Honey & Muscovado Tartlets with Vanilla Mascarpone Cream

Smooth honey custard baked in a crisp sweet pastry, topped with a vanilla mascarpone cream. What’s not to love! We use our pure Isle of Purbeck honey for this recipe. It has such a rich golden colour and has wonderful caramelly notes which complement the muscovado sugar so well. The result is just delicious.

Makes 6 - You will need 6 individual tart cases

Ingredients:
150g Butter
90g Icing Sugar
250g Plain Flour
30g Ground Almonds
2g Salt
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 Medium Egg

80g Isle of Purbeck Honey
2 eggs
300g Double Cream
45g Muscovado Sugar
½ tsp. Salt

200g Mascarpone
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
75g Icing Sugar
125g Double Cream
1 tsp. Sea Salt Flakes

Method:

1. Firstly, the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar in a free standing mixer. Mix until pale and fluffy. Add the eggs and continue to mix until completely combined.
2. Add the salt, vanilla, almonds and flour to the mixture. Mix until just combined.
3. Turn out onto a clean surface and knead lightly until a dough is formed. Make sure not to over mix otherwise the pastry will become tough and dry.
4.  Chill in the fridge for at least 30minutes to an hour until firm.
5.  Roll out the chilled pastry to a thickness of 2-3mm. Make sure to lightly flour the surface and rolling pin.
6. Lift up the dough and place on top of each of the tart cases, using your fingers to gently ease the pastry into the case pressing into the corners and edges.
7. Using a knife, trim off the excess pastry. Chill in the fridge for 30 mins.
8. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius (fan). Line the tarts with baking paper or cling film and fill with uncooked rice or baking beans, then place in the oven for 15 minutes. Then remove the rice and clingfilm and cook for another 5 minutes. It should be golden brown all over the pastry.
9. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
10. Preheat the oven to 120 degrees celsius (fan). Now for the filling. In a small pan, heat up the cream and muscovado sugar until steaming. Whilst the cream is cooking, Whisk together the eggs and honey. Add the salt to the mixture.
11. Once the cream is hot, add ⅓ of the cream into the egg mixture, whisking to incorporate. Then slowly add the remaining cream, making sure it is all mixed together.
12. Carefully pour the mixture into the tart cases filling to the top. Place into the preheated oven for 30-45 minutes until they have set, but still have a slight jiggle.
13. Remove from the oven, and leave to cool completely.
14. To make the cream, whisk together the mascarpone, vanilla and icing sugar until smooth and well combined. In a separate bowl, whisk the cream until thick and peaks start to form. Fold the mascarpone mixture into the cream in two inclusions.
15. To serve, add a dollop of the mascarpone cream with the tarts. Sprinkle with sea salt and lightly drizzle with honey!