Mascarpone Cheesecake Tart With Nectarines Recipes

FRESH NECTARINE TARTS WITH LEMON MASCARPONE FILLING

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
• Using a knife or pastry cutter (a pizza cutter works great too!), cut the sheet of puff pastry into 4 squares equal in size and shape and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet with lots of space between them.
• Slice a smaller square inside the larger one, creating a 1.5cm border around the edge of each piece of the puff pastry dough. Be careful not to slice all the way through the dough - just about halfway through the thickness of the dough.
• Use a fork to dock the inner square of puff pastry dough (poke holes in it). This will prevent the inner square from rising up as much as the outer border will when it's baking and it will create the perfect shape for the fillings.
• Beat the egg and the 1 tbsp of water and brush the borders of the puff pastry dough very lightly with this mixture. You'll have tons of the egg wash left over...don't overdo it, or you'll end up with very egg-y edges, and nobody wants that!
• Sprinkle the borders of the puff pastry dough with the turbinado sugar and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes, or until the pastries are a light golden brown, especially around the edges.
• When you take them out of the oven, immediately push down the middle square lightly with the back of a spoon or fork. It will probably have risen up a bit during baking and it's important that it's lower than the golden, sugary border.
• Let the pastries cool to room temperature while you prepare the mascarpone filling.
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer) combine the Mascarpone cheese with the powdered sugar and the lemon zest until the mixture is smooth.
• Fold in the whipped cream or whipped topping with a rubber spatula.
• Spread the Mascarpone mixture into the tart shells once they've cooled completely. Gently top with the slices of nectarine and a drizzle of maple syrup.
• Serve immediately.

NECTARINE ROSE TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly grease a muffin pan with 12 cavities with nonstick spray.
• In a medium bowl, toss the sliced nectarines, lemon juice and almond extract if using to combine. In a medium pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the sugar and cinnamon and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Pour the syrup over the nectarines and toss gently a few times to combine. The heat of the syrup should soften the fruit slightly.
• Using flour if necessary, roll out the puff pastry sheets to a 9-by-12-inch rectangle. Cut across the 9-inch side, cutting the dough into six pieces, each 12 inches long and about 1 1/2 inches wide.
• Arrange about 10 slices of nectarine along one of the long edges of the dough. Overlap each piece of fruit as you lay them down. Gently fold the excess dough below it up to encase the base of the fruit slices.
• Starting from one of the shorter ends, gently roll up the dough and fruit into a spiral and place it, with the skins of the fruit facing up, into the prepared muffin pan.
• Bake until the crust is deeply golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes inside the pan, then use a small offset spatula to remove the tarts to a cooling rack.
• In a small pot, heat the jam over medium heat until it is soft and fluid. Use a pastry brush to generously brush the surface of each tart.

NECTARINE AND MASCARPONE TART IN GINGERSNAP CRUST

Steps:

• For crust:
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Finely grind gingersnaps in processor. Add butter and blend until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press mixture over bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Bake crust until color darkens, pressing sides with back of spoon if beginning to slide, about 8 minutes. Cool completely.
• For filling:
• Beat first 6 ingredients in medium bowl until smooth. Beat in crystallized ginger. Spread filling in prepared crust. Cover loosely and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 1 day.
• For topping:
• Overlap nectarine slices atop filling in concentric circles. Brush with jam. Sprinkle with chopped crystallized ginger. Serve, or refrigerate up to 6 hours.
• Italian cream cheese available at Italian markets and many supermarkets.