A Seasonal No Bake Tart

The last thing I want to do during these very hot days is fire up the oven.  Our temperamental Viking (don't get me started!) takes forever to come to temperature and sometimes when it does our exhaust fan decides to take a break!  Instant first floor heating - very effective.

So when I come up with anything wonderful that can be done on the stove top, outside on the grill or, best of all, with no heat at all, I am all over it!

This combines a couple of my favorite things:  fresh berries, my own mixed berry jam, and marscapone cheese.  The only waiting period you need is for it to set up nicely in your refrigerator.  It's a gem.  Easy and a great sweet treat in the heat.

Recipe:  Berry, Marscapone Tart - again, we're looking at a very versatile recipe; with the marscapone mixture you can try all sorts of combinations - like shaved chocolate on top, Nutella in the middle.  But for now, I'm going with Berries.  The recipe takes about 15 minutes, not counting the time in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:
Left over Angel Food cake - or just angel food cake if you don't have any left over! (The PA Dutch folks in the Reading Terminal Market make a great cake and it's reasonably priced); Your favorite berry jam; some fresh berries; 1 cup of Marscapone cheese; 1 cup of heavy cream; 3 tablespoons of sugar; a teaspoon of good vanilla extract; and a tart pan.  I use a long narrow tart pan - it's about 13 inches long and about 4 1/2 inches wide.  This pan makes just enough for our household, but if you want to make a bigger tart, I would double the ingredients.

Technique:
Take slices of the angel food cake and line the bottom of the - ungreased - tart pan.  Push the pieces down, you really want them to start to sort of meld together to create a bottom "crust".

Spread your favorite berry jam over the angel food in the tart pan - be generous! This is a layer of berry flavor.

Beat the Marscapone cheese, the heavy cream, the sugar, and the vanilla until it's the consistency of heavy whipped cream - you'll see when it's all incorporated and dense and delicious. I use a hand mixer.

Spread the cheese and cream mixture over the jam layer; again, be generous, you'll have plenty for a nice high layer of fluff.

Dot the top with some of your favorite fresh berries.

Put the whole thing in the refrigerator for at least an hour to firm up.

The result is a very light, fruity, creamy delicious treat!  Enjoy!