It’s that time of year again when certain parts of the Island become dotted with home-grown lemonade stands run by miniature-sized budding entrepreneurs. And lemme tell ya, these little girls are gooood. Smart, charming and insanely cute, a genuine triple threat. During a regular stroll along our favorite beach, two little sisters sold us their lemonade, pink or regular, for 10 cents a dixie cup plus 10 cents more for a bunch of freshly picked lilacs. The younger of the two sisters took extra care to ensure I picked the very best bunch left sitting in their water filled bucket. A rare showing of pure innocence and goodness captured in a few short moments. I choked back the tears.
This Lemon Buttermilk Raspberry Tart is dedicated to those two little girls and all 6-year-old-rock stars like them. The tart is like the younger, bratty sibling of the Mascarpone Strawberry Tart – a little more work and monitoring involved, but still so loved in the end. Tart and sweet, with a bit of crunch in the crust from the crushed almonds and a creamy, yet light, lemon buttermilk filling that mingles perfectly with fresh raspberries. It sings of long, lazy summer days and conjures up images of a simpler, slower time filled with never-ending lemonade stands.
Lemon Buttermilk Raspberry Tart
Tweaked from Martha Stewart’s Buttermilk Pie (Everyday Food, April ’09) and Blueberry Tart (Martha Stewart Living, May ’07)
If you don’t have any buttermilk on hand (and who ever does?), you can make your own simply by adding one tbsp of vinegar to one cup of milk. Let it sit for about 10 minutes until it starts to thicken and curdle. That’s it! Instant buttermilk.
Music Pairing: My Girl, The Temptations
Ingredients
crust:
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp coarse salt
- 1/3 cup blanched whole almonds
filling:
- 1 large egg white, beaten until frothy
- 2/3 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 3 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk, well shaken
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1-2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- zest of one lemon
Method
for crust:
With an electric mixer on low speed, beat butter and 1/4 cup sugar until just combined, about 15 seconds. Add flour and salt, and beat until dough comes together, about 3 minutes. Add one tsp of water, if needed. Shape into a disk. Pulse remaining 1/3 cup sugar and the almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Scatter half of the almond mixture onto a clean work surface, and place dough on top. Scatter the remaining almond mixture on top, and roll out dough, re-sprinkling with almond mixture and incorporating into dough, until dough measures an 11-inch round.
Fit dough into a 9 1/2-inch round tart pan with removable bottom, pressing into bottom and up sides. Trim dough flush with rim. Refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes (or up to 1 day). Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake tart shell, occasionally pressing bottom to flatten using the bottom of a glass, until light brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool.
for filling:
In a food processor, process sugar and flour until well combined. Add eggs; process until smooth. Add buttermilk, butter, and salt; process just until blended. Stir in lemon juice and zest. Pour into crust. You may have some filling leftover that can be used for a mini-tart..
Bake until filling is almost set but center still jiggles slightly when pan is gently shaken, 25 to 30 minutes.
Transfer tart to a rack; cool completely. Top with as many raspberries as your little heart desires. Cover, and refrigerate at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
So cute. I must try this recipe immediately. Wait- no oven in my Japanese-style kitchen… Sigh. Will have to wait until June! Thanks for the beautiful post!
What a beautiful post! Lovely photo and idea. This is one to have on hand all summer when the berries are affordable. Thanks, s
Gorgeous tart! and what a lovely story to go along with it.
WOW! you are too good!
That is one gorgeous tart. I am tasting it. I love the idea of moppets with their lemonade stands – and you need to try them all out. I will (ahem) copy the idea of the lilac buds on the dessert before mine are blown away for another year.
What an absolutely gorgeous photo! Just stunning.
Your photo of this tart is absolutely swoon-worthy :) Really delicious!
Cheers!
Gera
Your photography is amazing and art director worthy. And the blog layout too, wow. I’ll think I’ll go cry in the corner now. But seriously, very nicely done.
Oh, my kids love having lemonade stands. You lucked out with the lilacs too!
This tart is stunning. You did an amazing job.
That tart looks fantastic! Everyone is right about the photo being gorgeous too. Good job. :)
That sounds so refreshing! Lemon and raspberry is one of my favorite flavor combos! Yum!
The photo is beautiful, and I bet that it tasted just as good (if not better) than it looks in the photo.
I am definitely trying this soon.
What a bright refreshing tart! I love lemon and raspberry together. A perfect springtime dessert!
This looks like the perfect summer dessert! The photography is also gorgeous.
You did a LOT of work for this super refined treat. So well Done!
What a beautiful dessert! Looks delicious.
wow what a beautiful tart i adore your blog Rebecca
Looks beautiful and delicious!
Beautiful presentation, especially like the delicate flowers.
A great introduction for a person making a tart for the first time.
Thank you for sharing.
this looks duper delish. love almonds and raspberries together. thanks for the gorgeous tart.
Such a fresh and vivid photo composition :)
Pretty!
Looks great!
Wow, that looks delicious! And beautiful too. What a great blog you have!
What a beautiful tart. But I do usually have buttermilk in the house, because I love to cook with it. And it makes a great fresh ricotta if you mix it with milk and heat it. Love the story about the lemonade girls. Too much!
oh, your fresh ricotta idea sounds just delicious – i will have to try that!
this ricotta sound addictive.. tummies are rumbling for them… found your blog very interesting.. stunning photography!! you are doing a great job.. keep it up!! and thanx for sharing all these yummy recipes… i just loved them all
cheers!!
nora
What a pretty and whimsical presentation! Love the little flowers.
Has anyone actually made and tasted this tart, or are we all just going to eat the beautiful picture?
Just tried making it and it turned out pretty well. I didn’t have buttermilk so just used the lemon juice in lowfat milk method. I used a 10 in tart pan and didn’t have any leftover crust or filling. The crust turned out great, but I had wayyy too much of the almond sugar. Maybe I just don’t like things very sweet, but even without 2/3 of the almond sugar to coat the crust, the tart is still on the sweet side (but very delicious)! So if you want to go easy on the sweetness, you could probably skimp on the this part. The filling turns out great, just enough lemon but not overpowering, and the lemon with the raspberry is a really great combo. Thanks so much for the recipe! I’m definitely putting this down as a keeper! Especially the crust, delicious and simple.