strawberry tart

i made this strawberry tart from an everyday food recipe found here. i added about 1/8 c ground almonds to the dough. it turned out fine, but there were two aspects that were less than perfect:

1. fresh out of the fridge, the dough was too tough. you had to exert a fair amount of force with a fork to break off a bite. after the tart came up to room temp an hour or two later, the dough had a nice shortbread-y consistency and was easy to eat. however, by this time the cream cheese had really gotten runny. i can't figure out if this is a function of the dough recipe or temperature. i don't know enough about pastry to figure it out and that frustrates me. mix it less in the food processor? don't add almonds? serve at just below room temperature? grrr.

2. also, the glaze wasn't as smooth as i wanted. despite spending about 20 minutes in whole foods examining every jelly they had by holding it up to the light to see if it looked clear enough, i still had trouble with it. this happened with the orange, honey & pistachio tart too and i used orange marmalade. it seems like the jelly gets up to a certain temperature, boils a little and then doesn't fully liquefy. i'm trying not to burn it and i both times i heated for over 20 minutes. next time maybe i should use a whisk and heat even longer?

lack of patience and an unwillingness to follow a recipe to the letter are just a few examples of why baking is not my calling. this being said, i do love to consume baked goods, so i guess i'll soldier on and hope to improve along the way.

on a positive note, the taste of the tart was really delicious and was a great way to highlight strawberries that are finally in season!