A little tart

The March Anthropologie catalog came with an enticing image of a Strawberry Mascarpone tart by Nigel Slater. You can find the recipe here.

Seeing as I had some mascarpone on hand (what are the odds), I decided to try it and since my husband was just returning from a business trip and it was Will's birthday, it seemed like the perfect excuse.

Here's how mine turned out:

I love that it wasn't hard to make it look pretty. (I'm terrible at food presentation. I need to learn to do better! Maybe I can take a class on it at a local coooking school or something...) But besides it's smoldering good looks, it was, more importantly, tasty.

It was easy to make (if you have a Kitchenaid, it helps). I didn't follow the recipe exactly. I didn't have a square tart pan on hand. (Who does, really? Pastry chefs?)

I didn't have enough mascarpone, so I used cream cheese too. I also added more sugar (I like it sweet!).

And for the crust, I did not have almond cookies, so I substituted half graham crackers and half slivered almonds and ground them up in a food processor.

I love the way it turned out!

And... so did Will! This was his "first birthday cake" before the cupcakes we had at his birthday party the next day. He looked at it curiously at first, but once he got a taste, it was on, baby. He ate every last bite and even licked the plate.