This summer tart is composed of an almond short crust pastry filled with a berry jam, a layer of vanilla mascarpone cream topped with fresh berries.
Seeing berries at my local grocery shop makes me incredibly happy! It means that summer is not far away, that days become longer, and that people smile more. It also means that we can start baking delicious and colourful desserts like this summery tart. This berry is elevated, and your friends and family will love you (even more) for it! It has a layer of raspberry jam, a rich vanilla mascarpone cream and its topped with all the berries you can find! I hope you love it as much as I do!
The most important thing when working with this type of buttery, flaky dough is to not overwork it! Because it will:
For a full step by step, with video included guide on how to make shortbread crust, see Shortbread Crust.
If you do not feel like making the crust, you can use a store-bought version. I prefer homemade 😊.
Making raspberry jam (confiture de framboise in French) is easy. Only a few steps and you are done. You can make raspberry jam with frozen berries or fresh berries. Both work for this recipe.
If you can make the jam one night in advance, so much better. If not, there is no problem just make sure it is cold before you use it to assemble de berry tart.
Use a big pot, as the raspberry jam tends to make super big bubbles and it might spill onto your stove (not a fun job to clean this afterwards :).
Mix the raspberries and the sugar, cover in plastic wrap and let it macerate in the fridge overnight.
After maceration, cook over a medium high heat. Bring the raspberry jam to a boil and continue to cook until you have little bubbles of the same size. Because it is not a big quantity, it should not take long, maybe 10 minutes. If you do a larger batch it will take longer.
Note that once raspberry jam boils, it will make big uneven bubbles, then big ones, and finally it should calm down. That is when it is done.
If you can, using a skimmer remove the foam, these are the impurities from the sugar.
Once the raspberry jam is ready, transfer to a hermetic container and let it cool down at room temperature before chilling. Set aside until you are ready to assemble the berry tart.
If you are making a larger batch and you would want the jam to keep longer, you should transfer to glass jars using a ladle, cover with the lid, and let the cool at room temperature in an inverted position. The lid should be touching your kitchen counter.
Once it has properly cooled down you can transfer to the refrigerator. It keeps for 3 months..
If you would like to go ahead and can your jam so you can keep it at room temperature and make it last longer, you can read all about the canning method here Canning Jam, From Preparing the Jars to Testing the Seal.
Making vanilla mascarpone cream for this berry tart recipe is rather easy. We are mixing 2 different elements that should have the same texture or be close:
You are now ready to assemble the berry tart!
You can choose the berries you like the most and make for example just a strawberry tart or just a blueberry tart. They both pair divinely the mascarpone cream.
You can also make this recipe into various tartlets. It makes approximately 6 small tarts.
You can replace the raspberry jam by dulce de leche and the vanilla mascarpone cream by a simple Chantilly. Then top with the berries.
Pastry Chef & Food Photographer
My name is Belén. I am Argentinean living in Paris where I received my training in Cuisine & Pastry at Le Cordon Bleu and L'École Lenôtre. To learn a little more about me click here Belén Gowland.
