A Raspberry Tart Your Husband (or You) Can't Refuse

I have to offer a heartfelt apology to all of you out there who were anticipating the winner of “The Zucchini Challenge” to be announced today. Between having guests over and the kids’ tennis camp and chasing 4 kids around the pool, I just didn’t have time to try out all the recipes I’ve received over the past week. So this weekend I shall get the food processor hummin’ and the Kitchen Aid beatin’ so that next week I can present to you the winning recipe.

But as a peace offering, I present to you this fabulous tart recipe. It’s simple but lovely, capturing all that is wonderful about that sweet little gem, the raspberry. My husband isn’t a huge dessert eater. If I make dessert for the family, chances are I’ll be polishing off the leftovers the next day and wearing my stretchy pants for the next week. But Shawn LOVED this recipe which I made the other night, and when I got home this morning from running errands, there he sat at the table with an empty Tupperware sitting in front of him and a smile on his face.

Raspberry Tart courtesy of Bon Appetit

8 whole graham crackers broken up
¼ c. brown sugar
¼ c. butter, melted
6 oz. cream cheese, room temp
1/3 c. sugar
½ c. sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 pint raspberries
¼ c. raspberry jam
1 tbsp. hot water

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Throw crackers and brown sugar in food processor and process into crumbs. Then add melted butter and process till nice and crumbly. Press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom (but if you don’t have this, a 9-inch pie pan will work just as well). Bake in the oven for about 8 minutes, till the crust is firm. Cool completely.

In a large bowl beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Pour into cooled crust and chill for at least 4 hours. When you’re ready to serve, arrange raspberries on top. Stir raspberry jam in a bowl with hot water till it has a syrup consistency. Drizzle over tart and serve.

Now the thing I really love about this dessert is that you can do it ahead of time, which I always find handy. You can assemble everything but the raspberries and jam up to a day ahead. Then right before you serve, just toss the raspberries and syrup on, and you’re good to go.

In honor of July 4th and this great country of ours, I’m taking Monday off to enjoy the holiday with my family but I will back bright and early Tuesday morning with the winning recipe (or two—I’m not very good at making decisions so there will now be a sweet and savory winner—how fun!). I hope you all have a lovely holiday weekend, and I’ll see you back here next week!