AndreeaB

Elevate your weekend breakfast (or brunch) with these delicious sourdough blueberry and mascarpone brioche tarts. Think buttery soft brioche meets flaky pastry goodness. And the pièce de resistance? A decadent, rich, and velvety mascarpone filling with a hint of tart blueberries and fresh lemon zest. Are you ready to wow your taste buds?

Spotlight on a sourdough blueberry and mascarpone brioche tarts.

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Weekend baking is always a favorite of mine, as it lends me a bit more time to be creative in the kitchen. It’s more about flavors and textures, rather than just keeping everyone fed. That being said, my cooking mantra has always been about finding easier ways to make complicated or elaborate dishes.

As I am a big fan of pastries, I wanted to find an easier recipe that does not require laminating and endless steps to get to a finished pastry dough. And I have found just that, if not an even better alternative to a sourdough pastry.

Why you will love this recipe:

Texture: These sourdough blueberry tarts are a hybrid between a brioche bun and a pastry. You get the best of both worlds without laminating and refrigerating the dough.
Long fermentation: Enjoy the full benefits of sourdough fermentation for easier digestion and full sourdough flavor.
Taste: A very balanced flavor profile with mild sweetness for a perfect breakfast treat. The rich and creamy mascarpone is balanced with tart and fresh blueberries and lemon zest. Match made in heaven!
Grab-and-go breakfast: These sourdough tarts are perfect for breakfast on the go as they are easy to eat by hand. You won’t need plates and cutlery and they are not messy to eat.
Family friendly: Everyone will be happy to wake up with a warm sourdough pastry that is filling and delicious. This recipe makes eight tarts, so you can feed a large family. Just a heads up; they might ask for seconds…

Ingredients needed:

For the dough

Ingredients for sourdough blueberry and mascarpone brioche tarts

Sourdough starter: you want an active and bubbly sourdough starter for best results.
All-purpose flour
Eggs (note: I forgot to add an extra egg when taking the ingredient picture. You will need the extra egg for an egg wash before baking.)
Butter: You will need unsalted softened butter.
Granulated sugar: I used organic unrefined sugar. It will be used in the dough and to sprinkle on top of the tarts before baking to get that beautiful crunchy crystallised look.

For the filling

Ingredients for sourdough blueberry and mascarpone brioche tarts filling.

Mascarpone cheese: is a sweet and creamy Italian cheese that pairs perfectly with fruits. It is also used in tiramisu type of desserts.
Blueberries: I used fresh blueberries for this recipe.
Icing sugar: Will be used to sweeten the mascarpone filling.
Vanilla extract
Lemon zest: For a bright and refreshing touch. Check out these zesty sourdough lemon and poppy seed cookies if you love lemon desserts.

Substitutions

You can substitute mascarpone cheese with cream cheese at a 1:1 ratio. Mascarpone has a higher fat content, with a richer, creamier texture and a buttery, sweet flavor, while cream cheese is lighter and more tangy in flavor.

You can also substitute the fresh blueberries with any fresh fruit of your choice. Just make sure to slice the fruits of your choice to a similar size as the blueberries to make sure they cook through.

I opted for granulated sugar sprinkled on the tarts before baking for that beautiful crunchy, crystallized effect. You can substitute that with a good dusting of icing sugar on the tarts once they have cooled off after baking.

How to make the sourdough blueberry tarts

Make the dough

In a large bowl, mix the flour and sugar.
Add in the sourdough starter, softened butter, eggs, and water.
Mix everything together with a spatula or in a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment just until everything is well combined. This is a shaggy and sticky dough. Don’t be tempted to add more flour.
Cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes.
Perform a set of stretch and folds, cover, and let it ferment. If the dough is not smooth and elastic after the stretch and folds, I recommend you do one more set of stretch and folds after 30 minutes from the first set. Let the dough bulk ferment in a warm spot.
The bulk fermentation should be done when your dough has almost doubled in size (I go for about 85%-90%, if you are measuring). The dough should be domed on top, have lots of large bubbles, and be light and airy (with a noticeable jiggle when gently shaking the bowl). Fermentation time varies depending on the temperature in your kitchen. It can take from 4 to 20 hours.

Shape the tarts

Sprinkle some flour on your work surface and place the dough on your counter. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and shape each into balls.
Flatten the dough gently with your hands (disc shape).
With the bottom of a small glass (or with your hands), gently press in the middle to create a space for the filling.
Put the tarts on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Space them out a bit as they will spread and spring slightly when baked.
Preheat your oven to 325°F (163°C).

Prepare the mascarpone filling

In a medium-size bowl, add the mascarpone cheese, vanilla extract, lemon zest, and icing sugar. Mix well with a small whisk. The mixture should have a smooth, creamy texture.

Decorate the tarts

Add about a tablespoon of the cream in the middle of the shaped tarts where you created that hollow in the dough.
I like to close up the tarts by lifting a bit of the dough with two fingers and sticking it on itself. I do this all around the tart. Sort of like the stretch and folds earlier but on a smaller and more gentle scale. This will give the brioche tarts a bit more structure, but it is optional.
Add a few blueberries on top of the cream in each tart. About 6 or 7 depending on the size of your blueberries.
Create an egg wash by whisking together one small egg with a bit of water.
With a pastry brush, gently brush the egg wash on the dough all around (avoiding the centre). This will give that beautiful golden brown colour and a shiny appearance.
Sprinkle a bit of granulated sugar all over the tart. The egg wash will help it stick. This will give a lovely crunch and sparkle to the finished tarts.

Bake the tarts

Bake the tarts at 325°F (163°C) for about 30 minutes or until golden brown. The mascarpone cream and blueberries will have melted beautifully into the dough.
Leave the blueberry tarts to cool off on the baking sheet for a few minutes before placing them on a wire rack.

Serve and enjoy!

Best served warm. If you wish to make these in advance, I recommend warming them up before serving.

Baking tips

A sourdough starter that is very active and bubbly will ferment the dough faster as the yeast and bacteria are awake and active. If your starter has been in the fridge for quite some time and it is completely flat, it will take some extra time to wake up and start consuming the food. It is totally up to you how you want to use your starter, but do be aware that the fermentation time will be longer if you use unfed starter (aka discard).

Make sure the eggs you use in the recipe are at room temperature and the butter is softened. This will make it easier to mix the dough.

Don’t be tempted to add more flour when mixing the dough. The dough is supposed to be shaggy at first. You might need to do an extra set of stretch and folds if the dough is not smooth and elastic.

Always use wet hands when working the dough in the earlier stages to avoid the dough sticking to your hands. If the dough is properly fermented, your dough will not be as sticky anymore and easier to manage.

The ideal room temperature for sourdough fermentation is between 70°F and 83°F (21°C and 28°C). Any lower than that, your dough will take longer to ferment, and any higher than that, your dough will ferment really fast, and you might risk over-fermentation and the gluten structure weakening. If your kitchen does get really hot (for example, in the summer), make sure you keep your dough in the coolest spot of the kitchen and keep a close eye on it.

Use the appearance and structure of the dough to know when the bulk fermentation is done, rather than a timeline. Each kitchen environment is different. What might take 6 hours for some doughs to fully ferment could take others 8.5 or 12 hours, and vice versa (these are just examples).