The filling and apples (though not pink) are from a Land O'Lakes recipe. Rather than use their crust recipe, I replaced it with a pâte brisée/shortbread crust that adds a nice flaky buttery flavor and a slightly more decorative look.
10tablespoonbutter, cold (one stick) - cut into cubes
4 - 6tablespoonice water
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
½cupsugar
16ozcream cheese (two 8 oz packages), room temperature
2largeeggs, room temperature
1teaspoonvanilla extract
APPLE TOPPING
4cupspink (or other color) apples, peeled, quartered and sliced into crescent shapes
⅓cupsugar
½teaspoonground cinnamon
½teaspoonground nutmeg
⅛teaspoonground cardamom
powdered sugar, for dusting on top of tart
Instructions
TART CRUST
In a large bowl, measure out flour, salt and sugar. Whisk together to ensure ingredients are well distributed and there are no lumps.
Add cubes of butter and toss well to cover with flour. Using your hands or a pastry blender, cut in the butter until it has the texture of coarse cornmeal.
Add the ice water gradually, kneading it into the dough until it begins to come together. Add just enough water to create a smooth dough - it should not be terribly dry and crumbly, nor should it be gooey or tacky. (I sound a bit like Goldilocks - only add the water until it's juuuust right. Don't worry - you're doing a great job.)
Form the dough into a disc and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour, or overnight.
When you wish roll out the dough, remove it from the fridge and let it warm up slightly, approximately 10-15 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface (or between two sheets of parchment paper), roll the dough into a circle with a diameter of approximately 12 inches - one inch wider than the tart pan on each side. You can place the pan on top of the rolled out dough to double check sizing.
Roll the dough onto the rolling pin and transfer it to your 10" tart pan. Using your fingers, gently lift the edge of the dough up while pressing the base into the corner of the pan. You want to make sure the dough is pressed in and does not gap where the tart pan base and side meet.
With a sharp knife or kitchen scissors, trim the dough so that there is an even overhang all around - about 1 inch. Fold the excess dough out and down and under so that it slides down on the interior side of the pan; you're basically doubling the thickness of the sides, while hiding the rough edge between the dough and pan.
Press the dough against the sides to even out and make sure the dough is flush with the pan.
Using a sharp knife, trim the excess dough by cutting horizontally along the top of the pan. I used the back of a knife blade pressed into the top edge at a slight angle to add a bit of visual interest to the crust.
Place the pan in the freezer for at least an hour so that it is firm and does not slump during baking.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Crumple a sheet of parchment paper to make it more flexible, then smooth and place in base of crust. Fill with dried beans to keep the dough in place as it bakes). Bake for 15 minutes, watching carefully to make sure the edges do not begin to brown.
Remove the pan from the oven. Carefully lift off the parchment paper and beans and place back in the oven for approximately 3 minutes, until just starting to brown slightly.
Place the crust on a rack to cool completely before adding cream cheese filling and apple topping.
CREAM CHEESE FILLING
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the cream cheese and sugar on medium-low speed until well combined. Scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula to assure the sugar is evenly blended.
Add eggs one at a time, beating well to incorporate. Add vanilla and mix to combine.
Pour cream cheese mixture into parbaked tart shell and smooth with an offset spatula.
APPLE TOPPING
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
In a large bowl, gently mix the apple slices with the sugar and spices together with a spatula, folding carefully so that the apples do not break.
Starting at the middle of the tart and working your way out, place the apples one by one into the cream cheese filling with the narrower interior side of the apple slice facing down into the filling and the wider exterior of the apple facing out. If one end of the apple is wider than the other, place the wider end towards the outside. (Think of the way a flower petal on a daisy is narrow at the center and wider at the outside).
Place the apple slices in concentric circles until you reach the exterior edge of the tart. See images of the unbaked tart for reference in placement.
Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the center of the tart is almost set. Cool on a rack.
Remove the tart from the mold and place on a serving platter. Dress it up with a dusting of powdered sugar: spoon some powdered sugar into a fine-mesh sieve and VERY gently tap it against your hand while holding over the tart.