I Need Advice Fast re: Strawberry Cream Tart

[bbenedict]

I am planning on making the Strawberry almond Cream Tart for Mother's Day tomorrow.

I read a couple of past threads on the tart and know it will taste most yummy!

Before I head to the store though, I wanted to ask ya'll about the cream cheese. I'm assuming from the recipe that you use BRICK cream cheese and not the soft tub cream cheese. it just seems that 2/3 cup is an odd amount (which measuring by T would be a little over a bricks worth or did you actually put the cream cheese into a measuring cup to get the 2/3rds?

I'm headed to the store as soon as I get the house cleaned and am hoping somebody can help me before then.

Also, I'm also assuming that when measuring the crackers you measure a half sheet as a cracker. Does that sound right to you?

Thanks!
Bonnie

[valchemist]

bonnie,

I haven't made the tart, but since it is slow around here, I will try to answer. first, I would just measure the brick cream cheese out. don't use the tub. second, when they say 9 sheets, they mean 9 whole crackers, not half crackers.

val

[bbenedict]

Val,

When you mean things are slow, I hope that doesn't mean you are a t work on a Saturday!

Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I didn't even see the 9 sheet reference in the recipe.

When you say just measure out the cream cheese do you mean squish it into a measuring cup or measure the 2/3 c by tablespoons marked on the package?

Thanks!

[HUNGRY!]

Hello, when I made this I bought the stick of cream cheese but then it only has ounce measurements on the side so I ended up using a measuring cup. Hope that helps!

[claire797]

If you are buying a standard 8 ounce brick, then you should follow the ounce measurements and cut off a tad less than 6 ounces -- about 5 3/4. If you are using the 3 ounce square of cheese (which I'm assuming you are, since you mentioned needing more than one brick) than you need to use *almost* 2 full squares to make 6 ounces. Just unwrap both squares, cut off a sliver and use the rest. There's no reason why you should have to squish up and measure something that is already pre-measured for you on the label.

[bbenedict]

Thanks everyone!

I'm a little confused. I thought the recipe called for 2/3 cup of cream cheese. a standard brick of cream cheese is 8 oz or 8 T. 1/3 cup is 5 1/3 T so that would mean that 2/3 cup would be almost 11 T (10 2/3) which would be a brick plus another 3 T from the second brick.

Does that sound right to ya'll?

[claire797]

Originally posted by bbenedict
Thanks everyone!

I'm a little confused. I thought the recipe called for 2/3 cup of cream cheese. a standard brick of cream cheese is 8 oz or 8 T. 1/3 cup is 5 1/3 T so that would mean that 2/3 cup would be almost 11 T (10 2/3) which would be a brick plus another 3 T from the second brick.

Does that sound right to ya'll?

Yes. 8 ounces is 16 tablespoons, not 8 tablespoons. There are 2 tablespoons in an ounce.

[Vicanddi]

Also, 8 oz is equal to 1 cup. I used the brick, also. I just kind of eyeballed the cream cheese, and used 2/3 of it. I didn't measure it.

Hope that helps.

Dianne

[bbenedict]

Thanks folks! Can't wait to throw it together.

Bonnie

[Clover]

I don't have any cream cheese to look at, but does the package say anything about tablespoons or cups? Because the 8 oz on the package refers to ounces by weight, whereas the 8 oz in a cup is ounces by volume. They are not necessarily going to be an equal amount. If the package doesn't specifically give cup measurements, I would just measure it myself. (Or maybe just eyeball it, as Dianne did.)

[claire797]

Originally posted by Clover
I don't have any cream cheese to look at, but does the package say anything about tablespoons or cups? Because the 8 oz on the package refers to ounces by weight, whereas the 8 oz in a cup is ounces by volume. They are not necessarily going to be an equal amount. If the package doesn't specifically give cup measurements, I would just measure it myself. (Or maybe just eyeball it, as Dianne did.)

Clover, the weight of cream cheese = its volume. You are right in that weight does not always = volume, but in this case, it does.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/measure.pl?01017xyz0100xyzCheese%2c%20creamxyz

[bbenedict]

The tart was delicious. Very light and refreshing and made a beautiful presentation. Thanks for all your help!

Bonnie