Weekend Pottery

Puppies!

  

Bernese Mountain Dog puppies at Tickbern kennel. Bred by Jim Cooke.

Lemon and Mascarpone Tartlets

It was Charlie's birthday last week and he didn't want a cake (well, he did but he wanted it for the party later in the week). I personally believe you can't have a birthday without a cake. So I made lemon and mascarpone tartlets and served them after dinner with a raspberry-champagne sauce. Perfect sunny-day birthday treat.

Lemon and Mascarpone Tartlets (based on Simon Rimmer's recipe)

You will need:

3 small tartlet baking dishes

1 sheet of sweet shortcrust pastry

150 g  mascarpone

1 cup caster sugar

2 lemons, juice and zest

2 eggs

For the sauce
1 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup of prosecco/cava/champagne (I used prosecco)

1 cup fresh raspberries

Preheat the oven to 180C. Bake the pastry blind for about ten minutes and let it cool while you make the lemon filling.

Beat the mascarpone, caster sugar, lemon juice and zest together in a bowl until very smooth. Beat in the eggs until well combined. Pour the mixture into the tartlet dishes and bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until set. Remove from the oven and cool. Once they are cool put the tartlets in the fridge, as they are best served cold.

For the sauce, bring the sugar and champagne to the boil in a saucepan, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, then add the raspberries and set aside to cool completely. When it cools blend the raspberries with champagne in a blender until smooth, then pass through a sieve.
Serve the tartlets with the sauce on top (and a candle if they are a birthday present).

I haven't got a camera at the moment and it makes me a bit sad. I do have a pile of film to develop though and that makes me a bit happier. Just like risottos - they make me happier too.

Risotto with home-made pesto and courgettes. Yum.