How to end the year on BakingWithMarianne? I asked myself this question in the last few days more than once.
Shall I post a gugelhupf recipe? Because the gugelhupf pan is one of my favorite cake pans and I shared quite a few recipes this year. But maybe a gugelhupf is not an appropriate New Year’s Eve cake? Then I thought "I need a more glamorous cake for my blog". Perhaps a chocolate tartlet for the blog? It is a bit more glamorous than a gugelhupf but I wasn’t entirely convinced by this idea, too. Then all at once I knew it: A Raspberry Mascarpone Tartlet!

I have never made so many different kinds of tartlets with fancy creams as I did this year. I spent hours and hours in the kitchen and I loved every single moment making tartlets. I made several times tartlets with a mascarpone cream and raspberries. It turned out to be a big hit. Making these tartlets are not too complicated but they look very fancy - you can impress your family and friends – and are scrumptious.
Making tartlets takes longer than making, for instance, a gugelhupf but you can plan ahead the tartlet preparation. You can make the tartlet shells a day or two days in advance (just keep the baked tartlets in an air-tight container), the mascarpone cream can be prepared a day ahead, the raspberry sauce can be made ahead of time as well. Assembling the tartlets is a stress-free activity and the most rewarding step of making the tartlets. It is a moment full of happiness. Thank you for being my reader. I wish you a wonderful 2014! See you next year.



Makes 10 to 12 tartlets (ø 7-8 cm)

Shortcrust

  • 100 g granulated sugar
  • 100 g unsalted butter
  • ½ egg yolk
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 250 g pastry flour
  • 1 pinch of baking powder
  • 25 ml whole milk
  • Dry beans or nuts for blind baking
  • Mix butter and sugar until well combined. Add egg yolk and salt. Then add flour, baking powder and milk to the dough. Knead the dough quickly. If the dough is too dry add more milk.
  • Wrap the shortcrust in clingwrap and let the dough rest for at least one hour in the fridge.
  • Butter and flour tartlet moulds.
  • On a well-floured surface or on parchment paper (I prefer using parchment paper) roll out the dough until 3 to 5 mm thick, depends on how you like your shortcrust. Cut out circles; the circles should be a little bit bigger than your tartlet moulds. Gently press the circle into the mould. Trim away any excess dough with a sharp knife. Prick the bottom of each tartlet with a folk.
  • Freeze the tartlets for 30 minutes. Maybe this sounds crazy to you but this is an amazing trick that I learned along the way. It prevents shrinking while baking. Ever since I use this method my tartlets turn out perfectly.
  • Preheat the oven to 160°C.
  • Line each tartlet with a piece of parchment paper and place dry beans or nuts on top of the parchment paper.
  • Bake tartlets for 20 to 25 minutes, until they are slightly golden in color.
  • Let the tartlets cool, remove dry beans or nuts and moulds. I always use almonds for blind baking because then I have delicious roasted almonds which are my favorite snack.

Mascarpone Cream

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 10 g corn starch
  • 25 g granulated sugar
  • 150 ml whole milk
  • 200 g mascarpone
  • Mix egg yolks with corn starch. Then add the sugar to the mixture and mix well.
  • Put the milk in a saucepan and heat the milk up. Pour the hot milk into the egg mixture and stir until all ingredients are well combined.
  • Pour mixture back into the pot. Stir mixture over medium heat. When the mixture starts to boil (you will notice that the mixture thickens) cook the mixture for two minutes and continue to stir while cooking. Remove the pan from the stove and put the mixture into a bowl. Cover the surface of the mixture with clingwrap which helps prevent skin forming. In case there are lumps in your mixture you can press the mixture through a sieve. Put the mixture aside and let it cool for one hour.
  • Stir the mixture smooth again. Add half of the mascarpone and stir until the cream is smooth, then add the rest of the mascarpone and stir again. Keep the mascarpone cream in the fridge (cover the cream with clingwrap) until you assemble the tartlets. You can also prepare the mascarpone cream a day ahead which I often do.

Raspberry Sauce

  • 200 g frozen raspberries
  • 150 g jam sugar 1:1
  • Place raspberries and jam sugar in a pot. Over medium heat cook the mixture. Stir occasionally. When the raspberry sauce starts to boil, remove from the stove. 
  • Purée the raspberries and pour the sauce through a sieve. Cover the raspberry sauce with clingwrap and let it cool. You can prepare the sauce a day ahead as well.

Assembling

  • About 400 g fresh raspberries
  • Place a teaspoon of raspberry sauce in the middle of each tartlet.
  • Fill the tartlets with mascarpone cream.
  • Decorate tartlets with fresh raspberries and garnish with the remaining raspberry sauce.
The recipe is adapted from the book "Törtchen & Tartlettes" by Matthias Ludwigs.