Passion Fruit Tart

My husband and I celebrated our thirteenth anniversary last week. Each year I try to outdo myself baking a sweet surprise for Hubby. For lucky number thirteen, I decided to make something using passion fruit since it’s his favorite. This Passion Fruit Tart is what I came up with.

Hubby loved it so much that I thought I would share the recipe with you. Also included is my tried-and-true Lemon Tart recipe as it was my starting point for creating the passion fruit version.

Passion Fruit Tart
Printable Recipe

4 large eggs
3 ¾ ounces sugar
6 ounces passion fruit puree
6 ounces heavy cream
1 partially baked 9-inch Pâte Sucrée Tart Crust
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Whisk together the eggs and 3 ½ ounces of the sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the passion fruit puree and then whisk in 2 ounces of the cream. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and skim off any foam from the surface. Slowly pour into the tart crust. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until just set. Let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, or until firm.

Combine the remaining 4 ounces of cream, remaining ¼ ounce of sugar, and vanilla and whip to firm peaks. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe onto the tart in a decorative manner. Cut the tart into portions and serve immediately.

Makes 1 9-inch tart, serving 8. You will need about 12 fresh passion fruits for this recipe. When buying passion fruits, look for fruit that's shrinkled—that's my word for shrunken and wrinkled—and trust me when I say there's no better way to describe a ripe passion fruit. To make passion fruit puree, halve the passion fruits, scoop out the flesh using a spoon, and strain it through a fine mesh sieve. You can also use frozen passion fruit puree. If you can get your hands on it, use Tahitian vanilla, which has a uniquely floral character. Tahitian vanilla pairs beautifully with passion fruit.

Lemon Tart: Increase the sugar in the custard from 3 ½ to 4 ounces. Mix this quantity of sugar with the grated zest of 1 large or 2 small lemons until very fragrant before blending it with the eggs. Use freshly squeezed lemon juice instead of passion fruit puree.

Single Subject Studies

It's been over a month, but I'm back. So, so happy to be back and brimming with new inspiration! For the last month, posting has been scarce here because I've been hard at work doing the photography for my forthcoming book Flavored Butters. Yes, it's for real, I got the job! And even before the papers were all signed, I dedicated every waking moment to photos of butter and more butter. Four weeks of blending, shaping, styling, and photographing butter. To the point where I even dreamed butter. It's amazing how a study of a single subject can get your creative juices flowing and get you all fired up to work with other ingredients.

And how lucky is this? The day I was finally ready to take a break from all the butter just happened to be the opening of cherry season. Hubby and I hightailed it out to cherry country for some u-picking.

Did you know that you have to risk life and limb for the best cherries?

The sweetest ones are always on the highest branches!

What a luxury—an abundance of cherries and some time to be able to cook and bake just for the pleasure of it. Needless to say, I have embarked upon another single subject study…

Stay tuned—there are more cherry recipes to come!

Cherry-Custard Tart
Printable Recipe

1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
¾ cup heavy cream
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound cherries, pitted
1 partially baked 9-inch Pâte Sucrée Tart Crust

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Blend together the egg and yolk in a small bowl. Stir in the cream, sugar, and vanilla. Spread the cherries in the bottom of the tart crust. Slowly pour in the egg mixture. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until just set. Let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, or until firm. Cut the tart into portions and serve immediately.

Makes 1 9-inch tart, serving 8. This tart is perfect in the summer, when cherries are in season.

Two Dinner Parties, One Dessert

Two dinner parties in one weekend and I was responsible for bringing dessert to both. We were treated to endlessly flowing wine and grilled leg of lamb with homemade pita bread one night and a Canadian Thanksgiving feast, complete with a twenty-something-pound roast turkey (which I was volunteered to carve), the next. My, what wonderful, generous friends we have!

Needless to say, dessert had to impress. A recent trip to the orchard to stock up on apples and pears—'tis the season here in the Pacific Northwest—meant I didn't have to look far for inspiration.


My Chocolate-Pear Tarts would be good enough for both parties.


This is a dessert born of leftovers—years ago, after finding myself with extra chocolate tart filling and a few too many poached pears after a multi-day baking spree, I decided to combine the two together in one dessert. Whether it was serendipity or just utilization, the results were divine, and this tart has been in my repertoire ever since.

Chocolate-Pear Tart
Printable Recipe

3 ounces heavy cream
3 ounces milk
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped or scant 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 ounce egg
3 Pears Poached in Port, at room temperature
1 partially baked 9-inch Pâte Sucrée Tart Crust

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Combine the cream and milk in a small, heavy saucepan and bring to a bare simmer. Place the chocolate into a medium bowl, add the hot cream mixture, and whisk until smooth. Let cool slightly. Gradually whisk the chocolate mixture into the egg.

Pat the pears dry with paper towels. Halve and core the pears and slice them thinly, keeping the slices together so each pear half stays intact. Using a spatula, transfer the sliced pear halves to the tart crust, arranging them in a radial pattern with their stem ends at the center of the crust. Press down gently on each pear half to fan out the slices slightly. Using a pitcher or batter bowl with a spout, slowly pour in the chocolate mixture, being careful not to pour it directly over the pears. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until just set. Let cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours, or until firm. Cut the tart into portions and serve immediately.

Makes 1 9-inch tart, serving 8. This tart is perfect in the fall, when Bosc pears are in season. The pears may be poached up to a day in advance and stored submerged in their cooled unreduced poaching liquid. To measure 1 ounce of egg, crack 1 egg into a bowl, lightly beat it with a fork, and weigh it out using a scale. You can tell that the tart is done when the chocolate filling jiggles like gelatin. Serve with the reduced poaching liquid sauce from the Pears Poached in Port and lightly sweetened whipped cream, if desired.

Heirloom Tomatoes and a Caprese Crostata

Caprese salad lovers, the following dish is for you.


It was inspired by a rainbow of heirloom tomatoes at the farmers market and the desire to transform a light salad into a substantial meal.


Make it before tomato season is a thing of the past.


Memories of this crostata, with basil pesto and parmesan crust accenting the tomatoes and fresh mozzarella, will carry you through until next summer and give you the resolve to just say no to winter grocery store tomatoes!


Caprese Crostata
Printable Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
½ cup grated Parmegiano-Reggiano
½ teaspoon kosher salt
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, shredded
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons, or more, cold water
1 ½ cups fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup pine nuts
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 medium heirloom tomatoes, cut into ¼-inch thick slices
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, drained and cut into 3/16-inch thick slices
Fleur de sel
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine the flour, ¼ cup of the Parmegiano, and kosher salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water and pulse until the dough just comes together. Test the dough by squeezing a small amount together with your fingertips. If the dough holds together, it’s ready. If it’s crumbly, add up to 1 more tablespoon of water and pulse 2 more times. Transfer the dough to a work surface, bring together into a ball, and then flatten into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Combine the basil, garlic, pine nuts, 3 tablespoons of the oil, and remaining ¼ cup of Parmegiano in the food processor and pulse until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 425˚F. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a 13×17-inch, 3/16-inch thick rectangle. Roll the dough up on the rolling pin and transfer it to a parchment-lined baking tray. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes.

Spread the pesto evenly in the center of the dough rectangle, leaving a 2-inch border at the edge, and layer the tomatoes and mozzarella on it, arranging them in neat, overlapping rows. Fold the edge of the dough over the tomatoes and mozzarella, pleating it as you go. Refrigerate for another 10 minutes.

Lightly brush the tomatoes and mozzarella with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil. Bake for 25 to 27 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool slightly. Sprinkle generously with fleur de sel and pepper, cut into portions, and serve.

Makes 1 large crostata, serving 6 as a vegetarian main course. Wonderful drizzled with Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena. Drain the mozzarella thoroughly on paper towels so that there's no excess moisture to turn the crust soggy. It's not absolutely necessary to wash the food processor between the crust and pesto.

Farewell Strawberry Season

One last hurrah before the all-too-short Oregon strawberry season is just a sweet, sticky memory—I baked up these crostatas with what was left of our second half flat of strawberries and a few stalks of rhubarb from the garden.


I can't wait for strawberry season next year…

Strawberry-Rhubarb Crostatas
Printable Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, shredded
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons, or more, cold water
1 ¾ pounds strawberries, halved
¾ pound rhubarb, sliced
¼ cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon heavy cream
2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar

Combine the flour, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water and pulse until the dough just comes together. Test the dough by squeezing a small amount together with your fingertips. If the dough holds together, it’s ready. If it’s crumbly, add up to 1 more tablespoon of water and pulse 2 more times. Transfer the dough to a work surface, bring together into a ball, and cut into eighths. Form each portion into a ball and then flatten into a disc. Wrap each disc separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each disc of dough to a 7-inch wide, 1/8-inch thick circle. As you work, transfer the circles to parchment-lined baking trays. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes.

Toss together the strawberries, rhubarb, remaining ¾ cup of sugar, and cornstarch in a large bowl. Divide the strawberry mixture among the dough circles, mounding it in the center of each one. Fold the edge of the dough over the fruit, pleating it as you go. Refrigerate for another 10 minutes.

Lightly brush the crostata crusts with the cream and sprinkle the crostatas with the Turbinado sugar. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Makes 8 individual crostatas. Work quickly and with a light touch to prevent the butter in the pastry from melting. Quarter the strawberries if they are large. Strawberries that aren't perfectly ripe will require additional sugar, so add more to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature. You'll need about 2 pints of strawberries for this recipe.

A Taste of a Cooking Class

For those of you who’ve never been to one of my cooking classes, I just thought I’d give you a little taste…In a recent class entitled Hands-On Galettes and Crostatas I taught at Clark College, students learned to make these beauties.


I have a variety of fun and inspiring classes scheduled, and I hope to see you at one soon! Check out the Upcoming Cooking Classes sidebar on the right for class listings.

Butternut Squash & Roasted Garlic Crostata with Parmesan-Herb Cornmeal Crust
Printable Recipe

2 heads garlic
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1 3 ¼ to 3 ½-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into ¾-inch cubes
Freshly ground black pepper
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¼ cup cornmeal
½ cup grated Parmegiano-Reggiano
1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, shredded
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons, or more, cold water

Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Cut the stem ends off the heads of garlic to expose the cloves within. Place the garlic in the center of a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil, sprinkle with kosher salt, and seal the foil tightly. Roast for 40 to 45 minutes, or until meltingly tender and golden brown. Let cool to room temperature, peel, and mince to a paste, reserving the garlic oil for another use.

Toss together the butternut squash and the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large bowl. Spread on a baking tray and roast for about 45 to 50 minutes, or until tender. Let cool to room temperature and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Combine the flour, cornmeal, ¼ cup of the Parmegiano, chives, and thyme in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water and pulse until the dough just comes together. Test the dough by squeezing a small amount together with your fingertips. If the dough holds together, it’s ready. If it’s crumbly, add up to 1 more tablespoon of water and pulse 2 more times. Transfer the dough to a work surface, bring together into a ball, and then flatten into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Increase the oven temperature to 425˚F. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to a 14-inch wide, ¼-inch thick circle. Roll the dough up on the rolling pin and transfer it to a parchment-lined baking tray. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes.

Spread the roasted garlic evenly in the center of the dough circle, leaving a 2-inch border at the edge, and mound the squash on it. Fold the edge of the dough over the squash, pleating it as you go. Refrigerate for another 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the crostata with the remaining ¼ cup Parmegiano. Bake for 28 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool slightly, cut into portions, and serve.

Makes 1 large crostata, serving 6 as a vegetarian main course. Perfect in the fall and winter, when butternut squash is abundant.

Flakey Tart Crust

Pâte brisée is French for “short dough”. It’s rich and flakey and used for sweet and savory tart, pie, and quiche crusts.

Pâte Brisée Tart Crust
Printable Recipe

12 ounces pastry flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 ounces (1 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
4 ounces eggs
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cold water
All-purpose flour, for dusting

Combine the pastry four, salt, and butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture resembles cornmeal.


Blend together the eggs and water in a small bowl, add to the flour mixture, and mix on low until the dough just comes together.


Transfer the dough to a work surface, bring together into a ball, and cut in half. Form each half into a ball and then flatten into a disc. Wrap each disc separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours or freeze for up to 1 month. (Thaw frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator and let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll out a disc of dough to a 12-inch wide, 1/8-inch thick circle. Roll the dough up on the rolling pin. Transfer it to a 9-inch pie tin. Ease the dough into the edges of the tin. Using a paring knife, trim the excess dough along the top edge of the tin. Patch any cracks or tears in the crust with a bit of the scrap dough and reserve the remaining scraps at room temperature. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Line the crust with parchment paper and fill half way with pie weights.

For a partially baked crust, bake for about 20 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown around the edges.


Carefully remove the pie weights and parchment and let cool slightly before filling. Patch any cracks in the crust with a small amount of the scrap dough.

For a fully baked crust, bake for about 20 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown around the edges. Carefully remove the pie weights and parchment and bake for another 22 to 24 minutes, or until golden brown.


Let cool completely before filling.

Yields 2 9-inch crusts. Of course, you can use this dough to make any other size or shape crust, too. Work quickly and with a light touch to prevent the butter in the pastry from melting. Beans or rice can be used as pie weights.

Now, what to fill it with?

Cherry Season and Sour Cherry Galettes

When I told my mother that we had gone cherry picking, she cursed at me. After I told her that we got loads of sour cherries too, she threatened to hang up the phone. In a fit of jealousy, she told me to lose her number and never call her again. You see, sour cherries are her favorite, but she lives in Texas, where sweet cherries must be shipped in and fresh sour cherries are completely unknown.

But the husband and I live a mere two-hour drive from cherry country.


So every summer, we make a point of heading out to the cherry orchards at least once. We pick as many cherries as we can cram into the refrigerator and then some.


Sour pie cherries are always the hardest to find. I know of few orchards that still have sour cherry trees, and they’re usually picked clean by the time we make it out. Luckily, this year we hit the jackpot with several pounds of Montmorency cherries.


I know it’s weird, but I like to eat sour cherries out of hand, maybe even more than sweet cherries. I love their complex flavor and how they make you pucker up—it’s like being tickled, only in your mouth. I had to muster lots of will power not to eat them all at once, so that I could have enough left to make Sour Cherry Galettes.


Schmerber Farms is my new favorite orchard for u-pick cherries, in case you ever happen to be visiting these parts in the summertime. They have eight varieties of sweet cherries, plenty of sour cherries, beautiful scenery, and a very warm welcome.


Sour Cherry Galettes
Printable Recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
¾ cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons, or more, cold water
1 ¾ pounds sour cherries, pitted
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon heavy cream
2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar

Combine the flour, 2 tablespoons of the sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water and pulse until the dough just comes together. Test the dough by squeezing a small amount together with your fingertips. If the dough holds together, it’s ready. If it’s crumbly, add up to 1 more tablespoon of water and pulse 2 more times. Transfer the dough to a work surface, bring together into a ball, and cut into eighths. Form each portion into a ball and then flatten into a disc. Wrap each disc separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each disc of dough to a 7-inch wide, 1/8-inch thick circle. As you work, transfer the circles to parchment-lined baking trays. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes.

Toss together the cherries, remaining ¾ cup of sugar, cornstarch, and almond extract in a large bowl. Divide the cherry mixture among the dough circles, mounding it in the center of each one. Fold the edge of the dough over the cherries, pleating it as you go. Refrigerate for another 10 minutes.

Lightly brush the galette crusts with the cream and sprinkle the galettes with the Turbinado sugar. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

Makes 8 individual galettes. Work quickly and with a light touch to prevent the butter in the pastry from melting. Serve at room temperature, perhaps with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate and Vanilla and

Caramel. I love caramel equally, and I, for one, think it should get equal billing.


Caramel-Truffle Tart
Printable Recipe

9 ounces heavy cream
2 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped or scant 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 fully baked 9-inch Pâte Sucrée Tart Crust
2 ½ ounces sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 ½ cups Caramel Pastry Cream
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring 2 ounces of the cream to a bare simmer in a small, heavy saucepan. Place the chocolate into a small bowl, add the hot cream, and whisk until smooth. Transfer to the tart crust and spread evenly. Let cool for a couple of hours, or until set.

Combine 2 ounces of the sugar and the water in a small, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, brush down the sides of the pan with water, and boil for 5 to 6 minutes, or until caramelized. The sugar will be fragrant and a deep amber color when it is caramelized. Pour onto a parchment-lined baking tray and let cool to room temperature.

Whip 2 ounces of the cream to stiff peaks. Stir 1/3 of the cream into the pastry cream, then fold in the remaining cream. Transfer to the tart crust and spread evenly.

Combine the remaining 5 ounces of cream, remaining ½ ounce of sugar, and vanilla and whip to firm peaks. Transfer to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe onto the tart in a decorative manner.

Transfer the caramel to a large zip top bag and crush finely using a meat pounder. Sprinkle the crushed caramel over the tart. Cut the tart into portions and serve immediately.

Makes 1 9-inch tart, serving 8. If you don’t have a pastry bag, simply spread the whipped cream over the tart, swirling decoratively, with a spatula.

Apples

For some reason, I didn’t like cooked fruit when I was little. I liked it fine raw, just not cooked. I especially hated cooked apples. Not a single bite of cooked apple would pass these lips. I thought apple pie wasn’t worth eating, baked apples were yucky, apple sauce was gross, and stewed apples would just about make me cry. But my first bite of tarte tatin changed all of that.


Tarte Tatin
Printable Recipe

8 large Golden Delicious apples, peeled, halved, and cored
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter
1/3 cup water
1 8 to 9-ounce sheet puff pastry dough

Toss together the apples and lemon juice in a large bowl. Combine the sugar, butter, and water in a tarte tatin pan or a 10-inch, heavy sauté pan. Bring to a boil, brush down the sides of the pan with water, and boil for 10 to 12 minutes, or until caramelized. The sugar will be fragrant and a deep amber color when it is caramelized. Immediately add the apples cut side up, arranging them in neat overlapping circles.


Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the apples are tender.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425ºF. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the puff pastry to an 11-inch square and cut out an 11-inch circle. Transfer the circle to a plate, reserving the scraps for another use, and refrigerate.

Remove the pan from the heat and let cool for about 5 minutes. Top the apples with the pastry circle, tucking it in around the edges, and cut a 1-inch X in the center. Transfer the pan to the oven and bake for 22 to 24 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Let cool for about 5 minutes and, using pot holders, carefully invert onto a serving platter. Let cool slightly, cut into portions, and serve.

Makes 1 10-inch tart, serving 8. Spectacular in the fall, when apples are at their best. And, of course, caramel is good in any season. Frozen puff pastry works perfectly, just thaw it in the refrigerator, not at room temperature. Golden Delicious apples are my favorite for this recipe, they keep their shape once cooked, and they taste silky and buttery. Be very careful when adding the apples to the caramel in the pan—caramel is extremely hot, and it will bubble up on contact with the apples. I like to cook the apples on the stovetop for quite a bit longer than usual, so that the all of the juices the apples exude have enough time to cook down. This method ensures that the crust does not become soggy once the tart is inverted.

Berry Picking

We drove out so Sauvie Island for the second weekend in a row, crossing our fingers for ripe and ready-to-pick strawberries.


The berries weren’t quite ripe last weekend. In a good year, the bushes are so heavy with fruit, you don’t know where to start picking. The strawberries practically jump into your mouth, they’re so irresistible, and you just can’t stop eating. Their fragrance is intoxicating. The strawberries are warm from the sun and sweet like sugar and so juicy. The juices stain your lips. Last year was one of the best in recent memory.

U-pick strawberries are about a dollar a pound. My husband likes to say they should weigh us before and after we go into the field, because for every berry that goes into the bucket, we eat two or three. But they haven’t caught on yet.

I can hardly wait for strawberry season every year. We usually make it home with about twenty pounds of fresh berries. This year I planned on making strawberry ice cream and popsicles, strawberry shortcakes, chocolate-dipped strawberries, strawberry charlottes, lavender-strawberry verrines, strawberry lemonade, frozen strawberry soufflés, strawberry panna cottas, and a strawberry tart, to name a few.

But this wasn’t such a good year for strawberries. And by the time we got to the field, they had been picked over. The strawberries didn’t taste like sugar. They were resistible, I didn’t feel an uncontrollable desire to eat every last one of them. We only picked a couple of pounds.


Just enough to make strawberry mousse cakelettes.


It turns out that a bad season for strawberries can be a good season for raspberries. And lucky for us, the farm we go to has both. We came upon the raspberries quite by accident, as we wandered around wondering what to do about our meager strawberry harvest. These were the best, most aromatic raspberries I’ve ever tasted. So we picked lots.


Behold, my strawberry tart turned into a raspberry tart.


Raspberry Tart
Printable Recipe

1 ¾ teaspoons gelatin
1 cup heavy cream
1 large egg yolk
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 ounces mascarpone, softened
1 fully baked 9-inch Pâte Sucrée Tart Crust
1 ¼ pound raspberries
2 tablespoons Chambord
3 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam

Measure 1 tablespoon of water into a small bowl and slowly sprinkle over ½ teaspoon of the gelatin. Heat ½ cup of the heavy cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Whisk together the yolk and 2 tablespoons of the sugar in a small bowl. Continue whisking while adding the hot cream in a thin stream. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, over low heat for about 5 minutes, or until it reaches 160˚F and thickens. Stir the gelatin and vanilla into the cream mixture and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Let cool to room temperature. Stir the cream mixture into the mascarpone, a little at a time. Chill over an ice bath until just beginning to thicken. Transfer to the tart crust and refrigerate for about an hour, or until set.

Puree 8 ounces of the raspberries in a food mill using the finest disc. If the puree has seeds, strain it through a fine mesh sieve to remove them. Stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar. Slowly sprinkle the remaining 1 ¼ teaspoons of gelatin over the Chambord. Place the bowl of the gelatin mixture over a small pan of simmering water and heat until melted. Stir into the raspberry mixture. Whip the remaining ½ cup of cream to stiff peaks. Stir 1/3 of the cream into the raspberry mixture, then fold in the remaining cream. Transfer to the tart crust and refrigerate for about an hour, or until set.

Arrange the remaining 12 ounces of raspberries atop the tart in a decorative pattern. Combine the jam and 2 tablespoons water in a small saucepan and heat until melted. Lightly brush the raspberries with the hot jam mixture. Cut the tart into portions and serve immediately.

Makes 1 9-inch tart, serving 8.

Sweet Tart Crust

I love to make tarts. They’re as wonderful to look at as they are to eat, and they make any occasion special. Here’s my favorite no-fail sugar dough recipe.

Pâte Sucrée Tart Crust
Printable Recipe

5 1/3 ounces powdered sugar
11 ounces (2 ¾ sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1 pound all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 large egg

Combine all of the ingredients in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low for about 3 minutes, or until the dough just comes together.


Transfer the dough to a work surface, bring together into a ball, and cut into thirds. Form each portion into a ball and then flatten into a disc. Wrap each disc separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about half an hour or freeze for up to 1 month. (Thaw frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator and let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll out a disc of dough to a 13-inch wide, 1/8-inch thick circle.


Roll the dough up on the rolling pin.


Transfer it to a 9-inch loose-bottom tart tin.


Ease the dough into the edges of the tin.


Roll the pin across the top edge of the tin to trim the excess dough.


Patch any cracks or tears in the crust with a bit of the scrap dough and reserve the remaining scraps at room temperature. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

For a partially baked crust, bake for about 20 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown around the edges.


Let cool slightly before filling. Patch any cracks in the crust with a small amount of the scrap dough.

For a fully baked crust, bake for about half an hour, or until golden brown.


Let cool completely before filling.

Yields 3 9-inch tart crusts. Of course, you can use this dough to make any other size or shape tart, too. Work quickly and with a light touch to prevent the butter in the pastry from melting.

Now, what to fill it with?

Pastry Board

I love my pastry board, it’s beautiful. Michelangelo’s David and my pastry board are both made of Carrara marble. But my pastry board is functional, too.

I got my pastry board custom made. The ones they sell at cookware shops are just too small to work on comfortably. A marble fabricator made mine for me from a remnant, for cheap.

My pastry board is about two by three feet, plenty big for rolling out dough. And it stays cool on hot days, keeping even the most delicate pastry doughs chilled and workable.

I use my pastry board for making pasta, breads, tarts, and these apple galettes.

Apple Galettes with Hazelnut Crust
Printable Recipe

1/3 cup hazelnuts
2 tablespoons sugar
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
½ teaspoon kosher salt
13 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks plus 1 tablespoon) cold unsalted butter, diced
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons, or more, cold water
2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
4 Golden Delicious apples
1 tablespoon heavy cream

Combine the hazelnuts and sugar in a food processor and pulse until finely ground.


Add the flour and salt and pulse a few more times to combine. Add 12 tablespoons of the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.


Add the water and pulse until the dough just comes together.


Test the dough by squeezing a small amount together with your fingertips. If the dough holds together, it’s ready. If it’s crumbly, add up to 1 more tablespoon of water and pulse 2 more times. Transfer the dough to a work surface, bring together into a ball, and cut into eighths. Form each portion into a ball and then flatten into a disc. Wrap each disc separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 425ºF. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each disc of dough to a 7-inch wide, 1/8-inch thick circle.


As you work, transfer the circles to parchment-lined baking trays. Refrigerate for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the Turbinado sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Peel, halve, and core the apples and slice them 3/16-inch thick.


Using half an apple for each galette, arrange the apple slices in a decorative pattern in the center of each dough circle, leaving a 1-inch border at the edge.


Fold the edge of the dough over the apples, pleating it as you go.


Refrigerate for another 10 minutes.

Lightly brush the galette crusts with the cream. Sprinkle the galettes with the Turbinado sugar mixture and dot with the remaining tablespoon of butter. Bake for 17 to 19 minutes, or until golden brown.

Makes 8 individual galettes. Work quickly and with a light touch to prevent the butter in the pastry from melting. Feel free to substitute almonds or pecans for the hazelnuts or ripe but still firm peaches for the apples. So many possibilities! Serve warm, perhaps with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.