Easter was a glorious day filled with sunshine, beautiful music, and a church decorated with blossoming Spring flowers. The sights and sounds were full of joy and praise, and I felt renewed both in body and spirit – transported to another world that I don’t frequent often enough!
The Sisters celebrated this Easter with a beautiful buffet, many pitching in by making their favorite dish. I signed up to make dessert. I’ve always wanted to try making homemade mascarpone cheese, and since we have three cows that give us a never ending supply of milk and cream, what a great time to try it out. It was delicious! This dessert is perfect for Springtime – a shortbread almond crust filled with sweet and tart lemony cream, and a blend of berries on top – the perfect end to our Easter celebration.
Blessed Eastertide to all!
SERVINGS6-8servingsCHANGE SERVING SIZEservings |
COOK TIME12-15minutes |
PREP TIME20minutes |
READY IN1hr30 minutes |
Ingredients
- For the tart crust
- 1 1/2 cups flour all purpose
- 1/2 cup almond flour
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsps powdered sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick) very cold and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
- 1 egg yolk
- 1-2 tbsps water cold
- For the mascarpone filling
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1 mascarpone cheese 8oz container at room temperature **
- 1 tbsp powdered sugar
- 1 cup lemon curd 8oz, store bought
- 1 pint strawberries
- 1/4 cup strawberry preserves
- Mint leaves for garnish
Instructions
For the tart crust
- Mix the all purpose flour, almond flour, kosher salt and powdered sugar in a large bowl. Add the unsalted butter pieces and work into the flour, creating thin sheets of butter in the flour. Mix the egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl and add to the flour and butter mix. Continue to work with your fingers until the mixture sticks together when pinched. Add another tablespoon of water if needed.
- Press the dough into a buttered tart pan with a removable bottom (I used a long tart pan but you can use a 10-inch round pan) or 4-6 individual tart pans with removable bottoms. Prick the bottom with a fork and then refrigerate for about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake the tart for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Allow to cool completely before filling with mascarpone filling.
For the mascarpone filling
- Whip the cream on high with a hand mixer or a stand mixer. Add the softened mascarpone cheese and powdered sugar and beat to mix well. Fold in the lemon curd with a wooden spoon.
- In a separate bowl, mix the raspberries and sliced strawberries. Heat the strawberry preserves until thinned and mix into the berries. Spoon the mascarpone into the cooled tart crust and top with the berries. Garnish with mint leaves if desired.