Who's craving Spring?  I certainly am and wanted to make something pretty, full of spring  flavors. These little lemon tarts were just the ticket. The pastry (pate brisee) is fun to make and the filling is a luscious   mixture of lemon curd, mascarpone cheese, lemon zest and cream, topped with a few blueberries.  When I finished filling these tart shells the sun came out!

Lemon, Blueberry Tarts.

For the pate brisee, recipe from Breakfast, Lunch Tea.

3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

2/3 cup of white sugar

1 1/2 cups of butter

2 egg yolks

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the filling.

8 oz mascarpone cheese

1/3 cup heavy cream

1 jar of store bought lemon curd

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup confectioner's sugar

Zest of a lemon.

Heat the oven to 350 F

Mix the flour, sugar and butter (cut into small cubes) in a large bowl.  Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertip until it resembles course breadcrumbs.

Make a well in the mixture, crack the egg, egg yolks and vanilla into the middle.

With a fork combine the ingredients.  When it's coming together (it will be very crumbly at first) use your hand to fully combine.  It takes a few minutes until you feel it's going to stick together.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead it for a moment or two until it's fairly smooth.

Roll out and place in your tart shells.  Use whatever you have available, one big tart is also lovely.

Chill the tart shells in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Bake, if you're using mini tart shells bake for 20 minutes.  Keep an eye on them, when they're turning golden they're done.

Remove from the oven and allow to thoroughly cool.

Meanwhile make the filling.  Whip the cream and the confectioner's sugar to soft peaks.

In another bowl, combine the mascarpone, lemon curd, zest and vanilla extract.  Fold the cream into the lemon curd mixture.  Fill the shells and top with blueberries.