Raspberry and white chocolate tarts

These tarts aren’t at all what I was planning on baking at the weekend.

I wanted to make a blueberry buckle, but everywhere I went the price of blueberries was extortionate – I thought being in season made things cheaper?! As the recipe called for 4 or 5 packs, that plan swiftly went out the window.

Raspberries on the other hand were only £1.25 per punnet, so I bought some of those instead and decided to use up the last of my raspberry curd in these little tarts.

White chocolate is a classic partner for raspberry, and I had a spare 100g cream cheese from another recipe (to be posted soon) so that sorted out the other layer of the tarts – and in the end I think everything came together rather nicely!

I think some of the best things I’ve made have come about from using what I have to hand rather than following a recipe, and these are a great example of that – although the buckle is still on my to-bake list, just as soon as I spy a blueberry bargain…

Raspberry and white chocolate tarts

Makes 4 individual tarts

• 50g butter
• 100g plain flour
• 25g icing sugar
• 8 tbsp raspberry curd
• 100g cream cheese
• 65g white chocolate
• icing sugar to taste
• 150g raspberries

To make the pastry, sieve together the flour and sugar, then rub in the butter until the mixture forms a fine breadcrumb-like texture. Add in a tiny bit of water and cut through the mixture with a butter knife – it should start to come together into a dough, but if you have any dry crumbs around the edges of the bowl add a little more water. Knead the dough briefly, then chill for half an hour.

Once chilled, divide the dough into four equal pieces and roll each out into a circle about 12cm round. Lay the pastry into 10cm round tart tins, prick the bottom with a fork and return to the fridge for an hour or so.

When you’re ready to bake the tarts, line with baking paper and baking beans (or dry rice/pasta) and blind bake for 10 minutes, then remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes, or until crisp and just starting to go golden. Unfortunately I got distracted taking photos of something else so mine are a little browner on the edges than I would have liked…

Melt 15g of the white chocolate and use to brush the bases of the tarts. This will help stop the curd making the pastry go soggy. When the chocolate has set, spread 2 tbsp raspberry curd into the bottom of each, and chill in the fridge while you make the white chocolate layer.

Melt the remaining 50g white chocolate then beat into the cream cheese until well mixed. You can add an extra pinch of icing sugar at this point if you want, depending on how sweet you want the tarts to be. As the raspberry curd was quite runny, I piped the white chocolate mix on top, starting around the edge and working my way in so it wouldn’t sink and mess up the layers.

Finally, add the fresh raspberries on top of the tarts – then eat!