A wonderful spring tart featuring creamy mascarpone, roasted rhubarb and sweet strawberries. Crisp, buttery pastry is filled with a simple vanilla mascarpone cream and topped with rhubarb and strawberries roasted in a fragrant orange and vanilla syrup. An irresistible combination of flavours and textures!
Ingredients for the shortcrust pastry:
- 200 g plain flour
- 90 g cold butter, diced
- 30 g lard*, cold and diced
- 60 g icing sugar
- a pinch of salt
- 2–3 tablespoons cold water
Sift the flour into a bowl. Add the butter and lard, then rub them into the flour until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, prepare the pastry in a food processor. Add the icing sugar, salt and cold water, then quickly bring the dough together. Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill in the refrigerator for 30–60 minutes.
Grease a 24 cm tart tin and dust lightly with flour, shaking out any excess. Roll out the chilled pastry to approximately 3 mm thick and line the tart tin. Chill for a further 30 minutes. Lightly dust the pastry with flour, line with baking paper and fill with baking beans, dried beans or rice.
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Reduce the temperature to 190°C and blind bake the pastry for 15 minutes. Remove the baking paper and baking weights, lower the oven temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 10 minutes, or until golden and fully baked. Remove from the oven and leave to cool completely.
Ingredients for the roasted rhubarb and strawberries:
- 250 g rhubarb, cut into 3–4 cm pieces (do not peel)
- 150 g strawberries, hulled and halved
- freshly squeezed juice of ½ orange
- 30 g sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
Combine all the ingredients and place them in an ovenproof dish or on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
Bake at 180°C for approximately 15 minutes, or until the rhubarb and strawberries have softened slightly but still hold their shape. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
Ingredients for the mascarpone cream:
- 250 g mascarpone
- 150 ml double cream
- 3 tablespoons icing sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract or 8 g vanilla sugar
All ingredients should be well chilled. Place all the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer and whip until thick, fluffy and holding its shape.
Assembly:
Spread the mascarpone cream evenly over the cooled tart shell. Arrange the roasted rhubarb and strawberries on top. Spoon over the orange-vanilla syrup from the roasting dish. Store the tart in the refrigerator. For the best texture, remove it from the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving, as shortcrust pastry tends to firm up when chilled.
*Lard gives the pastry an exceptionally crisp and crumbly texture, but it can be replaced with the same amount of additional butter.
Enjoy!
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