strawberry mascarpone tart

strawberry tart 1

Things that are difficult to take pictures of: ice cream, anything shiny, and this strawberry tart.

I almost didn’t post the recipe because I didn’t have any pictures that I deemed worthy, but instead I just settled on this picture, taken with the BF’s iPad.

Why?  Because this recipe needs to be shared, people.  It’s so easy, and so refreshing, and so… perfect.  It’s light, refreshing, and the right amount of sweet.

The kid in me prefers a Nilla Wafer crust, but you could use a regular pie crust all the same, just baked according to its own directions.  You could even use one of those store-bought graham crusts if you were extra short on time, I’m sure it would still taste great!

Strawberry Mascarpone Tart

Makes 1 8- or 9- inch tart

Printable Recipe

For the Crust

•             2 2/3 cups vanilla wafer cookies

•             1 tbsp sugar

•             1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

•             4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

•             1 egg, whisked with 1 Tablespoon water

For the Filling

•             2 lbs strawberries, stemmed and sliced or quartered

•             1/2 cup white sugar

•             1 Tablespoon lemon zest

•             1 teaspoon lemon juice

•             8 ounces mascarpone cheese

•             4 ounces whipped cream

•             1/2 teaspoon vanilla

•             1/3 cup powdered sugar

•             1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Make the crust

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.  Crush wafer cookies in a food processor until fine crumbs.  Add melted butter and vanilla extract and continue processing until blended.  Dump into pie or tart pan and press firmly into bottoms and sides (I find using the bottom/sides of a glass to help press makes a big difference).
  2. Brush bottom of crust with whisked egg and bake for 10 minutes until golden brown; cool completely (up to overnight) before filling.

Make the filling

  1. Toss the strawberries with half of the zest, all of the juice, and sugar in a large bowl; set aside for 30 minutes.
  2. While the strawberries are macerating, mix the mascarpone cheese with lemon zest, vanilla, and powdered sugar in a medium bowl until well combined.  Gently fold in the whipped cream; refrigerate until needed.
  3. After 30 minutes, strain juice from strawberries into a small saucepan.  Add the balsamic vinegar and bring to a boil of medium heat.  Reduce until thick enough to cover the back of a spoon, it should be like a syrup.  Set aside to cool.

Assemble the tart

  1.  Spread the mascarpone mixture over the bottom of the tart shell, top with strawberries (sometimes I arrange them fancily, other times I just dump them on top and spread them out, whatever your preference and energy levels call for that day), brush with balsamic syrup and chill until ready to serve.

 

[ Adapted from Simply Recipes ]

 

 

strawberry tart 1 pin

 

6 thoughts on “strawberry mascarpone tart

  1. you forgot “anything shannon makes during the winter when the light here is horrid” on your list. 🙂
    i’m so in for nilla wafer crust: is that childish? I don’t think so. But i’m the girl who acts like i’m buying things like Nilla wafers “for stella.” You know, one of the very first recipes i made for the blog was a strawberry cheesecake tart. It was beautiful in person, but OH SO BRIGHT in photos, and i never posted it b/c of that. I was wrong for that, and i think your photos turned out great. the iPad has a nice camera in it, no?

    • The iPad camera is not too bad, it’s actually responsible for more blog pics than I’d like to admit…. lol

      Yeah, let’s just say this doesn’t use the WHOLE box of Nilla wafers, which means there are enough to make up for any casualties along the way….

  2. I don’t know what you’re talking about…this tart is GORGEOUS! Look at that color! Also, it sounds awesome. I’m not a pie fan, but this crust sounds amazing and what’s not to love about strawberries and mascarpone. Mmmm 🙂

    • Aw, you’re so sweet Amy! I bet you could ditch the crust and do it in individual little parfait-style cups 🙂 Like you said, what’s not to love about strawberries and mascarpone?

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