Summer is almost here, so last week I thought I would bake something seasonal and light. I cut out this recipe for a Rustic Raspberry Tart with Irish Butter Crust from either Saveur or Epicurious Magazine.
I admit, I sometimes struggle with pie crusts, but this one is very easy, with the exception of trying to roll out the dough in a circle! This crust is made with Kerrygold Irish Butter. Now I’m sure some of you are wondering if you have to use Irish Butter or if you can use regular butter. The simple answer is yes, you can, but the crust will have a slightly less buttery flavor. Irish Butter actually has 2% more butterfat than American Butter, so it has a smoother, creamier texture. Also, you will notice a that Irish Butter is bright yellow in comparison to American Butter, due to the higher level of beta-carotene the Irish cows absorb from the fertile soil and extra green grass.
The recipe calls for the dough to be made in a food processor. If you don’t have one, that’s okay, you can still make the crust. You can cut the butter into the flour with a dough blender and cutter or with a fork. You just want to make sure that once the it resembles a coarse meal or small peas. You can then switch to a hand mixer to add in the eggs and water. In a lot of baking shows, I have seen the professionals use vodka instead of water in a crust, and the result is a flakier crust. I used water, since this was the first time I was trying this recipe. While this is a very quick and easy crust to make, if you are in a rush you can use a pre-made crust from the refrigerated section of your local market.
Since it doesn’t take that long to make the crust, I combined all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl and let the berries macerate for a short time. I added lemon juice and zest to add a little more brightness and tartness to the tart. It will appear that there are too many berries for the crust, but they will cook down. You need to be very careful when you are folding up the crust and try to avoid it tearing. I didn’t manage to roll out a perfect circle, so my folds were a bit uneven. If your crust should tear when you fold it, simply try to press it back together when you are making your pleats, and brush these areas with a little more egg whites to help seal the seams. The Pioneer Woman also suggests that you use an egg white wash inside your crust to help prevent your crust from leaking, a hint I will definitely be using on the next pie or tart I make.
Most likely, you will have some juices leak out onto the parchment paper. You want to make sure you loosen it while the juices are still warm, so the cooling juices don’t make the tart stick to the parchment paper. If you are baking this on a cookie sheet, you will easily be able to slide the tart onto your serving plate. If, like me, you used a baking sheet, you will need to carefully lift the tart from the sheet onto your serving plate trying to avoid breaking the fragile crust.
This recipe serves 4 to 6 people. I served it at room temperature with whipped cream. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Rustic Berry Tart with Irish Butter Crust
Ingredients
Credit: Saveur or Epicurious Magazine
For the Crust:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 tbl cold Kerrygold Irish Unsalted Butter
- 1 large egg yolk, reserving the white
- 3 to 5 tsp ice water
- 1 tbl granulated or turbinado sugar, for decoration
For the Filling:
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
- 3 tbl granulated sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tbl lemon juice
- 2 tsp cornstarch
Directions
- For filling, rinse berries and drain.
- Combine berries, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and cornstarch in a bowl. Toss together and let sit until crust is ready.
- For the crust, add the flour and salt to a food processor and pulse to mix together.
- Cut butter into 1/2 inch chunks and add to the food processor. Pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.
- Add egg yolk and pulse, adding cold water 1 teaspoon at a time until dough begins to form a ball.
- Cut two pieces of plastic wrap, about 12 x 15 inches. Lay side by side on counter and lightly dust with flour.
- Remove dough from food processor and form a disk about 6 inches wide.
- Place in center of plastic wrap and cover with the floured side of the other piece of wrap.
- Roll out dough to approximately a 12 inch circle. If the plastic wrinkles, you can peal it off the dough carefully to smooth out.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Peal off the top layer of plastic wrap and gently flip onto the center of the parchment paper, then carefully peal off the remaining plastic wrap.
- Preheat oven to 425 o F.
- Place berries mixture in center of crust, leaving approximately a 2 inch border.
- Gently fold up crust over the berries, pleating as you go, leaving a 4 to 6 inch opening in the middle.
- Brush crust with reserved egg white, then sprinkle with granulated or turbinado sugar.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until crust is golden brown and berries are bubbling.
- Cool 15 minutes before serving. While still warm, loosen from parchment paper, especially where juices may have leaked out of the crust. Transfer to serving plate with wide spatula.
- Serve warm or at room temperature. Dust with powdered sugar or serve with whipped cream or marscarpone cheese, or ice cream.
Variations
- Use any fresh seasonal berries or stoned fruit.
- Replace lemon juice and zest with orange zest and juice or Cointreau.
- Substitute vodka for water in crust.
Baking with Marilyn 