Fig Tart

If you havent tried figs yet, do! FAST! They are only in season from early July through middle of October. The most common one in NY to find is Black Mission. I thought that figs tasted like a prune but they dont. They taste like almost a strawberry would. Same texture but a little less tart. They are almost creamy. So good. I fell in love this summer....

So i decided before summer was over i was going to make one. Now i love hazelnuts so i decided to Google a recipe for a hazelnut tart crust and i found one and i used that with a filling i found on epicurious.com, the filling had to include marscapone cheese because ive been reading everywhere how figs go well with it. So i combine both recipes to make this tart.

Ingredients:

Crust: (godiva.com - Hazelnut Crust)

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling: (epicurious.com - Fresh Fig Tart with Rosemary Cornmeal Crust)

• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 cup mascarpone cheese (8 oz)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated fresh lemon zest
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons red-currant jelly
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 1/2 lb fresh figs

Preparations:

Crust:

Place sugar and hazelnuts in bowl of food processor and process until nuts are finely ground, about 30 seconds. Add flour and salt and pulse once or twice to blend. Scatter butter pieces over mixture and pulse 7 or 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

In a small bowl, whisk together 1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk, water and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over flour mixture and pulse 5 or 6 times until dough just comes together. Scrape dough out onto work surface and gently knead 6 to 8 times, until smooth. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or until chilled.

Position oven rack in center of oven. Heat to 375°F.

Place chilled dough on work surface and roll out to large rectangle that is about 1/8-inch thick. Drape dough over tart pan, gently pressing it into the interior of pan. Roll rolling pin over dough and remove excess dough. Press dough into pan evenly, removing excess dough, if necessary.

Line each pan with square of parchment paper and fill with dried beans or rice. Blind bake tart for 15 minutes until crust begins to turn golden brown at edges. Remove weights and parchment paper from pan and let tart shell cool while preparing the filling.

Filling:

Whisk together sour cream, mascarpone, sugar, zest, and salt in a bowl.

Heat jelly and honey in a small saucepan over moderately low heat, whisking, until jelly is melted, about 4 minutes, then cool glaze slightly.

Remove side of tart pan and spread mascarpone cream in shell.

Cut figs lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices and arrange decoratively over cream.

Brush figs with honey glaze.

This fig tart was delicious. The figs had so much sweetness and texture and the combination of mascarpone cheese and figs was amazingly good. Mascarpone cheese is heavenly on its own but with fresh fruit; its even better. My mom loved it and Bobby has yet to taste but its definitely a hit in my book.