Recently a friend forwarded this recipe from the New York Times to me saying, “this looks good”, and I agreed!  Since I was going to her house for dinner on the weekend I suggested I make it for dessert.  She of course, loved the idea so I gave it a whirl.

As the recipe title suggests, it is a very simple tart.  I’ve been making very simple fruit tarts for years that are comprised of a shortbread crust, a cream or mascarpone filling, and fruit.  What intrigued me by this tart was the inclusion of rye flour in the crust and only very little sugar in the entire recipe.  Three tablespoons of sugar are added to the mascarpone filling and the tart is dotted with three tablespoons of strawberry jam.  I used the best strawberry jam EVER, Swanton’s.  They are local, out of Santa Cruz and can be found at many farmers markets.

The rye in the crust adds a tartness, an interesting back flavor.  A nice twist.  Since there is so little sugar in this tart I think it makes a great breakfast tart.  Next time I’ll make it with fresh apricots and ricotta instead of mascarpone to make it even more of a brunch dish.

As suggested in the recipe, it should to be eaten shortly after being assembled.  The tart shell softens and gets cake-like quickly.