This blueberry mascarpone tart screams summer. A sweet pastry crust is filled with a sweetened lemony mascarpone cheese and topped with fresh blueberries.
This blueberry mascarpone tart, despite its sophisticated semblance, is really quite easy to toss together. Lemon gives the ethereally light mascarpone cheese filling a slight lilt and the crisp yet delicate shortbread crust lends the tart just the right amount of substance. Sorry but you’ve no longer got any excuses when someone asks you to bring dessert. Trust us, this recipe is going to make you a legend among loved ones.–Renee Schettler Rossi
Blueberry Mascarpone Tart
Ingredients
- For the sweet shortcrust pastry
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter (4 1/2 oz), cold, cut into small chunks
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted
- 3 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon ice water
- For the filling and topping
- About 1 3/4 cups mascarpone
- 2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest, preferably organic
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, sifted, plus more dusting
- 1 pint fresh blueberries
Directions
- Make the sweet shortcrust pastry
- 1. Place the flour, butter, and sugar in a food processor and process in short bursts until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. While the motor is running, add the egg yolks and vanilla. Add the ice water and process until the dough just comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, bring the dough together and flatten into a disc shape. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- 2. Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Roll the pastry out between a couple sheets of parchment paper until its 1/8-inch thick. Line a lightly buttered 13-by-3-inch (33-by-9-cm) loose-bottomed rectangular tart tin with the pastry. Trim the edges and prick the base with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- 3. Line the pastry with parchment paper, fill with baking weights or uncooked rice, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and the weights and bake for 10 minutes more or until golden. Let cool to room temperature.
- Make the filling for the tart
- 4. While the crust is baking, make the filling by placing the mascarpone, lemon zest, and sugar in a bowl and mix well.
- Assemble the tart
- 5. Spread the filling onto the cooled tart shell, strew the blueberries over the top, and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Behold!
Recipe Testers Reviews
I made this blueberry mascarpone tart as a birthday treat for my lovely soon-to-be sister-in-law. Even my extremely health-conscious, professional triathlete brother ate this dessert. Due to their athletic lifestyle, using less than a stick of butter in the crust was highly appealing and bonus points that the dessert contained fruit!
The filling was wonderfully lemony and creamy but still felt light and refreshing. I did not beat the mascarpone with a whisk/beater/mixer, instead I just blended in the sugar and lemon zest with a wooden spoon. The creamy filling played well with the perfectly crumbly shortbread crust.
I used blueberries picked that morning in a local field—plump, juicy, and ripe for the picking and eating. Yum! There wasn't much tart left over to save in the fridge, but one small piece managed to remain in my fridge for a day and a half and it was just as delicious then as the day it was made. I purchased a 14-ounce container of mascarpone (the largest single container I could find at my grocery store) It was just under 2 cups and weighed 396 grams.
This blueberry mascarpone tart was a pretty easy dessert to prepare on a hot summer day! The result was a refreshing, chilled, fruity dessert. Next time I would add more fruits to it, perhaps mixing things up with some raspberries and figs.
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Helen Doberstein
This blueberry mascarpone tart is beautiful. The filling whips up quite fluffy and not too sweet. It was light, fresh tasting, and lemony. The zest adds a nice tang to the filling and the blueberries make the dessert. The pastry comes together quickly in the food processor. I chilled the dough overnight and made the tart the next day.
I actually made this recipe twice. I used 1 tub of mascarpone cheese and beat everything by hand for the filling. With a little muscle work, the cheese beats up nice and fluffy--no need to bring out the beaters for this.
I preferred to have the filling smoothly spread in the baked shell and then heap on the fresh blueberries. Delish! This is one dessert I plan to keep in my repertoire. I used 457 grams of mascarpone cheese (1 tub) that measured about 1 3/4 cups. I would need a few tablespoonfuls from a second tub to reach the full 2 cups. 'Tis is a dessert I look forward to making again.