My dad lives on 1/3 an acre and has plenty of fruit trees and bushes in his yard: figs, plums, pears, blueberries (both albino, which look lightly pink, and the traditional purpley ones), blackberries, nectarines, apples, and raspberries. He also spent several weeks last summer out of town and urged me to collect the fruit before it turned bad (I think he both wanted me to enjoy the bounty, and also didn’t want to return home to a bunch of rotten fermented fruit all over his lawn!).
The upside of all that unexpected fruit was that I had perfectly ripe ingredients to play with. And because I love putting together flavors that that are familiar, in unexpected ways, I began thinking of what to do with all these raspberries!
Voila! Enter this Raspberry Tart.
Now most people have had a raspberry tart before. Maybe some have even had that tart with a mascarpone filling. But adding in the toasted pistachio crust? That just takes it to a whole new level. The crust and the mascarpone can be made a day or two in advance, and the gorgeous presentation makes this popular at parties.
It’s so popular, in fact, that my friend KC over at GFree Foodie asked me to demonstrate this for her on her Youtube cooking channel. I think she just wanted the recipe!
And now I’m sharing with you! Go make this. Go make it now. It’s ok. I’ll wait.
You’ll be glad you did!
- For the Pistachio Pie Crust
- 3/4 cup ground pistachios, (from about 1 1/4 cups whole pistachios)
- 1/2 cup millet flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- For the Mascarpone filling
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 2 egg whites
- 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
- (italian meringue)
- 8 ounces mascarpone
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 18 oz fresh raspberries
- 3 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam
- 1 tablespoon water
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray an 8-inch fluted tart pan with gluten-free pan spray and line with a parchment paper circle. I really like the tart pans with removable bottoms, as they are easy to release from the pan. Set the pan aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the ground pistachios, millet flour, sugar and melted butter and then press into the bottom of the prepared tart pan.
- Bake until the crust is firm to the touch and begins to turn golden brown, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before adding the mascarpone filling.
- In a small pot, heat together the 1/2 cup of sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Brush down the sides of the pot with a clean, wet pastry brush to wipe down the sugar crystals from the sides of the pot.
- Put the egg whites into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whip attachment and whip to medium-firm peaks while the sugar is cooking. DO NOT OVERWHIP!
- Cook the sugar to 248˚ Fahrenheit and slowly pour into the whipping eggs on medium speed. Once all the sugar is in the pot, turn the egg whites up to high speed and whip until shiny and glossy and the mixing bowl is no longer warm to the touch, about 7 minutes.
- Add in the mascarpone, vanilla and salt and mix on medium speed to combine.
- Stop the mixer, and gently scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure the mascarpone is incorporated in the egg white mixture.
- Pour in the cream and turn the mixer on medium speed and whip until well-combined and light and fluffy.
- In a small microwave-safe container, heat the raspberry jam with the water for 30 seconds, just to warm the jam, and stir together until smooth.
- Spread the mascarpone filling over the cooled pistachio crust.
- Place the raspberries in 3 concentric rings around the outer edge of the tart. (I like to put a few berries at the center of the tart as well.)
- Using a pastry brush, glaze each raspberry on the tart with the jam (this will protect the berries from getting wilty, and will also add shine and look pretty).
- If you don’t have enough berries, sprinkle some chopped toasted pistachios on top of the crust for garnish.
- Refrigerate until ready to eat.
- If you're allergic to pistachios, feel free to substitute almonds or walnuts. (Pecans and Macadamia nuts have a higher fat content and won't hold together as well)
