Made in the USA

We joined some friends to watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics last night.  They were interesting, right? Theatrical, and not all-together un-entertaining.  Anyway, I made a dessert for the festivities.  I pieced it together from a couple different recipes I found online, and it miraculously came out well!  It was super easy, delicious, and even looked fancy.  Sort of.  My fruit cutting/arranging skills are pretty amateur, so imagine what it could look like if someone with actual culinary skills took this on!

French pastry, English lemon curd, Italian marscapone cheese, Mexican Fruit,  Made in the USA!! 

Red White and Blue Fruit Tart

• 1 package (of 2) puff pasty sheets
• 11 oz jar lemon curd
• 8oz marscapone cheese
• 2 lbs strawberries, rinsed, hulled and quartered lengthwise
• 1 pint blueberries, rinsed and patted dry
• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 1 tsp water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Spread thawed puff pasty sheets out side-by-side and press together to create a large rectangle. Fold outside edge in about 1/2 inch to create a 'crust' around the edge.  Poke a lot of holes in the center of the puff pastry.  Bake approx 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove to cool.
Mix apricot preserves and water.  Heat the mixture in a small saucepan or the microwave until boiling. Remove from heat.  Brush the center of the pastry crust (where your filling will go) with approximately half of the mixture.  This will create a glaze that helps keep the crust from getting soggy once you add your filling. Save the rest of the mixture.
Mix together lemon curd and marscapone until well blended.  Set aside.
Once the glazed puff pastry is completely cooled, spread the lemon curd and marscapone filling.  Arrange the sliced fruit on top.
Reheat the apricot glaze and brush over the top of the fruit.
Can be served immediately, but for best results, refrigerate for an hour or two before slicing. Makes approx 32 servings.

The great thing about this recipe is you can use whipped cream instead of marscapone, any type of fruit (I just used red and blue in honor of team USA) and any type of preserve (apricot's what the Joy of Cooking said to use, but more importantly, it's what I had on hand). It's SO easy and versatile.  Hope someone out there will try it!