Sweet shortcrust pastry encases smooth, creamy mascarpone cream, topped with juicy roasted grapes. This Roasted Grape Mascarpone Tart combines the heady fruity sweet flavours of roasted grapes with the subtle flavour of mascarpone leaving you with a perfectly balanced tart to serve to your family and friends. Simple, easy to make, I share with you the one ingredient to transform this recipe.
This tart is a true delight and I’m so happy to share it with you. Aside from the process of making your own sweet shortcrust pastry, this tart is incredibly simple and quick to make. The roasted grapes are a revelation! They soften and burst into these mini flavour bombs of juicy, sticky goodness! Absolutely sensational.
The Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Tart Base
One of the main components of this Roasted Grape Mascarpone Tart is the base. And for this one I've used my Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Base. A couple of weeks ago I created a 'How To Guide' for this pastry showing you a step by step method with imagery to make a tart base.
This recipe will require you to make one 24cm fully baked tart base. Follow my instructions here and you’ll see how manageable it is to make your own pastry base. That being said- if you’d prefer to buy a pre-made base then go for it. I’m all for what works for your own situation.
The Mascarpone filling for my Roasted Grape Mascarpone Tart
This filling requires four simple ingredients:
- Mascarpone, at room temp
- Thick double cream
- Vanilla bean paste
- Lemon Zest
It’s such a simple filling and works with any type of roasted fruit. My tip is to ensure that the mascarpone is at room temp prior to beating. By beating the cream you’ll be adding air into the mixture which will in turn bring a lightness to it. The addition of the double cream just adds to the smooth velvety nature and also adds creaminess.
Many mascarpone fillings call for the addition of powdered icing sugar for sweetness. I’ve added vanilla bean paste (I love seeing those black little flecks of goodness), instead of icing sugar. For me this adds adds just the right touch of sweetness to the cream as when the roasted grapes are added they are a flavour bomb of natural sweetness. Plus don’t forget the grapes are roasted in honey and then drizzled in more honey at the end. For me that’s the perfect level of sweetness.
The lemon zest pairs beautifully with the grapes, honey and thyme ... use lemon thyme for that extra lemony touch!
Finally those grapes, Oh those grapes!
How did I never know just how amazing roasted grapes are??? I adore roasting fruit, whether it be strawberries, figs or peaches, when roasted they all impart the most divine, heady, intense flavours.
That goes for grapes too! What a revelation! You could just roast them in the oven and they’ll burst and go sweet and juicy. But let's add MORE flavour. My secret ingredient for this is HONEY. Drizzle your red and black grapes in the nectar of the gods, close that oven door and watch the magic happen!
As the grapes heat up, the natural sugars in each grape slowly but surely break down and caramelise breaking open the skin and forming this sticky, sweet liquid. Mixed in with the honey, this juice slowly forms a sticky, sweet syrup that's like liquid gold. That’s the ONLY way to describe it. LIQUID GOLD. Don’t waste it, spoon over your burst grapes onto your tart and jeez it’s amazing! Pure magic!
Once the grapes are softened, the skins have just burst and the syrup formed, this is when to remove them from the oven. Set the pan aside for five minutes and then place all those sticky grapes onto your chilled mascarpone tart and spoon that excess syrup over the top.
Drizzle with some extra honey and add some fresh thyme leaves and bam... you have what is essentially a simple tart to create but one that is a flavour sensation. This Roasted Grape Mascarpone Tart will blow your mind!
Plus, how beautiful are those shiny, jewel like grapes! They were a pure joy to photograph. On a photographic and stylistic level, this tart has to be one of my favourite to photograph!
For delicious tart recipes please check out the following:
Roasted Grape Mascarpone Tart
Ingredients
Roasted grapes
- 400 g Sable Grapes, red and/or black
- 45 ml runny honey
- 4 Sprigs thyme leaves
Mascarpone filling
- 500 g mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- 80 ml double cream (heavy cream)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 lemon, zest
Instructions
- Follow my instructions for one fully baked sweet shortcrust pastry base. Full instructions found here. Allow to cool completely.
- Pre-heat oven to 180°C (350°F). Place grapes on a baking tray, drizzle honey over, and toss lightly together. Scatter thyme leaves over the grapes and place in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until grape skins have just started to burst and juice from the grapes forms a sticky syrup with the honey.
- Place the mascarpone cheese, vanilla bean paste and lemon zest in the bowl of an electric stand mixer and beat on medium until light and fluffy. Add double cream and beat until just combined.
- Spoon mascarpone mixture into the tart shell and spread out evenly with an offset spatular. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Once chilled, place roasted grapes onto the mascarpone filling and spoon the syrup from the base of the baking dish over the grapes. Decorate with another drizzle of honey and thyme leaves. Slice and serve immediately.
All recipes are developed and tested in Metric grams. I strongly recommend that you bake using digital scales for a more accurate result. I have provided a conversion to US customary in the recipe but please note that I haven’t tested using this method.
Nutrition
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