Alpine Strawberry Mascarpone Tart

Ok, so I posted 3 casseroles/oven bakes in a row...

Easy Tortellini Bake

Pumpkin Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Untraditional Green Bean Casserole

It's time for dessert! 😋

I'm a huge fan of the "tart". It has the elegance and impressiveness of a homemade pie without the difficulty of making homemade pie crust. The crust of this tart is truly, truly delicious. I don't know about you, but I was one of those kids who didn't appreciate "crust". I loved my mom's homemade fruit pies but was prone to eating the filling and soft bottom while leaving the crunchy crust for the garbage disposal (aka Dad). Somewhere along the path of growing up though, I became a crust person. It was a subtle change, one that went unnoticed. In fact, I had no clue of my crust-loving-ways until our Oregon trip in 2015. 

My brother's girlfriend prepared a tart for us while we were visiting. It was a Raspberry Tart, with this deliciously browned crust, smooth creamy filling, and those lovely fresh summer raspberries perfectly placed in that delectable shell. That first bite was unparalleled. That crust! I was in love. I had to have the recipe.

I received the recipe. Over a year ago. I'm so slow when it comes to trying and sharing recipes 😂

We are going to take care of that today though! 

I used my Alpine strawberries for this tart. I picked about 20-30 berries everyday for 8 weeks to get a big enough bag of berries to use. I kept the strawberries good by freezing them everyday. It was quite the undertaking. 

By all means, substitute regular strawberries my friends 😁

As you can see, it takes quite a few Alpine's to equal just 1 berry from the grocery store. Those little berries have the best flavor though, wow! But like I said, you can definitely make that substitution. You could also use frozen berries if you wanted. 

My lovely tart pan that spent a year on the shelf before I used it for the first time 😜

The crust is sooooooo easy to make. A few ingredients in the bowl, mix together, and...

That's it. You're done.

Press the crust into the pan.

And bake until the crust is golden brown. Mine baked about 35 minutes in my convection oven. 

Next up? The filling! Oh, that filling is magical. The mascarpone is whipped to perfection with sugar and a little vanilla. It tastes similar to cheesecake. That initial baking of the crust is actually the only baking this tart will do. The mascarpone filling is no-bake, and the berries are simply tossed with sugar before topping. 

After whipping the mascarpone filling, you fill the tart shell with it. Top the filling with the strawberries, and get that tart in the fridge to chill! 

Those are the steps. The hardest part of this dessert was gathering the strawberries for 2 months 🍓

Here at Casa de Jarrell, we like this tart with a dollop of fresh whipped cream. The cream is not necessary though, the tart is delicious on its own. 

Today's take-away? Tart's are easy to make. Much easier and less technical than pie. No rolling pins, no chilling, no worrying about pie weights or puffing crusts. Just easy, delicious dessert. 

Having made and loved this tart, I cannot wait to try more combinations. All the combinations! A huge shout-out to my brother's girlfriend for the crust recipe. Her parents own Alchemy Restaurant in Ashland, OR and something tells me the dessert tarts there would be 100 times more amazing. 

Until next time friends! Happy Wednesday!

Recipe adapted from: Simply Recipes

Ingredients:

Crust-

7 tbsp butter, melted

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

Filling-

12 ounces mascarpone cheese

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup powdered sugar

Topping-

2 lbs strawberries, stemmed (quartered if using large strawberries)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375º. Lightly coat a 9-inch tart pan with cooking spray, set aside.

2. Make the crust- in a large bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Add flour and salt, stir to incorporate. Place dough in tart pan and press dough evenly into sides and bottom. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, 25-35 minutes. Remove from oven, and allow to cool completely before filling. 

3. Make the filling- place mascarpone, lemon juice, vanilla, and powered sugar into bowl of stand mixer. Beat until filling is well combined and fluffy. Refrigerate until needed.

4. Make the topping- toss strawberries with sugar. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, strain strawberries and reserve strawberry liquid. Set strawberries aside. Place reserved liquid in a small saucepan with lemon juice and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer, and allow strawberry liquid to reduce until it is the consistency of syrup. Remove from heat. 

5. Assemble the tart- Fill tart shell with mascarpone filling. Top mascarpone with strawberries. Using a pastry brush, brush on strawberry syrup. Serve immediately with freshly whipped cream or without.

Printable Recipe  

If you liked this recipe, you may enjoy these-

Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish

Mini Strawberry-Swirled Cheesecakes

Layered Strawberry Parfaits