Nectarine, Mascarpone & Gingersnap Tartlets

It's nectarine season, and ohhhh man are they good. You think you know what nectarines taste like... and then you take a big, juicy bite out of some ripe in-season fruit and your brain explodes from the sweet, gorgeous flavour party in your mouth. You basically have to make out with one of them to keep the juices from dripping all over you, but they're so insanely good that it's totally worth looking a bit vulgar while you eat. 

Anyway, I picked up a basket of perfect nectarines from Steve & Dan's fruit stand at the 124th Street Grand Market last week, and have been gorging on them ever since. While I mostly just eat them whole, I wanted to make something special with them - a celebration of nectarines - and make sure the internet knows how inappropriately in love I am with this fruit.


I found this delicious recipe on Smitten Kitchen and had to try it - spicy gingersnaps, tart and creamy mascarpone, and juicy, jewel-like nectarines. Perfect. The original recipe is for one large 9-inch tart, but I thought it was probably safer to make smaller portions - not that that has stopped me from eating almost all of them...

Nectarine, Mascarpone & Gingersnap Tartlets
Recipe slightly adapted from the Smitten Kitchen
Makes 3 4-inch tarts

Crust
1 (150 gram) pacakge of gingersnaps - I used Anna's Thins
3-4 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling
1/2 cup (4 oz) mascarpone cheese
1/3 cup (3 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons vanilla or plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Topping
About 2 ripe nectarines, halved, pitted, and sliced thinly
1/4 cup peach or apricot jam, warmed in the microwave for 10 seconds
 
Preheat your oven to 350°F/180°C. In a food processor, grind the gingersnaps into fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and process until evenly moistened - the texture should be like wet sand, so add another tablespoon of butter if you need to. Press the mixture into your tart shells, pressing it firmly up the sides and evenly on the bottom. Place the tart shells on a cookie sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes. Allow the crusts to cool completely.

To make the filling, beat or food process all of the filling ingredients together until smooth. Spread into the cooled crusts, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to set for at least 2 hours.

Assemble the nectarine slices on top of each tart in a spiral, then gently spoon warm jam onto the slices. Then serve! You  can attempt to share one if you want, but if you're anything like me, that never really happens.