Summer Fruit Cheesecake Tart

This beautiful tart has shortcake as a base which works really well, you have the soft crunch of the biscuit with the creamy richness of the cheesecake filling and the sweet/sharp juicy fruit...yum!
This makes a delicious dessert and is surprisingly easy to make, the base doesn't even need rolling out...you can just press the dough into the tin with your hands.  You can top the tart with any fruit you like, it is particularly good with blueberries and raspberries.

Serves up to 12 people

Ingredients
For the Shortcake Base
50g Caster Sugar
100g Soft Butter
150g Plain Flour
1 tspn Vanilla Extract
For the Cheesecake Filling
200g Cream Cheese
200ml Double Cream
75g Icing Sugar
1 Vanilla Pod
Fruit of your choice for the top

• Preheat the oven to 200C (fan) and thoroughly butter a 25cm flan dish/tin (ideally one with a loose bottom).
• To make the shortcake base, put the butter, vanilla extract and caster sugar in a bowl and beat with a wooden spoon to make it soft and creamy.  Add the flour and mix until it starts to clump together.  Using your hands, squeeze it together to make a ball of dough.
• Put the ball of dough into the buttered tin and squash it with your hands to spread it out evenly across the bottom of the tin, into the edges and up the sides.  It doesn't matter if it is a bit bumpy, it is getting covered with filling and fruit later anyway.
• Put the tin into the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes until the shortcake is light, golden brown.  It will feel soft at this point but it will crisp up as it cools.  Leave it in the tin until totally cool before attempting to remove it.
• When the base is cold and feels firm carefully remove it from the tin and put it on the plate you want to serve it on.
• To make the filling, put the cream cheese into a bowl and soften by beating with a wooden spoon until creamy.  Pour the cream into another bowl and add the icing sugar.  With a sharp knife cut lengthways down the side of the vanilla pod and open it out.  Using the blade of the knife, scrape it down the inside of the pod, collecting all the tiny seeds, then put these into the cream.  Whisk the cream until softly whipped then tip it into the cream cheese and fold together to combine.
• Spoon (or pipe) the filling into the shortcake base and spread it out.  Top with the fruit of your choice and chill in the fridge for 2-3 hours for the filling to set and the base to soften slightly before serving.