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Mascarpone Fruit Tart - This fruit tart is filled a mixture of mascarpone cheese, cream cheese, and heavy cream all of which is whipped up and sweetened with maple syrup. It is then topped with mixed berries and brushed with a simple apricot jelly glaze. | justalittlebitofbacon.com
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Mascarpone Fruit Tart with Mixed Berries

These mascarpone fruit tarts start with a simple rolled pastry. Then are filled with creamy cheese and topped with mixed berries for an elegant dessert.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Italian
Keyword mascarpone tarts, mini fruit tarts
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 15 minutes
Servings 6 servings
Calories 400kcal
Author justalittlebitofbacon

Ingredients

Pate Sucree

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3 tbsp superfine sugar
  • 1/4 tsp table salt
  • 8 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 3-4 tbsp heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Mascarpone Filling

  • 6 oz mascarpone cheese
  • 3 oz cream cheese
  • 4 tbsp maple syrup
  • 3 oz heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tsp orange zest

Fruit Topping

  • 2 cups berries, mixed blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries
  • 1/3 cup apricot jelly
  • 1-2 tsp water

Instructions

  • This recipe makes 1 9-inch tart or 6 3.5-inch mini tarts.

Pate Sucree

  • Make the dough: Add flour, sugar, and salt to a food processor. Give the dry ingredients a whirr to blend them.
  • Add the butter. Pulse for 5-6 one second pulses, or until the butter is cut it with no large chunks remaining.
  • Add the egg yolk, heavy cream, and vanilla. Blend for 30 seconds.
  • The dough should begin to ball up and come together. If it still looks dry, add one more tablespoon of cream and pulse a few times to mix it in.
  • Chill the dough: Once the dough has begun to come together, transfer the dough to a bowl and use your hands to shape it into one disc for a 9-inch tart or 6 discs for mini tarts.
  • Cover the disc with plastic wrap and let chill for 1-2 hours, or up to 3 days. If chilling more than 1 hour, let the dough warm up a little and become pliable before rolling.
  • Roll the dough: Before rolling out the dough, butter each of the tart shells. If needed, cut out parchment rounds for the bottom.
  • Dust the dough with flour and roll out the dough to fit the tart shells. Once the dough is in the shell, use the rolling pin over the top the tart pan to neatly cut the edges.
  • Press holes into the tart dough all over the surface with a fork. Freeze the dough in the tart pans for 30 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 350F.
  • Bake the crust: If making mini tarts you can put them directly into the oven as is. If making a 9-inch tart, line the tart dough with foil and fill with pie weights.
  • For mini tarts, bake for 15 minutes. For a 9-inch tart, bake for 10 minutes with the pie weights and then remove them and bake for 7-8 minutes more. Let cool to room temperature. When ready to fill, remove the tart shells from the pans.

Mascarpone Filling

  • Mix the cheese: With a hand mixer, whip together the mascarpone cheese, cream cheese, and maple syrup. Set aside. In a new bowl, whip the heavy cream until you have soft peaks, about 1 minute. Once you see trails in the cream as you are whipping, start checking to cream to see if has soft peaks yet.
  • Make whipped cream: In a new bowl, whip the heavy cream until you have soft peaks, about 1 minute. Once you see trails in the cream as you are whipping, start checking to cream to see if has soft peaks yet.
  • Mix the filling: Fold in half of the whipped cream into the cheese mixture, folding until mostly combined. Then add the rest of the cream along with the vanilla and orange zest. Fold in until fully combined.
  • Make Ahead: Don't put the cheese filling into the tart shell until shortly before serving. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it. The filling can be made the night before. Just give it a stir before using.

Fruit Topping

  • Fill the tarts: When ready to serve, fill the shell with the cheese and smooth it out.
  • Add the fruit: Top with mixed berries, 12-15 per mini tart.
  • Make the glaze: Heat the apricot jelly with 1 teaspoon of water until the jelly becomes liquid and starts to bubble. Then either strain the jelly into a bowl (if you don't want the bits of apricot in your tart), or use it directly from the pot.
  • Either way, brush it over the berries with a pastry brush. You don't need to get every berry completely covered, but make sure you get a good coating over the berries.

Notes

  • Superfine Sugar: To make superfine sugar from granulated sugar, put the sugar in the blender and puree for about 30 seconds.
  • Greasing the Tart Pans: I butter both nonstick and regular metal tart pans. It only takes a moment and reduces the stress of getting the tart shell out.
  • Make Ahead: If you fill the tarts too far ahead of time, the shells will become soft and crumbly. To prevent that, you can brush the shells along the bottom and up the sides with melted white chocolate to make a barrier.

Nutrition

Calories: 400kcal