Strawberry Mascarpone Tart

I hope that by the time this will be published the strawberry season will have begun. You know I write my stuff in advance so it's never seasonal but for your own sake I hope you'll be able to get some nice strawberries - not the tasteless odorless stuff you can get in shops in winter. 

This recipe is super sweet and even people like me (who are constantly on a healthy diet and try to use as little sugar as possible... 'cause sugar is white poison, that's what they say) appreciate its sweetness. The tart looks small (I've made it in a 23x23cm pan) but trust me, you will divide it into a lot of pieces because a big piece would send you skyrocketing toward the nearest planet Oblivion.

You'll need (as far as "cups" go I used the one my mascarpone came in - that is 250g cup):

For the crust:

•  1 cup flour (I recommend plain, because whole grain could make it too hard)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 6 tablespoons butter (chopped to small pieces)
• 4 tablespoons very cold water

For the jam:

• 2 cups chopped strawberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 tablespoons lemon juice

For the top:

• 1 cup mascarpone
• 1/2 cup sugar
• about two handfuls of sliced strawberries

1) Let's prepare the crust first. Try to combine all the ingredients together adding the water last. It may get a little difficult because the butter may not be as cooperative as you want (the flour will be flying around your kitchen if you don't cover it while using a hand mixer) but you cannot use melted butter so try to do your best. When it's incorporated, wrap it in a foil and refrigerate at least half an hour.

2) Prepare your pan or baking tray and line it with baking paper or butter it. I used a pan with high sides because I wanted to have 0,5cm sides so that the mascarpone and jam wouldn't feel like going anywhere. But they stay put so you can avoid the sides and still have a lovely tart. Roll your dough on floured surface and make it assume the desired shape - about 4mm thick and enough to cover your circle/square with or without the sides. Then cover it with another layer of baking paper and put something heavy on top (I use beans). Bake at 180°C for 15 minutes, then remove the paper and bake again, rising the temperature to 200°C - it will take about 10 minutes to get golden/brown). Let it cool completely.

3) While baking you can prepare your jam. Combine the ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to a boil, lower the temperature a little and then cook for about half an hour till it thickens nicely - then set aside to cool completely (it will thicken even more).

4) The last step is to mix the mascarpone with sugar. 

5) Once it's all cooled down, take your baked tart, cover it with mascarpone, add most of the jam on the top (let a little - about two tablespoons- of it on the side; you may have prepared even more, so use it on your toast in the morning, it's better to have more than less), cover it with sliced strawberries and smear the remaining jam on the strawberries so that they get even redder shade and are glossy.