This blueberry mascarpone tart from Donna Hay screams sunshine. A sweet pastry crust is filled with 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.–Donna Hay
Blueberry Mascarpone Tart
Ingredients
For the sweet shortcrust pastry
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour sifted
- 9 tablespoons (4 1/2 oz) unsalted butter 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
- 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.
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Roll the pastry out between a couple sheets of parchment paper until its 1/8-inch thick. Place the pastry into a lightly buttered 13-by-3-inch (33-by-9-cm) loose-bottomed rectangular tart tin. Trim the edges and prick the base with a fork. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- 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
- 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
- Spread the filling onto the cooled tart shell, strew the blueberries over the top, and dust with confectioners’ sugar. Behold!
Notes
*What can I substitute for mascarpone?
Mascarpone is one of the creamiest cheeses in the world. With nearly twice the fat of American cream cheese, it's a lush addition that makes this simple tart extraordinary. It's made by adding citric acid (lemon juice) to whole milk, and then waiting for it to set. Luckily for you, we have a recipe for homemade mascarpone. If you don't have any on hand and don't have the time to wait for the homemade stuff, it's possible to make a pretty close approximation. While clotted cream or creme fraiche are also close, they don't have the fat content and aren't as thick. Cream cheese is the closest, fat-wise, but you'll need to add heavy cream and sour cream for the velvety texture of mascarpone. For this recipe, we've done the math for you—mix together 12 ounces of room temperature cream cheese (1 1/2 blocks) with 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream and 1/4 cup of sour cream until combined.Show Nutrition
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 didn't 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.
Originally published June 16, 2018
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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'd need a few tablespoonfuls from a second tub to reach the full 2 cups. 'Tis is a dessert I look forward to making again.