Caramel Mascarpone Berry Tartlets

When I don't post anything on my "view" for awhile, it usually means that we have been busy at the B&B and all the myriad things that entails. That is exactly what is going on at the moment. Add in a bounty of fruit to make jams and put away for another day when you crack open a jar or thaw some nice nice plump berries and the summer comes rushing back like a warm breath of air. Lucky for us we have wonderful guests to pamper and look after and send them on their way, sometimes with a few extra grams or ounces to remember us by.
If you are like me you have been finding ways to beat the heat and make your time in the kitchen minimal and yet satisfyingly tasty. When these gorgeous "frutti di bosco" as they are called here or forest fruits practically jumped into my basket, I knew that minimal preparation would be the best way to taste the luscious sweetness these bedazzling jewels were offering and keep me from just plunking them on top of some creamy apricot sorbetto.  Fair enough. We have had enough hot weather after a cool wet start this season that the fruit has been stunning. Bring it on I say.

Hard to resist these beauties.

Red gooseberries, blackberries, blue berries and rose colored currants (to die for)

Rummaging around, it didn't take me long to marry up a few of my favorite standards in my kitchen's speedway to heaven, to turn out some tartlets that won accolades from my eaters and a request for the recipe. Writing up a recipe is usually the hardest part for me, naturally. I can be exacting when it comes to baking, but I can also be quite cavalier with throwing things together and hoping for the best.

These look pretty edible wouldn't you say?

The recipe is fairly loose and really up for your interpretation, so I'll tell you what I did and then you most definitely must have at it. Time's a wasting.

Summer Berry Tartlets  or 
Caramel Mascarpone Cream Berry Tartlets

Yields 8  (3-4" or 8 cm tartlets)

For the fruit

I used about 1/2 pt total fruit, maybe a bit more
I used blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, red gooseberries, rose currants and sweet cherry halves.
I think strawberry, peach, apricot and plum slices would be equally as delicious. Mix and match what you have or can find.
Wash your fruit and pat dry.

For the crust

• 2 cups of crushed cookie/biscuit/biscotti , your choice. I used a Nibby Buckwheat cookie I had on hand
• 1/4c (50g) melted unsalted butter
• 2 T demerara sugar or coarse brown sugar or some sort of unrefined sugar

Mix all together in a bowl and press the mixture into  8 greased and  lightly floured, removable bottom tartlet pans
Make sure your base is completely covered and slightly up the sides of the pans. Better to have the bottom covered with crumbs than up the sides for ease of removing from the pan later.
Chill till firm before adding any of the other layers.

For the filling

Caramel layer
I had about 1 1/2 c (150g) caramel I had made previously. It was cold so easier to work with.

If you need a recipe to go by this one works well and will yield enough for all of these tarts.

• 1/2 c water
• 1 1/2c (100g) sugar
• 1 c cream, heavy

Place you sugar and water in a heavy bottomed, tall sided pan and stir, just to start the sugar to dissolve. Place on low heat and stir occasionally till it dissolves.
Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring and raise your heat to medium high. It will start to color and you may need to swirl the pan gently to distribute the color.
If needed you can wash the sides down with a pastry brush and just enough water to dissolve any crystals that might develop as you cook it. Go light on the water.
Cook until desired golden brown and remove from heat.
Add in your heavy cream all at once being careful as it will boil up. Hence the need for tall sided pan.
Cool until thickened and not too runny or too thick to spread. You can restir if necessary.

Mascarpone layer

1-8 or 12 oz (250g) carton of mascarpone cream  I'm not sure what sizes it comes in in the states
2 T unrefined sugar. blond cane sugar or regular
2 T amaretto or liqueur of your choice and to taste
2 T heavy cream

Turn the cream into a roomy mixing bowl and whisk it a bit.
Add the sugar, whisk
Add  some the cream and Amaretto to get a spreadable consistency, but not too thin that it won't hold the fruit in place when spread on the tartlets. Adjust amounts of cream and amaretto to reach the right consistency. I use a hand whisk so I am careful not to over whisk it and get a runny mess. I find that sometimes different brands and quality of mascarpone will give different results. Some brands get quite watery quickly, so keep that in mind when you are whisking away.

To assemble

Remove your chilled tartlet, spread a layer of the caramel over all of the bottoms and chill again. I find a quick trip to the freezer for about 10 minutes is optimum for my technique.
Once the  caramel is set in place then remove from freezer and evenly distribute the cream amongst the tartlets and smooth out evenly.
Place your fruit on top slightly pressing the fruit into the cream.
I then chill the tarts for at least an hour before serving, although they will hold longer in the refrigerator.
As long as you are using uncut fruit it wouldn't be necessary to glaze your fruit. If however you are using cut fruit like strawberries and soft stone fruits, then you might thin some apricot or currant jam (ha ha have fun easily finding that in the US) with a table spoon or two of brandy , slightly heating it up and brush the cut fruit with the thinned jam mixture to keep the fruit from turning brown. Chill before serving.

Remove the tartlets from their pans and serve with a light sparkling moscato or fruit juice spritzer for a summer time treat.

Rustic Cherry Tart-Torta Rustica con Ciliegia

I adore sour cherries, don't you?   These are called griote. I also use amarene  too, or pie cherries as we call them in the states. They have such a great tartness to them that I just can't stop eating them long enough to make them into to all sorts of cherry delights. I can never seem to get enough of them as their season is so brief and they are so very fragile.  I find I don't stray too far from my favorite way preparing and eating these glistening red orbs. When I want cherry pie or tart, I love this homey variety of pastry wrapped around these fruit lovelies, I turn to my tried and true, free form, cherry filled tart sometimes called a gallete. When I discover that these varieties of cherries have finally arrived in the market I can't seem to stop making this particular tart over and over.  I do like them stuck in or over  fresh vanilla gelato or baked in a custard type dessert or a dark chocolate gooey cake, but for me the flavors sing when shown off to their best advantage in a flaky pastry. I have had a couple of requests for this recipe so I am sharing it with you so you can enjoy it before the season is past. I tuck a few of these luscious red drops into a freezer container for a longed for treat later on when the fruits are on the wane and I can pop a few of these into a crust and away we go, early summer revisited. I find the rough shape, plump and pleasing to the eye and easy to make with a small amount of effort.
 Don't let cherry season pass you by. I seemed to always be making this for my favorite American holiday, 4th of July. Then I knew it was really summer. Hope you enjoy it to

Rustic Sour Cherry Tart
 8-10 servings
Oven preheated to 200*C or 400 *F after the chilling of the dough

Dough:
200g (7.5 oz or generous 1 1/2 c) all purpose flour, measured onto a clean dry, work surface
generous pinch salt, added to the flour
150g (10T) butter, unsalted, cold, cut up into small pieces, keep cold
6 T cold or ice water, it might be a little less, you need to judge by adding a little at a time
2T coarse sugar, I like brown demerara, but anything will work


Filling:
1 kg (generous 2 lbs) sour cherries, pitted** I use mine whole.
50g or so (1/4 c) sugar, I like to use a coarse grain brown sugar or unrefined white sugar
Grated orange or lemon peel from 1/2 fruit
Squeeze of the citrus juice or  1 T amaretto or small amount of almond extract


Method:
The method for making this pastry is called friasage in French and is done to make the dough a bit sturdier to keep the fruit juice from leaking out and for the dough to hold its shape. You don't lose the flakiness of the dough, if you work quickly and don't handle it too much.

This can be made in a food processor, quickly cutting the butter in by pulsing the processor before adding the water.
Since I don't have one, I just use the old fashion method.
You can use a pastry cutter ( or a large fork if you have one) and gingerly cut the small butter pieces into the flour and salt mix.
Or you can cut your butter very small, working quickly to keep the butter cold.
Add to the flour and  lightly mix  the butter pieces and flour. Quickly rub the larger butter pieces between your thumb and finger into the flour till you have a crumbly mix that is somewhat consistently pea sized.
Drizzle about half of your cold water  around the flour mix and quickly gather the pieces into a mass resemble a rough dough.  If you find it is just too dry to bring it together sprinkle the rest of the water in the areas that are dry and work quickly to bring the dough into a shaggy rectangular mass.
With a bench scraper or the heel of your hands smear the butter and flour across the surface of the table int a rectangular shape. Then gather the dough together with your hands or scraper from the sides toward the center and repeat a couple of times till the dough holds together and takes shape. Work quickly and lightly, handling as little as possible for best results. Place your flatten dough disc in a bag or covered bowl and refrigerate for an hour.

Mix all of your filling ingredients and set as your dough is relaxing in the refrigerator.

Remove the dough from the fridge and place on your dry lightly floured work surface.
Roll out your dough into a disk about 3 coins high not worrying about the rough edges of the dough. That gives you a nice rustic look to your tart. Just try to keep it in a fairly round shape as you roll out. I roll and turn the dough about a quarter of a turn in a circular fashion for keeping it even. I always roll my dough in all directions for strengthening the dough but without adding toughness.
Roll disc out to about 30cm or 12" taking care to either roll out on a sheet of oven paper or  cling film, and loosen and lightly flour a few times to keep it from sticking to your rolling surface.
Place the dough disc on a flat baking tray that has been lined with oven paper or a silicone sheet.
 Pour your fruit into the middle of the dough leave a couple of inches free from fruit.

Lift your dough towards the center of the tart and continue around the tart making several overlapping folds till all of the fruit is corralled in the middle of the tart and there is a nice amount of the fruit exposed. Give each of the fold a firm pinch with out squishing the dough together, but making sure the tart dough will hold the cooking fruit in place without all the delectable juice leaking out.
Lightly wash the top of the tart dough with water or milk and generously sprinkle with 2 generous tablespoons of coarse or regular sugar.
Sometimes I stick the tart in the refrigerator for  15 minutes or so if it seems that the dough has softened too much and might benefit from a bit of chilling to help it keep its shape, but not entirely necessary.

Bake in a hot oven ( 200*C or 400 *F) about 50 minutes or so until the fruit is bubbling and the crust golden. If you give it 5 minutes to cool and then remove it to a wire rack, the crust will retain its crispy nature. Best served warm after cooling for at least 30 minutes  and cut into 6-10 wedges, or room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

I can vouch it is excellent for breakfast the next morning whether you warm it up again in the oven or not.

**Cooks notes: this tarts works well with a variety of fruits or combinations, adjusting the sugar to suit your taste. I like cherries combined with peaches, plums, apricots or nectarines as well.  I made it with a cherry pear combo that was very tasty too. I think I see a strawberry rhubarb tart in the near future as my rhubarb is finally ready a;though raspberries might have to step in for the strawberries that are just about gone. Any of these fruits alone or combined make a wonderful fruit tart.  You may want to cut back on the sugar if your fruit is very sweet. Of course, if you use sweet cherries, you may cut back on the sugar also.
The rolling of your dough, as well as the smearing and gathering of this dough, is about finesse and not brute strength. It comes with time and practice. A good excuse to make this tart a few times, like I have been doing over the past few weeks.
This can be made into individual mini tarts as well. A bit fiddly, but worth the effort. I usually make about 6 of them and 8 if I'm feeling patient. The smaller they are, the more difficult to work with. 

Fruit Mascarpone Custard for la Festa Italiana

Nothing says comfort more than a custard type dessert.
It seems that every culture has their version or several versions of comforting custards.
Italy is no exception and here in the north we make a few varieties that always seem to go down well. I found this version on a local website and made a few adjustments to suit my taste.
Pears and apples are a natural choice this time of year as the fruit are a little tired from sitting all winter and show their better side when cooked with tenderizing and flavor inducing eggs and mascarpone. Add some crunchy amaretti cookies for texture and flavor, enhanced with a touch of orange or amaretto liqueur or orange peel to make the flavors stand out. Bake in a water bath or low temp oven to not over do it and you have a versatile warm perfect ending to a meal or a great room temperature buffet item for your Easter brunch buffet. Either way, I'm sure you'll see that it disappears in a flash. I'm sending this recipe over to Maryann of "Finding La Dolce Vita" and Marie of "Proud Italian Cook" for their Festa Italiana taking place tomorrow. The round up with be shortly thereafter, but if you haven't already discovered both of their sites, enjoy all of the wonderful, droolworthy recipes they have on offer. You won't believe what you've been missing out on! I always find my way back there over and over again.

Fruit Mascarpone Custard (GATò DE LA MIANDO)
Recipe typical of lower Chisone valley

Ingredients:
3 apples
3 pears
1/4 c dry white wine

2 Tb sugar
1Tb soft butter

2 Tb sugar
250 g mascarpone cheese
2 eggs
2 Tb orange or amaretto liqueur or 1 Tb grated orange rind
100 g amaretti cookies
pignoli /pine nuts

Peel, quarter, core and slice thin into short pieces the apples and pears.
Toss together with the white wine. Set aside.
Grease a 10"x 8"" rectangular custard or flan type baking pan with the 2 Tb butter.
Sprinkle 2 Tb of the sugar over the greased pan and move around to cover.
Whisk 2 Tb of sugar over the mascarpone cheese in a small mixing bowl.
Add eggs and liqueur and whisk till smooth.
Crush the amaretti cookies either by a rolling pin or pan in a plastic bag
or pulse in a food processor taking care not to completely pulverize.
Add to the fruit and mix in with the egg /mascarpone mix.
Pour into prepared pan.
Sprinkle a few pine nuts on top.
Works well in individual portion ramekins or cups also.
(you might cook the individual ramekins in a water bath if you don't want to worry about over cooking the eggs)
Bake in a medium hot oven 325*, till set, about 30-40 minutes, depending on your oven.
Serve warm or room temperature.

It's a great dessert or makes a nice addition to a brunch buffet.

Buona Pasqua and Pasquetta to you all!