Something I love to make as sort of a -wow- dessert for guests is Mascarpone Fruit Tarts. If you’re not familiar with mascarpone, it’s an Italian triple creme cheese known for it’s light taste and extremely creamy texture. These little tarts can be as easy or as difficult as you choose to make them. I prefer to make my own fresh mascarpone, but I also know that you can buy it pre-made in stores. I’ve been known to substitute softened neufchâtel whipped with cream and a tiny bit of sweetener for a similar effect.
Please forgive me here, as I rarely work directly from a recipe. Hopefully this won’t come off as convoluted and impossible; it’s really quite easy!
Anyway, to make the mascarpone cheese from scratch, you should have access to a double boiler, a flour-sac style cloth (or dense cheese cloth), a colander, and a candy thermometer. Other than that, all you need is heavy cream (pasteurized or raw – ultra pasteurized will be take much longer to set) and half of a lemon. I’ve substituted goat’s milk on occasion for a slightly muskier flavor that’s particularly good with strong fruits like sweet cherries.
Bring a few inches of water to boil in the bottom of the double boiler. Reduce the stove to medium heat. Add 1 quart heavy cream to the top pan of the double boiler. You can use a heat-resistant bowl over a pot, if you don’t have a double boiler. Stir frequently until the cream reaches a temperature of 180º Fahrenheit. Remove from heat and slowly and thoroughly stir in 1 Tbsp of fresh lemon juice. At this point you can let it set for 10-12 minutes while you’re waiting for the lemon juice to create a sort of controlled curdle in your cream.
Dampen your cloth and line a colander with it. Then slowly pour your cream mixture into the colander and let it strain. This will take quite a long time, so I tend to cover it with another cloth and put my colander over a bowl to let the whey drain. You can keep the whey for all sorts of things: oatmeal, bread… I’ve even heard chickens love to drink it! After about an hour, transfer the whole thing to the refrigerator and let it set for 12-24 hours. After it sets, it will be ready to use! Some people even use it as a substitute for butter or cream cheese.
So, whether it is following a day of cheese making or after a quick run to the store, the tarts are remarkably easy to make. You can use pre-made pie crusts (all natural, of course) or use your own crust recipe for this. Basically, you want to cut shapes that fit into muffin pans (mini-muffin pans make great two-bite finger-food tarts!). For the standard muffin pans, I cut triangles and, after filling them, folded the points up over the contents. For two-bite tarts I used a small, flower shaped cookie cutter and pressed them into the mini-muffin pan.
However you do it, basically you want to line your muffin pans with some sort of pie crust. This is a great place to be creative! Then add a dollop of mascarpone into each little cup of crust. If you like a very sweet tart, you can whip a bit of sweetener into the mascarpone before doing this.
In a bowl shake some brown sugar (or maple syrup!) over your fruit to coat. I like to add a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg to most of my tarts. Add a bit of fruit to the top of each tart, sprinkle a tad bit more sugar on top to create a sort of caramelized crust as it bakes, and bake more-or-less according to your crust’s directions. Keep an eye on them and pull them out when the exposed crust is a golden brown.
This is such a simple thing to do, and a lot of times I can prepare them ahead of time and throw them in the oven at the last minute so that they’re freshly baked when I serve them. Don’t be afraid to experiment with this recipe, either! There are so many great little tarts you can make. My next plan is to try using this to make more savory tarts… perhaps with squash and dill? Salmon and capers? What about using a bit of lamb, a sprig of parsley, and then whipping cucumber, garlic and mint into the mascarpone for a tzaziki effect? The posibilities are endless!
Do you have experience making something similar to these fruit tarts? What variations have you tried and what interesting new flavors would you like to try?
Want to read more from Tanglewood Farm? Check out Emily’s blog over at A Pinch of Something Nice where she writes about her experiences with her gardens, her livestock and her leased historical home in SE Michigan.
Emily, this sounds amazing! I’ll be trying this once I get back in my own kitchen.
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