Ravings of a Textual Deviant

This was a big hit at the impromptu 4th of July party we were invited to. It’s a variation on the very similar recipe in the Cooking with All Things Trader Joe’s cookbook I picked up last month.

• 1 single-shell pie crust (make your own or buy)
• 1/2 C heavy cream
• 1/4 C sugar
• 8 oz mascarpone cheese (let it come to room temp)
• 1/2 t vanilla powder or 1 t vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt
• 1 T finely grated lemon zest
• 3 pints berries (or other fruit in equivalent amounts; I used a mix of blueberries and raspberries)

Heat the oven to 450 degrees F. Gently press the pie crust into a 10″ tart pan, or a pie pan. (Personally, I have better luck in this situation when I line the bottom of the pan with baking parchment.) Resist the temptation to cram the crust into every last corner of the pan; it’ll expand when it bakes. Also, the original instructions state that one should trim the excess crust from the outside of the pan. if you choose to do so, be conservative. Prick the crust several times with a fork in order to let steam escape. Bake the crust according to your recipe or manufacturer’s instructions. Let it cool completely before filling.

Combine the heavy cream, vanilla, and sugar, and beat until stiff peaks form. I recommend using an elextric mixer for this. Fold in the salt, lemon zest, and softened mascarpone cheese. Spread the dairy mixture evenly (more or less; it doesn’t need to be perfect) into the crust. Arrange the fruit on top of the filled tart.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 5:42 pm and is filed under Tales from the Kitchen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.