This easy to make berry tart features a tender base of almond crust filled with a luscious whipped lemon curd mascarpone filling and topped with fresh strawberries and mint.
Today, you almost had me at quinoa. Or rather a twist on quinoa salad of a favorite ethnic variety. A recipe I’ve been craving, with bright flavors, creating lighter lunchtime fare. But then…this happened: Berry Tart With Lemon Curd Mascarpone.
My little Meyer lemon bushes have been wintering indoors like retired Upper East siders who call the southern beaches of Boca Raton their snowbirding home.
So there I was with hands on hips, staring these little bushes down as I pondered whether it was time yet to subject them to the harsh reality of the wild outdoors where they belong. Like swallows heading back to Capistrano, is it time for my two little lemons that bloomed over the winter to face the outdoor elements?
What? And leave their personal furnace vent and sunny west side disposition? Or would that be west side exposure? Just so long as it’s the good side of the west side we have a deal. Gosh, that makes me almost want to come back one day as a lemon tree. But only if you’ll call me Ms. Meyer.
But then, instead of lugging my two lemon trees with two lonely lemons outdoors, I started scheming about plucking those little suckers off their branches and, GASP, cooking with them.
I mean, they’d only been percolating for 3 months. Wasn’t it time?
In my mind, yes. In my husband’s mind, it’s doubtful. In fact, he’s going to be a little on the grumpola side when he comes home and sees our two little lemons…GONE. Gone before he had a chance to strip a zest or four for a super cold, shaken martini with a twist. Or four. Because I know that’s been his plot all winter long.
I hope this lemon curd will curb his martini with a twist of his home grown lemon craving. Yeah. Wish me luck with that.
I’ve been thinking about Becky’s lemon curd ever since I saw it come up in my RSS feed a few months back. I’ve bought it before at Trader Joes, but I’ve never made it myself. That is until I had thoughts of lugging those two lemon trees outside and getting my pants dirty. I’d rather get my pants dirty with lemon and sugar instead of wintered, lemon-ed soil. And thus, sugar and plucked lemons and lemon curd it was.
The crust is based on a recipe from Sweet Paul’s new cookbook Eat and Make, a cookbook I’m totally digging into. The recipe calls for almond meal and regular flour, for a bit of an almond flavor. That I also dig.
Instead of leaving the puckery-sweet lemon curd all alone in my almond crust, I headed for the fridge to scout about for cream cheese and discovered Mascarpone. Double bonus points for ingredients that lurk in the shadows. Whipped cream? Check. Powdered sugar? All over my pants and thus check. Berries? Got those in droves thanks to yesterday’s Costco power shopping trip.
I even plucked the season’s first mint leaves from my garden. Maybe my lemons need to take a lesson from the mint, and head outside a little earlier. Then maybe they’d still be here. Shaken and being enjoyed in a very cold martini glass.
If you make this recipe, please let me know! Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating on this recipe below and leave a comment, take a photo and tag me on Instagram with #foodiecrusheats.
Berry Tart With Lemon Curd Mascarpone
Ingredients
For the tart crust
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons powdered sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter , (1 stick), very cold and diced into ¼ inch pieces
- 1 egg yolk
- 1-2 tablespoons cold water
For the mascarpone filling
- ¾ cup whipping cream
- 1 8 ounce container mascarpone cheese , at room temperature
- 1 heaping tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 cup lemon curd , store bought, or I used this recipe
- 1 pint strawberries , hulled and sliced
- 1 pint raspberries
- ¼ 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.
Notes
Nutrition
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Lynn Fogarty
I made this for mother’s day.
Family approved:)
I’m so glad to hear it Lynn! Thanks for the comment.
Carrie
I think the recipe has some serious potential. I made it for Easter this year and had some issues. 1. I side eyed the powdered sugar in the crust because it didn’t feel right. I subbed granulated sugar. Thought it could have used more. 2. I made the crust in the food processor. Worked just fine. 3. I used extra lemon curd in the filling. as specified, you couldn’t really taste it. 4. If you use a rectangular tart pan, you’ll have leftover crust mix and filling. Don’t try to use it all. 5. I thought the crust was really bland. maybe some almond extract would help? 6. I think this could be really good with a graham cracker crust instead of a pastry one.
The end result was good, but not great. It sure looked amazing on the platter though!
Mary Gronberg
I love the filling, but the crust was sort of tasteless and too thick for a 9 in round ( I even left some crust out) This was with a bit of almond extract in the crust as well. It is a simple and easy recipe, fresh fruit instead of adding preserves makes it lighter.
Phyllis
Could I use puff pastry, which is in my freezer? If so, how would I make it. This recipes looks amazing!
Hayley
Hi Phyllis! We haven’t made this with puff pastry, so we’re not sure how it would turn out but if you give it a try, let us know! We think this tart works best with a tar shell though, as it will hold up well to the lemon curd. We hope this helps!
Serena
Can you substitute the almond flour for anything else ?
Ashley @ Foodie Crush
Any other flour but be sure to use a common flour substitution guide
Cynthia
This dish was mentioned in the New York Times which is why I think it got so many hits today, if you were wondering.
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Liz
Can I substitute the almond flour and use all regular flour in this recipe?
nancy
1 cup butter is 227 grams, so use about 110 g for this recipe.
1 cup flour is 113 g, so use about 170 g for this recipe.
Fandangle
I made this tart last weekend and I’m making it again now. It was super. I used a whole jar of lemon curd in my topping. It’s my new favorite. Thank you for the recipe!
xx
Deborah Copithorn
Looks great way more filling than necessary for this size tart