Nectarines Stuffed With Lemon Cheese Recipes

FRESH NECTARINE TARTS WITH LEMON MASCARPONE FILLING

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
• Using a knife or pastry cutter (a pizza cutter works great too!), cut the sheet of puff pastry into 4 squares equal in size and shape and arrange them on the prepared baking sheet with lots of space between them.
• Slice a smaller square inside the larger one, creating a 1.5cm border around the edge of each piece of the puff pastry dough. Be careful not to slice all the way through the dough - just about halfway through the thickness of the dough.
• Use a fork to dock the inner square of puff pastry dough (poke holes in it). This will prevent the inner square from rising up as much as the outer border will when it's baking and it will create the perfect shape for the fillings.
• Beat the egg and the 1 tbsp of water and brush the borders of the puff pastry dough very lightly with this mixture. You'll have tons of the egg wash left over...don't overdo it, or you'll end up with very egg-y edges, and nobody wants that!
• Sprinkle the borders of the puff pastry dough with the turbinado sugar and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15 minutes, or until the pastries are a light golden brown, especially around the edges.
• When you take them out of the oven, immediately push down the middle square lightly with the back of a spoon or fork. It will probably have risen up a bit during baking and it's important that it's lower than the golden, sugary border.
• Let the pastries cool to room temperature while you prepare the mascarpone filling.
• Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a hand mixer) combine the Mascarpone cheese with the powdered sugar and the lemon zest until the mixture is smooth.
• Fold in the whipped cream or whipped topping with a rubber spatula.
• Spread the Mascarpone mixture into the tart shells once they've cooled completely. Gently top with the slices of nectarine and a drizzle of maple syrup.
• Serve immediately.

NECTARINE TART

Steps:

• Blend flour, salt and 2 tablespoons sugar in a bowl or food processor. Dice 8 tablespoons of the butter. Use a pastry blender or two knives to blend flour mixture and butter, or pulse them together in a food processor to make a crumbly mixture. Beat the egg yolk with 3 tablespoons cold water. Dribble it over the flour mixture, then stir or pulse slowly until the mixture starts clumping together. A bit more water may be necessary. Gather dough in a loose ball and form into a disk on a lightly floured surface.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough and line a 10-inch loose-bottom tart pan. Line pastry with a sheet of foil and spread pastry weights or dry beans on top. Bake 12 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter, cooking it on low until it turns a light nut brown. Pit fruit (except figs) and cut in eighths or, if fruit is small, fourths. After 12 minutes, remove foil and weights from pastry. Return pastry to oven and continue baking until it is lightly browned, another 8 to 10 minutes. Remove pastry from oven and increase temperature to 400 degrees.
• Brush pastry with preserves. Arrange fruit in tight concentric circles, starting by placing it around the perimeter, skin side down, against the vertical sides of the pastry and standing it up as much as possible. Brush with melted butter. Dust with remaining sugar. Bake about 35 to 40 minutes, until edges have browned but fruit has not collapsed. Cool before serving with crème fraîche.