This is one of those desserts that is just so satisfying, its light, not to sweet, it uses fresh berries in season. There’s lemon and vanilla flavor in the background and it’s all surrounded by crunchy phyllo dough. It’s a whipped ricotta tart and you don’t even need to pull out your mixer!
I love making tarts with ricotta and love using phyllo, which by the way is VERY forgiving. Of course this would be just as delicious if you make or buy your own pie crust and use that, but you’ll need to blind bake that as well. You can also mix up the berries you use, I did sliced strawberries, blackberries and blueberries.
I wouldn’t do too many strawberries they’re not as sturdy as the other ones I mentioned, they tend to soften the tart up much quicker, but if you’re eating it right away that won’t matter.
The hardest part will be waiting for it to cool down so you can have a slice with some coffee, don’t forget to sprinkle it with a nice shower of powdered sugar! With Mother’s day around the corner this just might be one to make for that special mom in your life.
- ½ stick of unsalted butter, melted
- 8 sheets of phyllo dough
- tart pan with removable bottom, I used an 11 x 8 rectangle pan
- FILLING:
- 2 cups whole milk ricotta, make sure it's well drained if it's from a deli, or use a good one from a grocery in the cheese section
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup of sugar
- ¼ cup of heavy cream
- the zest of 1 lemon
- ½ teaspoon lemon extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- a mix of berries, I don't measure those, I just fill in and cover the top of the tart to my liking
- powder sugar for sprinkling the tart when cooled
- Heat your oven to 350F, you're going to pre-bake the phyllo for 15 minutes.
- With the melted butter, brush your tart pan all over.
- Working fast,add 1 sheet of phyllo at a time brushing it all over with the melted butter, repeat brushing the butter on to all the rest of the phyllo sheets.
- You're going to layer them on top of each other, squishing them around the sides of the pan, don't worry if they rip, no one will know, phyllo is very for giving.
- Put the tart pan onto a cookie sheet for easy in and out of the oven and place into your pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.
- If it puffs up when you take it out just press it down with the back of a spoon, set it aside, now make your filling.
- Raise the oven temp to 375F now.
- In a medium size bowl whisk together the ricotta, eggs, heavy cream, sugar, zest and extracts til nice and smooth.
- Pour the filling on top of the pre-baked phyllo dough.
- Sprinkle your berries all around filling in and covering the top of the ricotta mixture.
- Bake for another 30- 45 minutes, remember it all depends on your oven, everyone is different and also if the ricotta has a lot of moisture and is not drained properly, that could affect the cooking time as well, I didn't use the deli kind.
- Take the tip of a knife after 30 minutes and see if it comes out pretty clean in the center, if not check every 5 more minutes.
- Let the tart cool down before you slice into it then sprinkle powder sugar all over it.
- Enjoy this creamy, crunchy berry bite!
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
