Healthier Mascarpone Ricotta Fruit Tartlets

by Sunny Blevins

9 Tartlets

1 hr 20 min

There’s a korean cafe near my house and I’m obsessed with their fruit tarts. Instead of pastry cream, they’re filled with a cheesecake mixture and topped with glistening fruits. Yum!

I have some leftover mascarpone and ricotta cheese at home and thought I’d try to make some tarts that inspired by the ones in the cafe.

Instead of butter, I have opted to use a light olive oil spread to try and decrease the amount of saturated fats. The problem is it is softer than butter even when cold so it makes the dough harder to handle because it’s stickier. I find chilling it for a few hours beforehand and lightly flouring your hands and counter helps. Be careful not to add too much flour though or your pastry will be tough.

To avoid handling it too much, I initially used a potato masher and a spoon to mix the spread with the flour. You can use a pastry cutter or better yet, a food processor if you have them instead (I don’t own either)

After transferring the dough into the tartlet tins, I find it helpful to freeze the dough in the tin for half an hour before baking. Depends on how shallow your tins are, you may want to use baking paper and pie weights when blind baking it. My tins are quite shallow so I didn’t find that I need it.

I do hope you try it! if you do please tag me @dessertsforlunch on instagram :)

healthier mascarpone ricotta fruit tartlets

Healthier Mascarpone Ricotta Fruit Tartlets

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Recipe details

Yield 9 Tartlets
Time spent: Prep time: 30 Minutes Cook time: 50 Minutes Total time: 1 hr 20 min

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% Daily value

Ingredients

Shortcrust pastry

150 g plain flour
30 g Icing sugar
1/2 tsp salt
100 g light olive oil spread
1 egg

Lemon curd

100 g Mascarpone cheese
250 g Ricotta cheese - drained
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp lemon juice
50 - 60 g monk fruit sweetener or icing sugar
1 tbsp honey (optional)
1 tsp salt

Extra

Fresh fruits like berries to put on top
Apricot jam
Compound white chocolate (no cocoa butter)

Instructions

Sift in flour, icing sugar and salt into a large bowl. Add olive oil spread.
Use a pastry cutter to mix the spread with the flour mixture evenly so it looks like bread crumbs. If, like me, you don’t have a pastry cutter, you can use a potato masher or a food processor.
Add egg and mix thoroughly until it forms a dough. Use your hands to bring it all together but be careful not to work or knead it too much, just until the dough comes together. If it is too dry, add cold water a tea spoon at a time as needed. Don’t add too much.
Turn dough over to some cling wrap. Wrap and chill for 2 hours or overnight.
On a lightly floured surface divide dough into 9 pieces. Dough will be soft and sticky because we are using olive oil spread, flour your hands and counter to make it easier to handle, if you’re finding it’s getting too soft, return to the fridge to chill. Using butter instead of spread will make for an easier dough.
Transfer the dough pieces onto greased tartlet tins and push to shape the dough up the sides as well. Dock and freeze the dough pieces in their tins for half an hour until very firm.
Pre heat oven to 200 degree C.
Bake for around 30 minutes or until dry to touch and slightly browned. I used shallow tartlet tins so I didn’t need pie weights, but if your tins are deeper, line the tartlet tins with baking paper, add pie weights or beans and bake for around 15 minutes, then take out the weights and bake for another 15-20 minutes until dry and lightly browned. Cool completely.
When tartlets are cool, melt the compound white chocolate either in the microwave in 15 second bursts or over a double boiler. Using compound chocolate eliminates the need to temper the chocolate.
Brush a thin layer of white chocolate on the surface of the tartlets to prevent soggy pastry. Set aside.
Let’s make the curd. Combine the egg yolks, salt, lemon juice and sweetener or sugar in a large heat proof bowl and set over a double boiler over low-medium heat. Whisk to combine.
Add butter gradually. Keep whisking.
Keep whisking until the curd is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon and if you use a skewer to mark a trail down the coating, it holds its shape.
Divide the curd and pipe it to the bottom of each tartlets.
Combined the mascarpone and ricotta cheeses into a large bowl
Add vanilla extract, sweetener or icing sugar, honey, lemon juice and salt.
With an electric mixer, beat until fluffy.
Pipe the cheese cream onto the tartlets.
Top with fresh fruits glazed with apricot jam and icing sugar (optional)

Tips

Instead of butter, I have opted to use a light olive oil spread to try and decrease the amount of saturated fats. The problem is it is softer than butter even when cold so it makes the dough harder to handle because it’s stickier. I find chilling it for a few hours beforehand and lightly flouring your hands and counter helps. Be careful not to add too much flour though or your pastry will be tough.
To avoid handling it too much, I initially used a potato masher and a spoon to mix the spread with the flour. You can use a pastry cutter or better yet, a food processor if you have them instead (I don’t own either)
After transferring the dough into the tartlet tins, I find it helpful to freeze the dough in the tin for half an hour before baking. Depends on how shallow your tins are, you may want to use baking paper and pie weights when blind baking it. My tins are quite shallow so I didn’t find that I need it.

Comments

Kathleen on Apr 02, 2024

A general size of the tartans or even a human hand in the photo to help gauge size would be so helpful

Like Reply

Healthier Mascarpone Ricotta Fruit Tartlets

Healthier Mascarpone Ricotta Fruit Tartlets

Recipe details

Ingredients

Shortcrust pastry

Lemon curd

Extra

Instructions

Tips

Comments

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Healthier Mascarpone Ricotta Fruit Tartlets

Healthier Mascarpone Ricotta Fruit Tartlets

Recipe details

Ingredients

Shortcrust pastry

Lemon curd

Extra

Instructions

Tips

Popular Recipe Book

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