Kiwi-Lime Mascarpone Cream Tart & TGIF!

Don't they look like artichoke flowers? Today, let me present you a light, fresh, refreshing & simple recipe. Slightly tangy, slightly sweet is my kind of treat. This KIWI & LIME MASCARPONE CREAM TART is perfect for a quick afternoon tea time snack or maybe a weekend tea session.

Mom recently bought a whole box of kiwi, and I don't easily get bored with them one bit. Let's just say my love for kiwi can be in any form. Kiwi juice, kiwi popsicle, granola with kiwi, overnight oats with kiwi, kiwi sorbet, cereals with kiwi. Seriously, I think I have an addiction to kiwi, particularly the golden kiwi! Gosh the natural sweetness and tartnesssends happy goosebumps down my spine.

To break it down, the tart shell is a basic sweet tart shell, then the filling is by whipping the mascarpone cream lightly, with vanilla bean, sugar and flavouring it with a generous amount of home-made lime curd. To finish off, I sliced ripen green or golden kiwi and arranged them into a shape like a flower. Simple and tasty!

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Kiwi-Lime Mascarpone Cream Tart

by Chic & Gorgeous Treats                                          

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* Makes 6 regular size tarts.

* Tarts are best consumed the same day.

INGREDIENTS

Lime Curd (loosely adapted from Ina Garten) 1/2 cup lime juice, approx. 4 limes, zest and juiced 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 1/2 cups sugar 1/4 pound unsalted butter at room temperature 4 large eggs at room temperature 1/8 teaspoon salt Basic Sweet Tart Shell 125g unsalted cold butter, cubed 1 cups powdered sugar, sifted 3 egg yolks 1 1/2 cups plus extra all-purpose flour, sifted 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 tablespoon ice cold water Lime-Mascarpone Cream 1 cup marscarpone cream 1 tablespoon castor sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste 1/3 cup lime curd 1/3 cup whipping cream, whipped soft peaks 1 teaspoon vegetable gelatine Fresh slice green or golden kiwi to garnish

DIRECTIONS To prepare lime curd: 1. Mix together lime juice, zest, cornstarch, salt and sugar together in a jug. Make sure cornstarch is mixed in thoroughly until there are no lumps. Lightly whisk in the eggs into the lime juice until well combine. Transfer to a medium deep saucepan. Cook on n low-medium heat, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens coating the back of the wooden spoon. This may take a couple of minutes. Take off the heat, and strain curd through a sieve into a clean bowl. Cover cling film directly over the curd, to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate curd to allow it to cool down further. To prepare basic sweet tart shell: 2.      Using a food processor, blitz flour, powdered sugar and cold butter until it resembles fine bread crumbs. Add the yolks one at a time mixing after each addition until well combined. Then add the pure vanilla extract and ice cold water. Mix for another 1-2 minutes or until the dough comes together nicely. Transfer sweet pastry dough onto a cling film wrap, shaping into a disk and chill in the fridge for an hour. 3.     Preheat oven to 180°C. Thaw dough for about 10-15 minutes at room temperature. On a dry surface, sprinkle some flour on your work table, and on the rolling pin. Roll the sweet pastry shell to about ¼ inch thick circle. Grease the tart pan with a little butter and sprinkle some flour. Line the tart pan with the dough, repeating the same process, if making individual tarts.  Then, transfer the dough back to the fridge and chill for 30 minutes. 4.     Remove tart shell from the fridge. Line it with parchment paper; fill pie shell with dried beans or pie weights. Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes, then remove the beans and liners and transfer back to the oven and bake for another 15 or until lightly golden brown in colour. To prepare lime-mascarpone cream: 5. Lightly whisk together marscarpone cheese, vanilla bean paste, sugar until slightly light and fluffy. Careful to not over whisk mascarpone cheese. In a clean bowl, whisk together whipping cream and vegetable gelatine until soft peaks. Fold in lime curd to mascarpone cream until well combined. Lastly fold in whipped cream to the lime mascarpone mixture.ENJOY! 6. Spoon a generous amount into the ready baked and cooled tart shells. Slice kiwi and arrange them in layers starting from the outer parameter working inwards towards the centre. ENJOY!

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