Lemon Raspberry Tart - Dairy Foods

I definitely have a "trial and error" strategy when it comes to baking dessert or making anything sweet. I don't think there is one single recipe that I've baked recently that I haven't had to re-do all or at least a part of it. It sounds frustrating but I chalk it all up to a learning experience and by the second try I get it right.

It was no different with this lemon raspberry tart I made on Saturday. This was literally an all day affair. The recipe is not for the faint of heart. It is so long that I'm not even going to attempt typing it out for this post, but if you are seriously interested, email me (eatdrinkpretty@gmail.com) and I will send you the recipe. It is from the Williams Sonoma, Bride and Groom cookbook (a bridal shower gift from my maid of honor). This cookbook is lovely, but the recipes are not easy, and not intuitive. It is definitely not a beginner's cookbook. It is supposed to be for newlyweds cooking together, but the thought of Erik hanging out with me in the kitchen while I try to thicken lemon curd over a double boiler makes me giggle.

I was so inspired by the beautiful photo of the tart in the cookbook that all I could think of is that I had to make this gorgeous tart. I don't have an event, dinner, shower, etc to take this tart to so it is just sitting in my fridge. Tart anyone?

Many, many things went wrong with this tart. The dough started off alright but there are so many steps, first you let it set at room temperature wrapped in plastic, then you freeze it, next step is to bake it (this is the part where I tell you I forgot to turn on the oven, and had the crust sitting in there for 20 minutes before I realized it. No, I'm not kidding), and finally you let it sit on a wire rack to cool.

Next is to make lemon curd. Just the name lemon curd sounds complicated, doesn't it? Well, without getting into all the details, I totally screwed up the first batch and had to start over. Luckily I had enough lemons and the second attempt was a success.

By the time I got around to placing the raspberries on the tart I was pretty tired. I started off placing them neatly in a circular pattern, but by the time I got to the middle it looks like I just took a firstful and threw them down. I may have put too much lemon curd on the tart because the raspberries look like they are drowning (not at all what it looks like in the cookbook photo!).

Like I said, this was a good learning experience and the tart actually tastes great (well, I thought so anyway, no one else has tried it yet. My sis will be the first taste tester).