Pear, Mascarpone and Orange Tarts

(serves 12)

• 300 g chilled ready-made, ready-rolled puff pastry

• 40 g butter

• 125 g mascarpone

• 3 tbsp caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling

• Finely grated zest of 1 small orange

• 75 g ground almonds

• 1 large egg yolk

• 4 ripe but firm small pears, cored and thinly sliced (no need to peel)

• 3 – 4 tbsp smooth apricot jam

• 4 tbsp toasted flaked almonds

• 2 – 3 large baking trays, lined with baking parchment and oiled

1 Preheat the oven to 220°C.

2 Take the pastry out of the fridge.

3 Melt butter in a small pan and leave to cool slightly.

4 Put the mascarpone, sugar, orange zest, ground almonds and eggs yolk in a bowl and mix. Refrigerate until needed.

5 Halve the pastry and roll one half out on a lightly floured work surface until it is about 2 mm – any thicker than that and the pastry won’t crisp up in oven. Trim the edges with a sharp knife to make a 21 x 24 – cm piece, then cut that into six 7 x 12 – cm rectangles. Arrange the rectangles on one of the prepared baking trays.

6 Repeat with the other half of the pastry.

7 Brush the edges of each rectangle with the melted butter and sprinkle a little sugar over them. Put 2 tsp of mascarpone mixture in the centre of each rectangle. Spread the mixture out using a small knife, leaving a border of about 1 cm all the way round.

8 Top each tart with overlapping slices of pear and scatter a little more sugar over the top. Bake the tarts in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and crisp. Transfer to a wire rack.

9 Warm the apricot jam in a small pan, then use to brush over the pear slices. Sprinkle the flaked almonds over the top, then leave to cool.

My Tips:

• Slices of plum or dessert apple would also work well as a topping for these tarts.

• The pastry can be cut into pieces later and baked as a big tart.

Source: “Weekend Baking: Easy Recipes for Relaxed Family Baking” Sarah Randell (Ryland Peters & Small, 2010)