[ess_post]
Raspberries are the crowning glory of this simple yet delicious tart. A beautiful pastry casing filled with a lemon curd mascarpone and topped with those quintessential summer berries.
A real show stopper for summer-time celebrations.
Ingredients
Pastry
250 grams plain flour
50 grams icing sugar
125 grams cold unsalted butter, cubed
seeds scraped from one vanilla pod
1 medium free-range egg, beaten with a tablespoon of chilled milk
Filling
200g Mascarpone cheese
1 cup lemon curd (store bought is fine)
300g fresh raspberries
1 x 23cm loose-bottom tart tin
1 x food processor with blade attachment (for the pastry)
Prep time: 1.5 hours
Cooking time: 20 minutes, plus cooling
Recipe
Pastry: Put the flour, icing sugar, butter and vanilla seeds in a food processor and process briefly until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in the egg and milk mixture and pulse until the dough just starts to come together. Tip onto a lightly floured bench and gently bring together with your hands. Form into a flat disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge until firm, about 30 minutes.
Roll out on a lightly floured bench. Line the tart tin with the pastry and prick the base with a fork then freeze for 30 minutes until firm. (If using store-bought pastry, follow the preparation instructions on the packet before rolling out to line the tart tin.)
Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake.
To bake the tart blind, line the pastry with kitchen foil and place some baking beans or rice in the base and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the beans and foil and return the pastry to the oven for a further 5 minutes until it is a pale biscuit colour. Remove and set aside to cool completely.
Filling: Once the tart shell has cooled gently fold the mascarpone and lemon curd together until combined.
To finish: Pour the filling into the pastry shell and smooth over. Top with the raspberries and place in the fridge for a couple of hours to set. Remove 20 minutes before serving so the tarts no too cold.
