Passionfruit and Mascarpone Tarts for a Table of Six

Method

1. Check the cases first. Out of a sealed box they are crisp; if the pack has been open in a humid kitchen, three minutes at 150°C on a dry tray brings the snap back. Cool them completely before anything wet goes near them.
2. Whip the cream with the icing sugar and vanilla to soft peaks. Stop while the whisk still leaves a trail that slowly settles.
3. In a second bowl, work the mascarpone with a spatula for about 10 seconds, until it is smooth and loose. Do not put beaters through mascarpone on its own. It turns grainy much faster than cream does, and once it has split there is no bringing it back.
4. Fold the whipped cream into the mascarpone in two lots, adding the lemon juice with the second. Stop as soon as it holds a soft peak. The lemon is not there to be tasted, it is there to stop the cream reading as flat.
5. If you are using the preserve, spoon a teaspoon into the base of each case and spread it to the wall. Do this as you fill, not in advance.
6. Spoon or pipe about 45g of cream into each case, a heaped tablespoon and a half, and dome it slightly. A piping bag with a 12mm plain nozzle is quicker and a good deal neater.
7. Halve the passionfruit and scoop the pulp of one fruit over each tart, letting it run where it wants to. Leave this to the last minute. The pulp is wet, and given time it finds its way into the pastry.
8. Finish with a mint leaf and take them straight to the table.

When passionfruit is dear

Passionfruit is heavy with pulp and cheap through summer, then hollow and expensive outside it. Out of season, loosen two tablespoons of Ottolenghi apricot and passionfruit preserve with a teaspoon of hot water and spoon that over instead. The apricot carries the sweetness and the passionfruit brings the sharp edge, and a 225g jar covers several rounds of this with plenty to spare for toast. It sits with the other jams and spreads on the same shelf. Tinned pulp also works, though it needs draining, or the tart tastes mostly of syrup.

One swap worth knowing: a teaspoon of Borgo pistachio cream in the base, mascarpone over it, passionfruit on top. Nutty underneath, sharp on top, and it takes no longer than the plain version.

Questions about tart cases

What is the difference between a tart case and a tartlet case?

Size, and the job that follows from it. A tartlet case is one bite: the mini sweet cases are 40mm and come twelve to a pack, made for a tray passed around with drinks. A tart case is an individual dessert: 55mm, six to a pack, eaten sitting down with a fork. The pastry is the same lightly sweetened shell in both. Only the diameter and the pack count change.

Can you make dessert tarts ahead of time?

Make the parts ahead, not the tart. The mascarpone cream keeps two days covered in the fridge and needs only a few turns of a spatula to come back to a soft peak. The cases keep for months sealed in their pack. Once filled you have about an hour before the base begins to soften, and passionfruit pulp shortens that, which is why it goes on last.

What fruit goes with mascarpone?

Anything with acid in it. Mascarpone is rich and mild, so it needs something sharp working against it: passionfruit, raspberries, blackberries, poached rhubarb, roasted apricots, figs, or mango with lime squeezed over. Melon and banana are the ones to avoid. One weeps into the cream and the other is sweet without the acidity, so it simply disappears.

A box of six keeps in the cupboard until you need it. The medium cases and the rest of the Confiletas pastry cases are $9.95 a pack, the wider Confiletas range is worth a look before a run of parties, and the festive entertaining shelf covers the savoury end of the same table. Orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched that day. For something savoury out of the same cupboard, the smoked salmon tartlets use the 37mm case.