Mini Cheesecake Fruit Tart

Ingredients

3.75 cups fine almond flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
- I used a 50/50 mix of Ceylon and Saigon cinnamon
0.75 cups light brown sugar
- mine was a solid brick and got turned into a fine powder with a blender first, so go by taste here
2 sticks unsalted butter (melted)
pinch of salt

0.5 cups water
8oz fresh blueberries
8oz blackberries
8oz strawberries
1 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean (split)
- spent vanilla beans from extract or vanilla sugar work well here
2 rose hips
1-2 dried hibiscus flowers
1 tbsp cornstarch

Add the fruit, water, and sugar to a saucepan
Bring the mixture to a boil, the reduce to a slow simmer
optional Add the rose hips, hibiscus, and vanilla bean
Simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until this mixture is slightly thickened and the fruit is tender and easily break apart.
Fish out the rose hips, hibiscus, and vanilla bean
Mix cornstarch with 1-2 tbsp of water
- I've found a great starting point is to make oobleck, then slowly add water until it no longer clearly shows non-newtonian characteristics
While stirring the sauce, slowly pour in the cornstarch mixture
Once the sauce starts thickening, remove from heat and continue stirring for another minute or two

Combine cream cheese, neufchatel. Mix until relatively smooth
- there may be some small lumps, don't worry about these. Just get it as smooth as you can
Add sugar, eggs & vanilla to the cheese mixture, beat until everything is well mixed
Set this aside in the fridge for now

Melt the butter
Sift the almond flour, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon together
Combine the butter with the dry ingredients and mix well
- don't worry about overmixing here
- the dough should be soft & malleable, and not sticky or crumbly.

Chill the cream, beaters, and (ideally) a glass or stainless steel bowl
Add sugar, vanilla, and cream to the chilled bowl
Beat the mixture until hard peaks begin to form
- there are several stages you'll pass through- soft, medium, then hard peaks. These are all judged by the behavior when lifing the beaters out of the mixture
  - soft peaks: A peak will form, but then it will quickly collapse/fall over
  - medium peaks: A peak will mostly hold its shape, but the tip will curl over. Keep an eye on it at this point, hard peaks will be coming up shortly
  - hard peaks: A peak will form and it will keep its shape and stand straight up when the beaters are lifted. Going past this point will result in butter, which is delicious, but might not be your goal
optional If the whipped cream will not be served immediately, a stabilizing agent such as gelatin, agar agar, irish moss, or xanthan gum can be added to prevent the whipped cream from weeping.
- Gelatin
  - Add 1 tsp of dry gelatin to 1 tbsp of cold water and let it bloom for 5 minutes
  - Microwave for 5-10 second intervals just until the gelatin dissolves and the liquid is clear
  - Add gelatin to the whipped cream during the soft peaks stage

Scoop 1-2 tbsp of the dough into each well in the lined muffin tin
Using your fingers (or a shot glass), press the dough into the cup to form the bottom crust
Remove the filling from the fridge and, to each cup, add the filling until the surface rests about 2-3mm below the rim of the baking cup
Bake for 20-24 minutes, or until the tops have set and are beginning to brown
Remove from the oven, and let them cool until they are solid enough to be removed from the tin without damaging them.
Cover gently, and let the tarts rest in the fridge for several hours (overnight if possible)