Strawberry and marscapone tart

Strawberry marscapone tart on Flickr by beFOODled.

Strawberries, cheese and Grand Marnier. Who knew they would have such chemistry?

I made this for NU's pool party. It's a no-bake recipe with only eight ingredients. The original recipe cuts the dessert into bars, but my glaze never set, so I served it cobbler-style as shown in the photo below.

NU's kids ate the strawberry and marscapone layers, but didn't like the ginger-cookie crust. If I ever make it for them again, I'll make the crust out of biscotti instead.

Mmmm, so good. I think I've found my signature potluck dessert!

Strawberry and marscapone tart
Adapted from Food and Drink's Early Summer 2007 issue

1 package of ginger cookies
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 cup marscapone
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups strawberries
1/2 cup red currant jelly
1 Tbsp Grand Marnier

Line a 8 x 8-inch or 9 x 9-inch baking dish with parchment paper.

Blitz the ginger cookies to crumbs in food processor, or even better, put them in a bag and whack them into rubble with a rolling pin or similar blunt instrument. This is a particularly satisfying step if you've had a bad day or are royally peeved at someone.

Combine the ginger cookie crumbs with the melted butter and press them into a layer on the bottom of the baking dish. Refrigerate until firm.

Whisk together the marscapone, yogurt, sugar and vanilla. Add more marscapone and yogurt if you want this layer to be extra thick. Use a low-fat yogurt like 2 per cent so it thins out the marscapone. Spread over the crust layer.

Wash and dry the strawberries and cut into thin slices. Lay the slices over the marscapone layer in tight overlapping rows.

Heat the jelly and the liqueur in a saucepan until melted. Set aside to cool slightly.

Brush the cooled liqueur glaze over the strawberries to fill any cracks. Reserve any extra glaze in a tupperware. Cover the dessert with cellophane and refrigerate until the glaze is set and you are ready to serve.

Drizzle each serving with some of the extra glaze.


Strawberry marscapone dessert on Flickr by beFOODled.