In general. ย In life. ย If you ask me to be somewhere… I’m either 10 minutes early or 15 minutes late. ย If I’m 10 minutes early, I surely have arrived having forgotten both lip gloss and deodorant. ย If I’m 15 minutes late, at least I smell fresh while I apologize for disrespecting your time. ย I can’t seem to figure out how to be on time. ย It’s a terrible quality. I know… ugh. ย I have no excuse. ย I know.
With this tart… praise God… for once in my life I was right on time. ย This darling is the perfect marriage of fresh figs and summer apricots. ย It’s a mash of the current season. ย It feels indulgent and expensive. Aaaannndd it’s dang timely! It makes me feel like the wonderfully flawed and tardy adult that I really am.
I like to start where everything should start… with a crust.
This particular crust is a cornmeal crust. ย There’s just a hint of bite from yellow cornmeal. ย It’s alluring.
The egg yolk is a stable binder for the crust. ย All systems go!
Cold butter is quickly broken down into the dry ingredients and the egg yolk is whisked with a bit of cold water.
The two are married in a lovely ceremony involving a fork and a little elbow grease.
And eventually a disk is formed: ย soft, pliable, lovely.
Dough is wrapped in plastic wrap and allowed to rest in the fridge. ย This allows the moisture to distribute throughout the dough.
You might take this hour resting period to go out for ice cream. ย I did…
Apricots and figs are artfully sliced.
This crust is somewhere in between a roll out crust and a press in dough.
I used a removable bottom tart pan. ย It feels like a fancy thing to have in the kitchen… but I promise it’s a useful and worthy investment.
The dough is rolled to about 9 to 11-inches, placed in the tart pan, then pressed to shape within the pan.
Do you have baking beans? ย These are the dried beans used to weigh down the tart crust as it bakes without a filling. ย I think they sell a thing called ‘pie weights’ too… they’re essentially expensive, inedible beans.
This tart’s filling is a simple, no-bake situation. ย We’ve already put enough love and energy into the crust.
Stir together mascarpone and sour cream. ย Add sweetener and vanilla extract and we’re in big business!
Baked but cool shell meets sweet, cool filling.
And fruits!
Here’s the part where you can tell that I’m not a trained pastry chef… I don’t line up my fig slices perfectly. ย I give them the more rustic (aka piled in there) look.
This tart is best served slightly chilled, and preferably with a stunning glass of white wine. ย Stunning glass of white wine? ย Who wrote that?
The crust is a simple but earnest base. ย The filling has just a hint of tang and honey sweetness. ย The fruit… well it feels expensive and fancy. ย More indulgent that criminal. ย This recipe is fromย One Girl Cookie Cookbook. ย Inspired!
Fresh Fig, Apricot & Mascarpone Tart
adapted just slight from One Girl Cookie Cookbook
makes 1 9-inch tart
For the Crust:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornmeal
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
3 tablespoons ice water
1 large egg yolk
For the Filling:
1 cup mascarpone cheese
3/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup honey (use up toย 1/2 cup honey if you’d like it sweeter)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 fresh apricots, sliced
8 to 12 fresh figs, sliced
extra honey for drizzling (optional)
To make the crust in a medium bowl combine flour, cornmeal, granulated sugar, and salt. ย Add the cold butter cubes and, using your fingers, quickly break the butter up in the dry ingredients. ย Some of the butter pieces will be broken down to the size of small peas, other the size of oat flakes. ย Work quickly as to not warm the butter too much with your hands. ย Allow to rest in the fridge for just a few moments.
In a small bowl whisk together water and egg yolk.
Remove the butter and flour mixture from the fridge and add the wet ingredients all at once to the dry ingredients. ย Use a fork to bring the two together. ย It may at first feel like there’s not enough liquid for the dry ingredients. ย Keep working it together with a fork. ย Eventually it will come together. ย Sprinkle lightly with flour, form into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate dough for 1 hour. ย This will allow the moisture to distribute. ย Crust can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours.
When ready to roll out, unwrap the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. ย Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to an 11-inch circle. ย If the dough starts to break up or tear as you’re rolling it, don’t panic. ย Simple place the dough into the tart pan and use your fingers to press it along the bottom, sides and edges. ย If your rolling was successful, carefully place the dough in the tart pan and press it against the sides and edges so no gaps are present. ย Cut any excess dough flush with the tart pan. ย Refrigerate dough for 20 minutes while the oven preheats.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Remove the tart pan from the refrigerator. ย Line the unbaked crust with a sheet of foil or parchment paper covering all sides. ย Fill the pan with dried beans or pie weights. ย Bake for 15 minutes. ย Rotate the pan and bake for another 15 minutes. ย Remove the foil and beans from the pan and bake for another 6 minutes, or until the bottom crust looks dry and the shell is a very pale golden color. ย Remove the pie from the oven and let the shell cool completely.
To make the filling in a medium bowl combine mascarpone and sour cream. ย Beat together with a wooden spoon. ย Add honey and vanilla extract and stir to combine. ย Mixture will be smooth and glossy.
When the crust is completely cool, spread the filling evenly across the bottom of the tart. ย Arrange sliced figs and apricots in a circular pattern on top of the filling. ย Drizzle with honey just before serving, if you’d like. ย This tart will keep, well wrapped in the refrigerator, for up to two days. ย It’s most lovely served the day it’s made. ย
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