Rich
shortcrust pastry
as
per the recipe given
Filling
250g
mascarpone cheese
165g
caster sugar
1
tsp vanilla essence
1
tsp lemon juice
A
selection of fresh fruit in season
prepped
and sliced for decoration
strawberries,
hulled and sliced finely, melon balls
kiwi,
grapes and banana to name but a few ideas
Glaze
2 tbsp apricot jam, sieved
1 tbsp water
On a lightly floured board, roll out pastry thinly and cut into
circles with a fluted 7cm cutter. Line two 12 tartlet trays – or
place sweet shortcrust tart cases on a baking tray and prick bases.
Bake at 160fan/180c/Gas 4 for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
Cool on a wire rack.
Beat together the mascarpone cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon
juice. Place a tablespoon of cheese mixture in each tart.
Arrange the fruits decoratively over the top.
Heat the jam and water in a small saucepan over moderate heat
until smooth. Brush over tarts and allow to set before serving.
The recipe for the filling will give you sufficient for 24
tarts – perfect for a summer party dessert. Halve the filling
recipe for the 12 tart cases or double the pastry recipe if you're
going for 24!
These tarts are small, which is great, the size of a jam tart, so
perfectly poppable into the mouth.
Use whatever fruit takes your fancy or mix it up – my fancy was
strawberries, it's worth the effort of hulling – the finished
article looks like this :
If you don't like the idea of making pastry then a shortbread
stack would work well. The mascarpone cream is good enough to stand
alone – by that I mean it's delicious enough with a bowl of fresh
fruit.
I took two pots of the cream, together with fresh strawberries, to
my friend who has been on her own since the lockdown, despite our
“distance” in her back garden it was worth it. I'm not sure who
my friend was pleased to see more – me or the strawberries and
cream!
By the way ...
