A Holiday Beauty ~ Raspberry-White Chocolate Tart

Today the sun is playng hide-and-seek with me. It happens to be one of those days when sunshine is hard to come by. Instead all I can see is muted light filtering through a gray curtain of clouds. We're expecting rain tomorrow. It's kind of gloomy outside, but inside all the hues of Christmas have been strewn thoughout our house. There are even iridescent chili lights dangling down over the cabinets in the kitchen. Red, yellow, purple, green. Hubby's favorite.  All very cheery! For me red, white, and silver colors conjure up the Christmas season. As a child I remember receiving red and white candy canes when we went to visit Santa! And the song "Silver Bells". There may be no cheery sunlight streaming through our windows but inside it's a cheery red, white and silver wonderland. And the chili lights, of course.

So keeping in mind that the colors red and white brighten me up at this time of year you can only imagine my delight when I came across some sweet, juicy, ripe, red raspberries in early December! Living on the west coast, and very near an agricultural area it isn't impossible to find raspberries late.  Well, what to do with the red luscious bursts of sunshine in my life?! Make a holiday dessert of course. Something red and white! Now I know raspberries may not be easy to find, so it's hardly fair for me to be sharing this dessert with you now. But I couldn't resist sharing the color combo. And I'm hoping this will inspire you to play in the kitchen a bit. Come up with something you like with your favorite holiday colors. If I didn't have fresh raspberries I would consider spreading my favorite preverves over the top, or using some dried fruit. If you have a sweet-tooth that runs deep you could try crushing up some candy canes and scattering them across the top of the melted chocolate. Have some fun!

One of my favorite dessert cookbooks is "Desserts 4 Today" written by Abigail Dodge. In her book there is a lovely Raspberry-White Chocolate Tart. Now I've never really ever made a true tart before because *gasp* I didn't own a tart pan. I'm a pie dish gal, so what you'll find in my baking collection are several different pie dishes - all shapes and sizes. What I did have was a 9-inch glass pie dish, red raspberries, white chocolate, some gingersnap cookies, and even heavy cream. So it wasn't hard to figure out that I was about to make a few simple adaptations to a recipe that was going to bring some real Christmas-red-and-white intensity to my family table! Oh, and I have since added a tart pan to my baking collection. Next time I come across a piece of fruit that is tart-worthy I'll be ready!

Here's what I did. Enjoy!

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A Holiday Beauty ~ Raspberry-White Chocolate Tart
Original recipe developed by Abigail Johnson Dodge - Desserts 4 Today
Adaptations by Mac from Dishin' In The Kitchen

What You Will Need:

6 ounces Gingersnap Cookies, crumbled fine

1/3 to 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

9 ounces White Chocolate chips, melted

3/4 Cup Heavy Cream

12 ounces Raspberries, rinsed and dried - or any other fresh fruit you would like to use

What I Did:

1. Weigh out 6 ounces of gingersnap cookies. Break up cookies into fine crumbs. I used my food processor.

2. Melt 1/3 cup of unsalted butter. Pour into cookie crumbs. Mix just enough to blend butter and crumbs well. Do not over process. Put cookie crumb mixture into bottom of pie dish.

3. Press evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the pie dish. Refrigerate crust until firm. About 30 minutes.

4. Place chocolate chips into a microwaveable bowl. Microwave 30 secs at a time until melted. Stir at end of each 30 sec. interval. About 1 to 1 and 1/2 minutes total.

4. Put melted chocolate and heavy cream into a medium sized bowl. Beat with an electric mixer, on low, until well blended and smooth, about 1 minute.

5. Spoon the mixture into the firm pie crust and spread evenly. Place in refrigerator for about 20 minutes, until chocolate is firm. If not serving immediately continue to cover with plastic until you are ready to arrange fruit, then serve.

5. Arrange the raspberries, or whatever fresh fruit, or fruit preserve, you choose to use on top of the chocolate filling.

6. Cut, serve, and enjoy!

Note:
The original recipe calls for a 9 ounce pie crust that you crumble and warm for 1 and 1/2 minutes in the microwave.  Stir until completely broken up. Use these crumbs as your pie crust. I didn't have the pie crust, but I did have cookies and butter. Both work.