Photograph by Romulo Yanes for Gourmet MagazineI'm a sucker for the recipe on the front of the magazine. For my grandma's birthday this weekend, I was charged with making a dessert. There would already be cake, courtesy the local Costco, so my dessert was supposed to be creative and delicious. Feeling uninspired, I went for the tart on the front of Gourmet mag. The picture is above. I'm going to pretend that by crediting them, it's fair use.
So the tart was very easy and wonderfully decadent. The only problem was I put it out on the table with the rest of the food. So my cousin's children stole all the strawberries off and stuck their fingers in the cream before anyone got around to dessert. Naturally, no one really wanted to eat it at that point. By the time they were finished, though, all the strawberries had been eaten because strawberries covered in port = deliciousness. My brother - the only one who ventured to eat an entire piece - said the filling was a little too sweet. So I might recommend subbing a block of cream cheese for the marscapone. It would be cheaper anyway. Or you could just serve strawberries covered in port...
Unfortunately I didn't get to take a pic until after the two-year-old had his way with the tart.Eat Rating: Great. (This is a guess based on the fact that all the strawberries disappeared)
Difficulty: Medium. Requires a tart pan. Also ruby port. And, as always, I used a food processor for the crust, but you could bulk up your arms by using a manual pastry blender.
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, April 2009
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
7 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp cold water
1 1/2 lb strawberries (about 1 1/2 qt), trimmed and halved lengthwise
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup ruby Port
1 lb mascarpone - about 2 cups - or two blocks of cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
3/4 tsp vanilla
Place the flour and 3 tbsp sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter, cut into pieces, and pulse until you have a coarse meal. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolk, vanilla, lemon juice and water and mix until combine. Add to the flour mixture and pulse until a ball of dough begins to form. Roll the dough into a ball, then pat down into a disk. With your fingers, pat the dough into a tart pan until it covers the bottom and sides. Prick all over with a fork. Place the tart shell into the freezer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cover the tart with parchment paper or foil and place pie weights (or my ghetto version, a bag of black beans) to weigh it down. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven and remove pie weights/beans. Return to oven to bake for an additional 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely, about 45 minutes.
While the tart is cooling, mix the cut strawberries with the 1/3 cup of sugar and let stand for 30 minutes. While the strawberries are sitting, combine the cheese, vanilla, zest, lemon juice and powdered sugar. The cheese mixture should be thick, but spreadable consistency.
After the strawberries have sat for half an hour, move them to a separate bowl and set aside. With a rubber scraper, move the remaining juice and sugar into a saucepan. Add the port. Cook over medium heat to boil, then reduce to 1/4 cup about 15 minutes. You want it to be more like a glaze consistency, so when you remove the spoon, the liquid should cling to the spoon.
After reduced, let cool for a few minutes. Spread the cheese mixture into the well of the tart, then mound the strawberries in the middle and pour the port glaze over. It will thicken a little as it cools. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.
Difficulty: Medium. Requires a tart pan. Also ruby port. And, as always, I used a food processor for the crust, but you could bulk up your arms by using a manual pastry blender.
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, April 2009
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp sugar
7 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 large egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp cold water
1 1/2 lb strawberries (about 1 1/2 qt), trimmed and halved lengthwise
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup ruby Port
1 lb mascarpone - about 2 cups - or two blocks of cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
3/4 tsp vanilla
Place the flour and 3 tbsp sugar in the bowl of a food processor and pulse to mix. Add the butter, cut into pieces, and pulse until you have a coarse meal. In a small bowl, combine the egg yolk, vanilla, lemon juice and water and mix until combine. Add to the flour mixture and pulse until a ball of dough begins to form. Roll the dough into a ball, then pat down into a disk. With your fingers, pat the dough into a tart pan until it covers the bottom and sides. Prick all over with a fork. Place the tart shell into the freezer for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cover the tart with parchment paper or foil and place pie weights (or my ghetto version, a bag of black beans) to weigh it down. Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven and remove pie weights/beans. Return to oven to bake for an additional 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool completely, about 45 minutes.
While the tart is cooling, mix the cut strawberries with the 1/3 cup of sugar and let stand for 30 minutes. While the strawberries are sitting, combine the cheese, vanilla, zest, lemon juice and powdered sugar. The cheese mixture should be thick, but spreadable consistency.
After the strawberries have sat for half an hour, move them to a separate bowl and set aside. With a rubber scraper, move the remaining juice and sugar into a saucepan. Add the port. Cook over medium heat to boil, then reduce to 1/4 cup about 15 minutes. You want it to be more like a glaze consistency, so when you remove the spoon, the liquid should cling to the spoon.
After reduced, let cool for a few minutes. Spread the cheese mixture into the well of the tart, then mound the strawberries in the middle and pour the port glaze over. It will thicken a little as it cools. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.
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