I adore this dessert and have served it at loads of dinner parties. It can be made with a combination of summer berries like gooseberries, strawberries, mulberries and blueberries, or with just one of these. The lavender adds a delicate scent to the dish – if lavender is not available, you can use vanilla instead.
Blueberry and lavender cream tart
Ingredients
- PASTRY
- 400g puff pastry
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- LAVENDER CREAM
- juice of 2 lemons
- 30ml (2 tbsp) lavender leaves, stripped and
- slightly crushed
- 100g castor sugar
- 300ml fresh cream, lightly beaten
- 150g mascarpone
- 350g fresh blueberries
- icing sugar, for dusting (optional)
Instructions
Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to about 4mm thick and press it into a 21cm x 29cm rectangular tart tin. Trim the edges to leave about 0,5cm of pastry over the lip of the tin. Prick the pastry base all over with a fork and freeze for 5 minutes
Preheat the oven to 210ºC. Remove the pastry case from the freezer and bake blind until golden, about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
For the lavender cream, place the lemon juice, lavender leaves and sugar in a bowl, mix well and set aside for the sugar to dissolve. In a separate bowl, combine the cream and mascarpone. Strain the lemon mixture into the cream mixture and discard the lavender leaves. Whisk until the mixture is well combined and slightly thickened.
Spoon the lavender cream into the pastry case, cover with the berries, dust with icing sugar and serve.
