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Strawberry and honey mascarpone tart

Rachel Allen
A delectably rich and creamy strawberry and orange tart with a sweet honey glaze, from Rachel Allen

Strawberry and honey mascarpone tart

Method

1. Place the flour, butter, sugar and the orange rind in a food processor. Blend for a few seconds, then add half the beaten egg, and continue whizzing. You might need to add a little more egg, but don't add too much -- it should just come together.

2. With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough till it is about 3cm thick. Wrap or cover it, and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes (it will keep well for a couple of days).

3. Preheat your oven to 180°C/gas 4.

4. To roll, take the pastry out of the fridge and place between 2 sheets of cling film. Using a rolling pin, roll it out until no thicker than 1/4 cm thick, and preferably even thinner. Make sure to keep it round, if the tin is round, and large enough to line the base and sides of the tin.

5. Removing just the top layer of cling film, place the pastry upside down (cling-film side facing up) into a 28cm loose-bottomed tart tin. Press the pastry into the edges, cling film still attached, and, using your thumb, 'cut' the pastry on the edge of the tin. At this stage, it should look quite neat. Remove the cling film and pop the pastry in the freezer for at least 10 minutes (it would keep for weeks like this in the freezer).

6. Bake blind by lining the pastry with greaseproof/parchment paper when cold. Fill with baking beans, or dried pulses (you can use these over and over), and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the pastry feels dry to the touch.

7. Remove the paper and beans, brush with a little left-over beaten egg and return to the oven for 2 minutes. Take out of the oven, and set pastry aside in the tin while you prepare the filling. (This can easily be made a day in advance, and covered until you need it.)

8. Whisk the cream with the mascarpone and 2 tablespoons honey in a bowl, until it is the consistency of whipped cream.

9. Fold in the orange juice or orange-flavoured liqueur.

10. Take the pastry case out of the tin and place on a big serving plate. Spread the mascarpone mixture on the base of the cooled pastry case and arrange the strawberries on top.

11. Warm the remaining 2 tablespoons honey and brush over the top to glaze.

Variations: Replace the strawberries with raspberries, blueberries or even a mixture of the three.
If using raspberries or blueberries don't slice them.
For more about sweet pastry - see Rachel Allen's sweet pastry recipe.