Autumn Fruit & Maple Custard Slab Tart

For fruit filling, in a small saucepan stir together juice, 1/3 cup maple sugar, the cinnamon, and ginger. Cook over medium until sugar is dissolved. Stir in cranberries. Bring to boiling; reduce heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, until cranberries pop and mixture begins to thicken, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in pear.

For mascarpone filling, stir together mascarpone cheese, egg yolk, and the 1 Tbsp. maple sugar. Cover and chill. Whisk together egg white and 1 Tbsp. water.

Preheat oven to 400°F. On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, unfold one pastry sheet and roll into a 15×10-inch rectangle. Trim 3/4-inch strips off each side. Use parchment paper to transfer the large piece of pastry to a 15×10-inch baking pan, leaving parchment under pastry. Brush edges with egg white mixture. Top edges with dough strips to form a border, gently pressing to adhere and trimming corners as necessary. Use a fork to prick bottom of pastry (not border). Bake until pastry is golden, 10 to 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, on a lightly floured surface, unfold the remaining pastry sheet and roll into a 13×9-inch rectangle. Using desired cutters, cut shapes out of the pastry.

Spread half the mascarpone filling in baked crust. Spoon cranberry filling over mascarpone layer. Drop spoonfuls of remaining mascarpone filling over cranberry filling. Brush edges of tart with some of the egg white mixture. Top with unbaked pastry. Brush top of pastry with egg white mixture; sprinkle with more maple sugar. If you like, place pastry cutouts on a parchment-lined baking sheet; brush with egg white mixture and sprinkle with more maple sugar.

Bake until tart is golden brown and filling is bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes. (Bake pastry cutouts, if using, until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.) Transfer to a wire rack. Let cool 30 minutes before serving. Serves 8.