Easy lemon mascarpone tart

SERVES 6-8

Even fathers without a sweet tooth will enjoy this dessert – it is simple and not overly sweet. With homemade pastry, this tart is easy to make and because it’s thin, takes no time at all to cook.

PASTRY CASE

¾ cup plain flour

¼ cup icing sugar

Pinch of salt

6 tbsp chilled butter, grated

FILLING

Peel of 1 lemon

½ cup sugar

250ml cream

225g cream cheese

¼ cup lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 egg yolks, whisked lightly

1 Preheat oven to 180oC. Place a tray in the upper third of the oven to preheat. Grease the bottom and sides of a 24cm loose-bottom tart tin.

2 To make the pastry case, place the flour, sugar and salt into a food processor. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture begins to clump. Roll out the pastry to line your tin, leaving any excess pastry to hang over the sides. Prick the base all over with a fork. Chill for 15 minutes in the freezer.

3 Place on the preheated tray and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry edges are golden and the bottom begins to colour. Remove and reduce the oven temperature to 160oC.

4 To make the filling, process the lemon peel and sugar until the lemon is finely chopped. Combine the lemon sugar with the cream in a small saucepan, heating until the cream is trembling, but not boiling. Remove from the heat. Blend the cream cheese, lemon juice and vanilla in a food processor until smooth. Add one egg yolk and process. Scrape down the sides, add in the remaining egg yolks and process until blended. Gradually transfer the mixture to a bowl, pouring through a sieve and whisking gently as you go.

5 Place the tart tin on the middle oven rack and pour in the filling, right to the top, then slide carefully into the middle of the oven. Bake until the filling is lightly puffed and its centre wobbles slightly when shaken − about 25 minutes.

6 Cool the tart to warm, then ease the pastry sides away from the tin while it is still warm (cold pastry can stick). Leave in the tin to chill.

7 When ready to serve, remove the sides of the tin by setting your tart on an upturned bowl and letting the sides fall away.