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Fruit tart with cream filling an easy, cool dessert

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Recently, I needed to come up with a dessert that could be made quickly but didn’t require long baking or chilling time. After wracking my brain, I decided on a fruit tart with a cream filling.

Now that strawberries and blueberries are coming into season, it’s a perfect way to serve them.

This dessert is relatively easy and very colorful. With Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day coming up, the tart’s red, white and blue color scheme works with a patriotic theme.


Gluten-Free Fresh Fruit Tart

1 gluten-free pre-baked pie shell
1 quart strawberries, hulled and quartered
1 pint blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons Grand Marnier or Cointreau
2 cups mascarpone
2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon extract
Fresh mint

Mix the strawberries, sugar and Grand Marnier in a small bowl and let sit at room temperature for several hours, stirring occasionally.

In a stand mixer, whisk together the sugar and lemon extract. (I use lemon extract to ensure that the cream won’t curdle.) Add the mascarpone and cream and whip together.

Spread the mascarpone mixture evenly in the pie shell and top with the strawberries. Garnish with fresh mint.


Gluten-Free Pie Crust
Makes two 9-inch crusts

This recipe makes enough dough for a two-crust pie or two single-crust pies. You can wrap the extra piecrust well with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to three months for another use.

2 cups Gluten-Free Flour Blend* plus extra for the work surface
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
11 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 11 pieces
3–4 tablespoons water
1 extra-large egg, beaten
½ teaspoon of vanilla

Using a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the flour, xanthan gum, salt and sugar on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Add the butter 1 tablespoon at a time and beat until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal. Add 3 tablespoons of the water and the egg and continue to beat until the texture is silky and the dough almost pulls together in a ball. (If the dough seems too dry, add the remaining tablespoon of water.)

Cut the dough into two equal pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough out on a floured work surface to a 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate, fold the edges under, and crimp. Fill, bake, or freeze the crusts.

For a prebaked crust: Let chill in freezer for 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray and press it into the crust, spray-side down. Line the foil with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the crust for 15 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to bake until the crust is golden brown, 5 to 10 minutes. Let cool completely.

* Flour Blend
1 ¼ cups sorghum flour
1 ¼ cups white rice flour
1 cup potato starch (not flour)
1 cup sweet rice flour

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