We ate this last night. All of it between three adults. The beautiful combination of strawberry and lime together with the crispy (shop-bought) pastry and the creamy mascarpone makes for a fresh, indulgent summer tart. It takes about 20 minutes of straightforward hands on effort plus an hour to chill and bake.
You don’t have to make the glaze – it’s a nice finishing touch but is not essential and the tart looks really pretty anyway!
For an even simpler recipe idea, you could just top digestive or shortbread biscuits with the lime, icing sugar and mascarpone and strawberries (make sure the mascarpone mixture is slightly thicker so it doesn’t fall off).
Strawberry and lime tart (serves 6-8 if you are sensible, or three if you are really reckless!)
300g ready to use puff pastry sheet (available from supermarkets)
1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
Zest and juice of most of a lime
1/3 jar strawberry jam
200g mascarpone cheese
1 tbsp cold water
2 tbsp icing sugar
250g strawberries, hulled and cut in half
Roll out the pastry on to a baking tray and fold over the edges to make a 1/2 inch border. Brush the border with the egg yolk (use your fingers if you don’t have a brush). Prick the centre all over with a fork to stop it puffing up too much when it bakes. Chill for 30 mins in the fridge. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees/gas mark 5. Bake the pastry for approx 35 mins or until cooked, with the edges a golden colour, pressing the centre firmly down halfway through if it rises too much. Cool.
Squeeze the lime juice and strawberry jam in to a saucepan and heat gently until starting to bubble. Set aside to cool slightly.
Beat half the lime zest with the mascarpone, 1 tbsp water and the icing sugar. Spread over the tart base up to the border. Arrange the strawberries on top. Brush or spoon the jam glaze carefully over the strawberries and grate over the remaining lime zest. Eat more than you meant to!
Based on a recipe from Sainsbury’s magazine
katielovescooking 