Cherry Cream Cheese Tarts -- Something Sweet for the Gallery on the Fridge

Peter did not call. I called him. He picked up on the third try. He sounded thin — the way he has sounded for months now, the way Pappa used to sound. I told him about the meatballs I was making. He said he wished he was here. I said come for Christmas. He said he would try. I did not push. I did not lecture. I said I loved him. I hung up the phone and I stood at the kitchen sink for a long minute looking at the lake. Sophie texted a photo of Mira eating cereal. Mira's face was covered in milk. The photo was lit from the side by morning light and the smile in it was uninhibited and full and I could not stop looking at it. I printed the photo. I taped it to the fridge. I have a system on the fridge now: a column for each grandchild, a column for each great-grandchild, photos rotated weekly. The fridge is the gallery. The gallery is the proof. Peter called from Chicago. He sounded thinner than last week. He said work was fine. I do not believe him. He said his apartment was fine. I do not believe him either. He asked about the dog. He asked about the lake. He told me he loved me. I told him I loved him too. I told him about the bread I was baking. He said he could almost smell it through the phone. We hung up. I stood at the sink for a long minute. I did not know what else to do. I cooked Grilled peach dessert this week. Peaches halved, brushed with butter, grilled cut-side down. Served with vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of honey. The Damiano Center: the regular Thursday. The soup is the soup. The conversations are the conversations. The week is held by the Thursday. I do not know what I would do without the Thursday. The Thursday is the structural element of the week. The structural element does not collapse if the rest of the week goes sideways. The Thursday holds. The lake was iron gray. The kind of gray Paul loved. He used to say: "That is the gray that means weather is coming." He was always right. I miss being told. I miss being told what the lake means by a man who knew what the lake meant. I have learned to read the lake on my own. I am, at this point, an adequate reader. I am not as good as Paul was. I am better than I would have been if I had not had to learn. It is enough. It has to be. And on a morning like this, with the lake doing what the lake does and the dog at my feet and the bread on the counter and the kitchen warm enough to live in, it is. The phone rings less than it used to. Not because fewer people are calling, but because the people who call are mostly the family, and the family has settled into a rhythm — Peter daily, Anna twice a week, Sophie weekly, Elsa biweekly, Karin Sundays, Astrid Sundays. The phone rings predictably. I pick up predictably. The predictability is the love at this stage of life. It is enough.

The grilled peaches were for the weeknight — a quick thing, warm and honey-sweet, the kind of dessert that asks almost nothing of you. But after printing Mira’s photo and taping it to the fridge, after standing at the sink twice in one week, I wanted to make something that felt like an occasion, something small and finished and pretty enough to set on a plate in front of a person you love. These cherry cream cheese tarts are that thing. They are not complicated. They are simply worth making.

Cherry Cream Cheese Tarts

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes (plus 1 hour chilling) | Servings: 12 tarts

Ingredients

• 12 pre-made mini graham cracker tart shells
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling

Instructions

1. Whip the cream. In a cold bowl, beat the heavy whipping cream with a hand mixer on medium-high until soft peaks form. Set aside in the refrigerator.
2. Make the filling. In a separate bowl, beat the softened cream cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice and beat to combine.
3. Fold together. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture in two additions, using a rubber spatula. Keep the mixture light — do not overmix.
4. Fill the shells. Spoon or pipe the cream cheese filling evenly into the 12 tart shells, filling each nearly to the rim.
5. Top with cherries. Spoon cherry pie filling over each tart, placing 3–4 cherries and a small spoonful of the cherry glaze on top of each one.
6. Chill before serving. Refrigerate the tarts for at least 1 hour before serving so the filling sets and the flavors come together.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 245 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 13g | Carbs: 29g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 160mg