Mascarpone & Summer Berry Tarte

Ceramic bakeware is making a huge comeback in our kitchens and it’s no surprise. Ceramic bakeware allows us to be rough and ready with it and for it to stand up to all that we do, whether we throw in the dishwasher, pop in the oven, or fill it up in the freezer. Peugeot do the most incredible bakeware, at least I’ve found incredible in the months I’ve been using it and I am now a total convert.

I was sent their gorgeous Ceramic Tart Dish to review and fell in love from the start. Having forgotten to grease line the bakeware I was amazed when my first tart slipped smoothly out the dish and was evenly cooked to perfection. Now I don’t bother even lifting it out as it looks stunning on the table and holds up to all my rough handling. Its mechanical and thermal resistance! (-18 -250C) It’s also incredibly easy to clean, even by hand! I’ve thrown out my old metal bakeware which seems to require soaking and scrubbing!

 

I’ve made many dishes in the fluted dish from quiche to pie but with summer just around the corner I couldn’t wait to share a stunning but simple mascarpone cream pie. What doesn’t shout summer than the light flavours mixed with summer berries? And it the beautiful deep blue dish, it makes an ideal centre piece!

 

The crust is Jamie Olivers recipe for Shortcrust Pastry which is fairly fail proof or alternatively grab some prerolled shortcrust from the supermarket. The sweetness of the mascarpone filling outweighs the savoury pastry.

 

Mascarpone & Berry Tarte

Ingredients

 

 

Crust

 

500 g plain flour

100 g icing sugar, sifted

250 g good-quality butter , cut into small cubes

1 lemon , zest of

2 large free-range eggs , beaten

1 splash milk

 

 

Filling

 

750g Mascarpone

3 tbsp Icing Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Essence

1 tsp Fresh Lemon Juice

1 tsp Grated Lemon Zest (plus more for garnish)

Fresh Berries Washed & Sliced as required

 

Method

 

Sieve the flour from a height on to a clean work surface and sieve the icing sugar over the top. Using your hands, work the cubes of butter into the flour and sugar by rubbing your thumbs against your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture. This is the point where you can spike the mixture with interesting flavours, so mix in your lemon zest.

 

Add the eggs and milk to the mixture and gently work it together till you have a ball of dough. Flour your work surface and place the dough on top. Pat it into a flat round, flour it lightly, wrap it in clingfilm and put it into the fridge to rest for at least half an hour – Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

 

Once the dough has chilled, press the dough into the pan and up the sides. Cover with baking sheet and pour in baking beans or fork the bottom lightly. Bake for approximately 15mins until the edges lightly brown. Cool completely in pan.

 

While the pastry is cooling, whisk the mascarpone, lemon juice, icing sugar & vanilla. I prefer to whisk as the filling becomes much lighter. Spread evenly in the cool tin and decorate with berries. Garnish the top with lemon zest.