Tuesdays with Dorie - Soft Chocolate and Raspberry Tart

Raspberries and Chocolate. What a wonderful combination. Many thanks to Rachelle of Mommy? I'm Hungry! for picking this recipe for our Tuesdays with Dorie choice this week. Please drop by her blog. She has the prettiest backgound and her site is full of recipes, product reviews, and fabulous photos! Thank you Rachelle for choosing such a fabulous dessert.

I for one was thrilled to see this recipe come up and just as thrilled to give it a try. Raspberries and Chocolate. What a wonderful combination. :) Is there an echo in here?!

I love Dorie's tart crust recipe. I have used it for several different tarts now and I must say, for me, it is about foolproof. Throw it together in a food processor and press it into a tart pan, bake it and boom! You are in business. I made this one with the nuts as she recommends. Turned out perfect. My only complaint, and it happened the last time I baked this crust, is that a small amount of the tart stuck to the foil when I peeled it off of the tart after the first baking. So, my pretty tart looks a bit rough in the pan. But, I am not losing too much sleep over it because no one can see it after I add the filling, what ever it might be.

I made the tart crust up last Friday and popped it into the freezer. Then, this morning I baked it and set it on the counter to cool. I almost over baked it. Got distracted multi-tasking, but pulled it from the oven just in time I think.

I was lucky enough to find some really nice raspberries at the grocery store that weren't too outrageously priced. And, wonders will never cease, there wasn't a moldy one in the bunch!

Once my tart crust had cooled I covered the bottom with the fresh raspberries. Then, I made up the filling. I didn't have any milk chocolate in the house, but I did have two bars of Ghirardelli's Semi-sweet chocolate. I decided to use 3 ounces of the bittersweet bar I had and 2 ounces of the semi-sweet bar. The filling came together with no major problems. I did have what seemed like a lot of bubbles and I rapped the bowl on the counter quite a few times trying to get them all to rise to the surface and pop.

Put the tart into the oven, set the timer for 30 minutes and went off to do other things around the house (usual day off stuff...laundry, changing sheets, dishes, catch up on my blog reading, etc.) After what seemed like a good while I went into the kitchen to see how much time was left on the times. What I saw was "End". I guess I never heard the beeper go off! I yanked open the oven door, expecting to see a burnt mess, but the tart didn't look bad at all. I stuck a knife into the center and it came out with some streaks of chocolate. So, I lucked out. Seems a fair number of bakers had to bake their tarts longer than the recipe stated. I guess I did the same, without realizing it. :D

The verdict? Oh! My! Goodness! Susan! Put down the fork and step away from the tart!! I swear I could have eaten half of it in one sitting. The crust is crisp, and buttery and tender and just delicious! The chocolate filling is like silk in your mouth. Wonderfully creamy and smooth and rich. The raspberries almost melt when you bite into them and the tartness of each berry is perfection when paired with the chocolate. After I took my pictures I scarfed down the slice on the plate and then began eyeballing the rest of the tart. It was only with the greatest use of willpower was I able to put down the fork. The hubby? He said he'd rather eat the carrot cake! Can you imagine?!?! If you read my post about the carrot cake I made over the weekend you will realize the impact of that statement . He'd rather eat the carrot cake.  Hey, that's absolutely fine with this girl!

Please drop by TWD to see what the other bakers thought of this fabulous dessert. There was a lot of buzz about different fruits being used. Can't wait to see!