Ladurée's Mascarpone Strawberry Tart - Tarte aux fraises et mascarpone

A great twist on the classic strawberry tart – the addition of mascarpone gives it a little tangy taste. Perfect for a simple summer dessert. For this recipe, I used gariguettes, typical small French strawberries – very tasty, but if you want a more spectacular result, you can use bigger fruits. A little useful tip : if you want to be sure that the crust does not become soggy because of the mascarpone cream, just melt two or three tablespoons of white chocolate and spread with a pastry brush onto the baked crust.

Serves 8

Difficulty : **

For the shortcrust pastry : Preparation time : 25 mn + at least 3 hours in the fridge, preferably 12h

For the tart : Preparation time : 35 mn + 30 mn in the freezer- Cooking time : 20 mn

Baking equipment needed:

- one 24 cm/ 9 in tart ring or tart tin

Ingredients :

For the sweet almond shortcrust pastry (pâte sucrée aux amandes) (See note at the bottom of the page for the proportions)

- 120 gr butter, softened

- 80 gr icing sugar

- 1 teaspoon vanilla powder or 1 vanilla pod

- 25 gr ground almonds

- 1 pinch of salt

- 1 egg

- 200 gr all-purpose flour (T55)

For the mascarpone cream

- 2 gelatine sheets

- 60 gr double (heavy) cream

- 125 gr caster sugar

- 500 gr mascarpone

- about 400 gr strawberries

Prepare the shortcrust pastry (preferably the day before)

- Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F.

- Put the softened butter into a mixing bowl. Sift in the icing sugar, ground almonds. Add the vanilla seeds or powder and the salt. Mix with a spatula until just creamy.

- Mix in the egg.

- Sift in the flour and mix until just combined- don’t overmix it. (Picture 1)

- Leave the crust in the fridge for about one hour so that it becomes firmer – it will be easier to manipulate.

- Roll out the pastry and line the tart ring or tin ( don’t forget to butter the ring/tin). (Picture 2)

- Leave to cool in the fridge for a few hours, preferably 12 hours.

- Prick the base with a fork to prevent air bubbles to form. Place some baking parchment over the pastry and put some pie weights or dried beans on top. (Picture 3)

- Bake for around 15 to 20 mn, until the crust is golden. (Picture 4)

Prepare the mascarpone cream

- Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water for about 10 minutes. (It might be useful to read the instructions of the package, as instructions may vary.) Squeeze the gelatine gently to drain excess water.

- In a saucepan, bring the cream and sugar to a boil then take off the heat. Immediately add the gelatine and whisk vigorously.(Picture 5) Leave to cool down.