Skip to main content

Deluxe Raspberry Tart

At the beginning of July I had the pleasure of picking raspberries from the numerous brambles on the property.  The day was thick & muggy, and rain was looming in the skies above.  I quickly gathered one of my baskets lined with a cotton flour sack cloth & made my way to the brambles.  Many of them line our long driveway, so I stopped to pick there first.  I then made my way to the edge of the field to see what I had left.  So many animals partake of the bounty that it's hard to even get some for ourselves.  As I was picking, I thought of ways to use my beautiful raspberries.  Should I make jam with them?  A jelly roll filled with plump berries and some freshly whipped cream also seemed like a good idea.  After awhile though, I quickly envisioned a spectacular tart.  A tart made with a delicious, flaky crust, filled with the silkiest of pastry creams & topped with fresh-off-the-cane, raspberries.  Have a look at how it came together.



D for Deluxe.  D for Delightful.  D for Delicious and of course, D for David.



This is a typical raspberry bramble.  The berries cluster at the ends of the canes and must be plucked gently.  Because the brambles are thorny, it's almost impossible to pick raspberries without getting cut.  I also managed to get bitten by a spider somehow. 




A small batch inside a basket lined with a flour sack cloth.  I was very gentle with these red beauties because they were very ripe, juicy & quite delicate.




Once inside the house, I quickly put them on a rimmed baking sheet & gave them plenty of room so as not to crush them.  Naturally, I popped a few into my mouth & was immediately greeted with delicious perfection.



I blind baked a 9" round cornmeal pâte sucrée  at 375° F for 20 minutes with my pie weights.  I then removed the pie weights, docked the bottom & continued baking the crust for another 15 minutes or so, just until it was cooked & golden in color.  You mustn't let it burn.

After the crust has cooled completely, remove the outer ring of your tart pan & transfer the pastry to a serving platter.  Make a batch of my crème pâtissière (pastry cream) and after it has cooled completely, fill the tart crust.  Smooth out the top with a spatula.  Now the fun begins!




Begin picking out the best looking raspberries, after givng them a good rinse under cold water, and simply arrange them in concentric circles around the rim of the tart.  The decorating is really up to you. 


Note: the tart should be well chilled before serving.  Any leftovers will keep, well covered, in the refrigerator for about 2 days.


Since this is a Deluxe Raspberry Tart, I decided to center a delicious D with the tiniest of my berries. 




This tart is definitely la crème de la crème in my opinion. 



A generous wedge served on an antique British lustreware plate.  The silver is mother of pearl.


This was such a beautiful tart to make and, not only was it delicious, it was also very much of the season.  I kid you not when I say that pastry cream is a wonderfully, silky smooth custard that pairs very well with any berry.  The tart would be just as delectable with blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, fresh currants or even grapes.  I highly recommend that you make one of these the next time you want to impress your guests at a fancy sit down dinner or perhaps a certain someone celebrating a birthday.  Monogram their first initial to make them feel special.  A Deluxe Raspberry Tart from my kitchen to yours.  Cheers!

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank You for Posting!

Popular posts from this blog

Antique Salt Cellars

There was a time when salt cellars played an important role on the dining table for the host or hostess.  As a result of it being such an expensive commodity several hundred years ago, salt was seen as a luxury and it was the well to do that made salt cellars quite fashionable & a status symbol for the home.  A single salt cellar usually sat at the head of the table and was passed around throughout the meal.  The closer one sat to the salt cellar, the more important one was deemed by the head of the household.  Smaller cellars that were more accessible and with an open top became a part of Victorian table settings.  Fast forward to the 20th century when salt was no longer a luxury and when anti caking agents were added to make salt free-flowing, and one begins to see salt cellars fall out of fashion.  Luckily for the collector and for those of us who like to set a table with Good Things , this can prove to be a boon. Salt cellars for the table come in silver, porcelain, cut glass

How to Paint a Chair

If you have ever felt the need to spruce up a set of chairs or give them a new look, why not try a little bit of paint?  Our tastes in decor and color will probably alter throughout our lives, and at some point, we may find ourselves wanting to change the look of our furniture without having to spend a lot of money.  That's where a few handy tips, some tools from the hardware store, and good-quality paint come in handy.   I know I'm not alone in paying visits to local antique shops, antique fairs and flea markets, and falling in love with pieces of furniture that would be perfect if they were just a different color.  You don't have to walk away from a good purchase simply because it's the wrong color.   My dear friend, Jeffrey, is forever enhancing his home with collectibles from flea markets and tag sales.  However, certain items aren't always up to Jeffrey's tastes when he brings them home.  He is the type of person who won't hesitate to chang

Vintage Wilton Wedding Cakes

Wedding cakes have certainly evolved over the decades just as tastes and styles have in our American way of life.  There was a time when elaborate & very formal towering feats of sweetness were the standard for every bride & groom.  Growing up in a household where I witnessed several wedding cakes take shape from start to finish, I can tell you  that every single one of these was a true labor of love.  For mom, Wilton was the go-to supplier in every aspect of cake baking, including the wedding cakes which flew out of our house every single year for friends & family.   Vintage Wedding Cake Toppers It’s fun going back and looking at Wilton’s methods and styles for wedding cakes during the 1960s and 1970s.  Back then, the shapely cakes were not simply stacked and covered in perfect fondant the way they are these days, but were iced and decorated with real buttercream, along with a multitude of accessories.  There was even a working fountain available that could b