Fresh Berries & Orange Mascarpone Tart

I got the recipe from a friend who lives in Sydney, Australia. It started when I saw the picture of the tart from her twitter account and I asked for the recipe right away. Being a good friend that she is, she sent me the email right away. This is recipe that started me and the other two ladies to set up a baking playdate. So, one Sunday, with kids in tow, we gathered at my apartment and we tested the recipe.

It comes out nice, light and very refreshing, and absolutely yummy! The original recipe was actually using only blueberries. We added raspberries too because the supermarket was short of blueberries, so we combine them! We just loove the color combination and of course, the tart!

So, here.. I'm sharing the recipe with you, urban Mama! Thanks to Cynthia for being so generous. :)

Ingredients for the tart:

• 500 gr fresh mascarpone


• 120 ml double cream - we couldn't find double cream, so we used thickened cream instead


• 2 tablespoon finely grated orange rind


• 1 tsp of fresh orange water


• ½ cup (80gr) icing sugar, sifted


• 475 blueberries (2 pints) - we used 1 pint of blueberries and 1 pint of raspberries


• ½ tsp icing sugar for dusting

Ingredients for sweet shortcrust pastry

• 1 ½ cups (225) plain (all purpose) flour, sifted


• 125gr cold butter, chopped


• ½ cup (80) icing sugar, sifted


• 3 eggs yolks


• 2 tbs best quality vanilla extract


• 1 tbs iced water

Directions :
1.  Place the flour, butter and icing sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process in a short burst until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. While the motor is running, add the egg yolks and vanilla. Add the ice water and process until the dough just comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and bring together to form a ball. Flatten into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

2.  Roll the pastry out between 2 sheets of non stick baking paper to 3mm thick. Line a lightly grease round loose-bottomed tart tin with the pastry. Trim the edges and prick the base with a fork. Refrigerate again for 30 minutes.

3.  Preheat oven to 180C (350F). Line the pastry case with non stick baking paper, fill with baking weights or rice bake for 10 minutes. Remove the paper and the weights, and bake for a further 10 minutes or until just golden. Set aside to cool.

4.  While the tart is cooling down, make the filling. Place the mascarpone, lemon and icing sugar in a bowl and mix well to combine until light and fluffy. In another bowl, mix the double cream, until soft peak formed. Combine the two with spatula, just slightly. Spread onto the base of the cooled tart shell, top with the berries and dust with icing sugar just before serve. Serve 8-10.

Just to give you a visual, the left picture is the original tart made by Cynthia, the one on the right is how our tart came out.  So, what do you think?  Did we pass the test?
:P