Monday, August 22, 2011

Raspberry-Lemon Shortbread Tart

This is an easy and delicious tart that's perfect for summer.

A simple shortbread crust is pressed into a cake pan and pre-baked. The cookie-like crust is then filled with berries and covered with a lemon cream. After another trip to the oven,the berries and cream set-up and you have a delectable tart bursting with summer flavors.


Below is the pre-baked crust filled with frozen berries. I used a berry medley for this one because that's what I had on hand. Fresh or frozen fruit would work and any type of berry would be scrumptious.

The combination of black raspberries and blackberries gave the tart a gorgeous deep purple color once cooked. I topped it with powder sugar...
And it was pretty darn tasty. Here's a piece topped with a big dollop of fresh whipped cream :)

My only change to the recipe would be to use a little less lemon juice, so it's not so tart. I think juice from 1 1/2 lemons would give it the right amount of zip (or maybe just 1 lemon). That extra amount of juice put it over the top. But if you like tart lemony desserts, keep it the same.


Update: My mom made this tart and used frozen berries and she said it put her bake time at about 40 minutes over the listed time! I baked mine at sea level in San Diego and she baked hers at high altitude. Maybe that's the reason?? So make sure to thaw and drain your berries well!


Raspberry-Lemon Shortbread Tart
Source: RachealRay
3 cups frozen raspberries (1 pound)
1 stick plus 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
11/4 cups granulated sugar
13/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
Zest and juice of 2 lemons (about 1/4 cup juice)
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Drain the raspberries in a strainer set over a bowl. Preheat the oven to 400°. Using your fingers, combine the butter, 1/2 cup of the sugar and 1 1/2 cups of the flour and blend together until coarse crumbs form.* Pour the mixture into an ungreased nonstick 9-inch springform or cake pan and press down evenly to form a crust. Bake the shortbread crust until lightly golden, about 20 minutes.

Remove the shortbread from the oven and reduce the temperature to 325°. Scatter the drained raspberries** evenly over the baked shortbread.

Beat the eggs with the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar until thick and pale yellow. Whisk in the lemon zest, the lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Pour the lemon cream over the raspberries and bake the tart until the custard is set, about 30 minutes. Let cool, then dust with confectioners’ sugar.

* The crust mixture is quite crumbly, but bakes up well. So, don't worry as you're pressing it into the pan.

** I filled my hot crust with frozen berries. I didn't wait for the berries to thaw and drain. The only problem this caused was that it needed extra time to bake. It also changed the consistency into a berry filling as opposed to a drier, cakier filling. So, if you want it cakier, make sure you drain your berries well.

5 comments:

Rhandi said...

All I can say is yum, yum, yum! What an simple recipe filled with great flavor combinations. Perfect for summer!

Bake-A-Holic said...

Thanks for stopping by.

It is a great summer dessert.

Shauna said...

It did take a while to bake. Even with the exteneded baking time the tart turned out exactly like your pictures. Wow!
I was worried about the crust getting too browned but put a cookie sheet under the pan for part of the cooking time. The crust boottom didn't brown and was soft and fluffy. Great dessert! Everyone loved it.
It is now a permanent recipe for me!

Bake-A-Holic's Mom said...

I am making this tart agian tonight and again with mixed berries. I am thawing the berries out this time to see if baking time decreases. I am starting to drool already.

Christina said...

I was checking your blog for a different recipe and I found this one instead. My MIL gave me the magazine with this in it when it came out, and I've used this recipe so many times, I can't count them all! Glad to see someone else loves it!

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