Maple and Mascarpone Fruit Tart ~ a crazy quick 4 ingredient puff pastry galette that you can make with plums, apples, pears, figs, or any other fruit you love. Creamy mascarpone cheese makes a luscious base for this easy fruit dessert.
this maple and mascarpone puff pastry tart is a fabulous dessert that you can throw together without a recipe (isn’t that the best kind?)
And as a bonus, you can totally make this easy galette your own with a variety of fall fruits. I used green plums from the farmers market because here in California the stone fruits are still going strong, but you could use apples, pears, or fresh figs just as easily and get really spectacular results.
impress your friends with what you can do with 4 simple ingredients in just over half and hour!
frozen puff pastry is one of the most important things you can have stashed in your freezer if you want to be able to throw together elegant desserts like this on a whim.
And guess what? Even if you’ve forgotten to take it out of the freezer, and it’s a rock solid block, all is not lost!
how to defrost frozen puff pastry
- The preferred method is to leave it in the refrigerator overnight. This way, when you go to use it, it’s thawed but still cold.
- If you’re like me and you rarely think that far in advance, you can pull it directly from the freezer, just leave it out for 35-40 minutes, just until it unfolds easily. You want it to be cold, so don’t leave it longer than that.
tips for working with frozen puff pastry
- Don’t try to unfold your puff pastry until after it has thawed. Trying to unfold too early will result in cracks.
- Lightly flour your surface and your rolling pin.
- I like to place my pastry on a piece of parchment paper that I can just slide onto a baking sheet for baking. It makes everything so easy.
- Once you’ve got your puff pastry thawed, just nudge the dough with a rolling pin into shape; you don’t need to play with it much, it’s already basically rolled out and ready.
- For this tart I just nudge the dough into a slightly longer rectangle, rolling it up and down a bit.
- Keep your dough chilled…if you aren’t baking your dough right after rolling, put it in the refrigerator to chill. It’s the cold butter hitting the hot oven that creates the ‘puff’.
I spread a thin layer of mascarpone over the puff pastry dough as a base for my fruit. It isn’t essential, you could do without it, but I think it adds a nice texture and creaminess to the tart.
what is mascarpone cheese?
Mascarpone is a fresh Italian cream cheese…if you’ve ever made tiramisu, you know how creamy and delicious it is.
Look for it in the refrigerated section of your supermarket near the cream cheese or fresh Italian cheeses like mozzarella and ricotta. It will most likely come in a small 8 ounce tub, but that’s ok, a little goes a long way with this rich cheese.
how to make your own mascarpone cheese ~ it’s easy!
Simple cheeses are easy to make at home, and I’ve got directions for making your own creamy mascarpone cheese in my Homemade Mascarpone Cheese post. It’s a simple, super satisfying process, check it out if you love a great diy recipe ๐
what you can substitute for mascarpone cheese
- cream cheese
- clotted cream
- ricotta
- creme fraiche
I keep the sliced fruit halves together when I arrange them, cut side down, on top of the mascarpone, and it works out perfectly that each half will become an individual serving of the tart.
I simply brushed the plums with maple syrup before baking…it gives them a gleam and adds a very light sweetness to the already naturally sweet fruit. The fruit spreads open ever so slightly during baking, and the mascarpone bubbles up in between. The pastry is flaky and the whole thing is magical ~ for so little effort!
how to make this fruit tart with other fall fruit
- apples: halve the apples, then remove the core, but don’t peel. Slice each half into thin slices.
- pears: halve the pears and remove the core, don’t peel. Slice the halves in thin slices and arrange the halves onto the tart.
- small prune plums: halve but don’t slice, and arrange the halves, cut side up or down.
- figs: halve or quarter the figs and arrange, cut side up, across the surface of the tart.
- Concord grapes (seedless): arrange the grapes on the surface of the tart, whole.
- am I missing anything? Persimmons? Quince? I bet it would work!
Maple and Mascarpone Fruit Tart
Equipment
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
- 4 ounces mascarpone cheese (half of an 8 ounce tub)
- 6-8 plums (I like to have extra just in case)
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (the real stuff)
garnish
- confectioners sugar
- ice cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- Place the puff pastry sheet on a sheet of parchment paper and gently roll out to a slightly longer rectangle.
- Spread the surface with mascarpone cheese, leaving an inch and a half free around the whole perimeter.
- slice the plums in half, remove pits, and then slice each half in thin slices, keeping them together. Fit the sliced halves onto the tart, see my photos for reference.
- Gently roll up the edges of the dough to meet the fruit and form a crust.
- Brush the fruit with maple syrup and bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the crust is golden, the fruit glossy, and the mascarpone is sizzling.
- Dust with powdered sugar if you like, then cut into squares and serve with ice cream.
Can I use apples or peaches?
Definitely ๐
This looks beautiful and delish! I want to bring this to a dinner on Saturday but wonder if itโs something that is best served right away? Iโd have to make it in the morning due to time constraints. Do you think it would hold up? I can re-warm it a touch at the dinner party if that would help. Thank you!
It holds up surprisingly well, so I’d say yes, that would work.
Could this be made ahead for a dinner party?
That should work, my preference is to serve it right away, but you can keep it at room temperature on the counter.
looks so good, I’m in love with all your fall recipes, i’m just pining and pining
Thank you Farida ๐
I was just given a sack of Asian pears. Canโt wait to use them in this recipe!
Perfect timing ๐
I have to start baking with puff pastry. Your tart looks wonderful. I have to make it soon. How to you think it would taste with creme fraiche ?
Puff pastry is magic! I think creme fraiche would work, it would just be milder in flavor, but you could add some vanilla or almond to the creme to boost it.
Sue this looks positively gorgeous! I love recipes like this that you can reinvent every season making all believe you’re a culinary guru.
What is an acceptable substitute for maple syrup?
You could use honey, melted jam, or agave syrup. Golden syrup would work too. You might even use a little melted butter.
Looks like another great recipe that I must try! It’s sure to be a winner. I’m wondering what the chances are that you will publish a cookbook? In the meantime, I have assembled a notebook full of your recipes. Thank you!
I’m debating the whole cookbook question Donna, and did you know you can now save recipes to your own recipe box on my site? There’s a button right above the print button, and it’s pretty convenient!
Does the fruit thoroughly cook in such a short period of time? Could peaches be used? or are they too juicy?
It does cook through, partly because it’s sliced so thinly, and partly because plums do cook quickly. Peaches would be great, as would apples and pears. I would just be sure to use ripe fruit, not rock hard.