decided to take the initiative and put them in something, namely a blackberry tart. I was intrigued by this recipe I found, as it used a combination of Greek yoghurt and cream cheese for the filling and had a walnut crust.  I'd never really made dough from scratch before (I'd kneaded and rolled it out several times), so I was a trifle wary about getting the consistency exactly right. But, blackberry bravery!

Recipe

adapted from Eclectic Recipes2 cups blackberriesWalnut crust1 cup all-purpose flour2/3 cup walnuts6 tbsp butter1/4 tsp salt1 tbsp sugar1 - 3 tbsp waterFilling1 8 oz. package cream cheese, at room temperature1 cup Greek yoghurt, vanilla flavour1/4 cup sugar1 tsp vanillaPlace flour, sugar, salt and walnuts in a food processor and pulse into walnuts are ground fine. Add butter, in pats, and pulse until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal. Add water, a tbsp at a time, pulsing after each addition, until the dough begins to clump together. Remove the dough from the food processor and form into a ball on a lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.Preheat oven to 350 F. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out on a lightly floured surface until about 1/8" thick. Carefully place dough into a 9" pie plate, trimming the edges of the dough to be even. Prick dough with a fork and bake for 15-20 minutes, until crust is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool.Combine all filling ingredients and beat with an electric mixer until well-combined and creamy. Pour filling into cooled crust. Top with fresh blackberries.

Musings

I was pretty proud of myself that I successfully did not ruin the crust. The tart was actually quite delicious. The filling was wonderfully creamy, with a touch of sweetness, that paired well with the blackberries. Friends who tried it mentioned that it actually tasted like unbaked cheesecake, which is awesome considering how much I love cheesecake. It also made an excellent breakfast the following morning. =) The recipe was actually pretty straightforward, and I am considerably less scared of making my own dough. The irony about all this was that I was looking to make something with the blackberries so they wouldn't go bad, but, of course, as David pointed out, the berries weren't cooked and therefore would not actually last any longer. However, I noted that the blackberries' shelf life would remain the same, but putting them in tart format certainly motivated me to consume them faster.