Raspberry White Balsamic Fruit Tart

The wedding in is 6 days. Sometimes it's hard for me to feel excited about this, and I was scared this would be one of those things. It's not. I'm crazy excited for the wedding. I'm crazy excited to be tied to T- in a legal and love way. 


We have been through so much together over the past 4.6 years. Meeting in college, visiting parents, arguments, cape cod, friends, birthdays, love, happiness, sadness, anger, beauty, weirdness, and overall awesome-ness. I have learned so much, grown so much as a person, and have been very happy. 


I don't think it's going to be a perfect road in any way. I have my problems, T- has his problems, like anyone. But we fit each other well. 


And I'm happy. That's important.

Speaking of things that fit well together, Raspberry White Balsamic Vinegar in fruit tart. It's surprisingly good. I got this recipe from 17andbaking.com, and it's amazing. I modified it a little bit, and I really liked it. 


You'd be surprised how easy and how good this is...I made it in 1.8 short hours. And also managed to make some gluten free chocolate cookies as well (recipe to come!) 

Don't be frightened away by the Raspberry White Balsamic Vinegar requirement. You can make it with regular vinegar also, but in the italian food section of your grocery store, they'll probably have flavored balsamic vinegars. My regular grocery store had rosemary, raspberry, regular, sage, and a few others. Be adventurous! Try rosemary and tell me how it goes. Anyways, I got the this huge bottle for $4.99, so it's not too pricy :-) 

The tartness of the balsamic vinegar blends so well with the creaminess of the custard. Perfection is reached with the texture of the crumbly crust, and the sweetness of the fruit. It's really good. I made it for T-'s parents for this week before the wedding, and I'm reluctant to give it to him. I believe he will steal it out of my fridge though, therefore I must finish this post and guard my fridge...

Raspberry White Balsamic Fruit Tart
modified from 17andbaking.com
Pie Crust


1.25 cups all purpose flour
3 tbsp. sugar
0.25 tsp salt
0.5 cups (1 stick) of butter, chilled and cubed
0.75 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp. heavy whipping cream
1 large egg yellow


Raspberry White Balsamic Vinegar Filling


1.5 tbsp corn starch
4 egg yolks **Reserve the whites for some cookies I'll be posting later**
2 eggs
0.5 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
0.5 cup raspberry white balsamic vinegar
0.75 cup water
0.75 cup sugar
1 stick + 1 tbsp butter (little over 0.5 cup)
Fresh mixed berries for the top


First, turn on some music and have some fun baking. 


Now lets get to the real stuff, preheat oven for 375 degrees to bake the pie crust. In a food processor or a regular bowl if you don't have a food processor, mix together the flour, the salt, and sugar for the crust. Then mix in the butter, until it's tiny little lumps in the flour. Then mix in the vanilla extract, the yolk, and the whipping cream. When it's ready, it should start pulling away from the bowl, or food processor bowl. If it's too dry, add a little more whipping cream, and if it's too wet, then add flour. 


Press it into a tart tin or a pie tin, I did it in a pie tin, so it'll work either way. Then prick it all over with a fork. This is to prevent the formation of bubbles. Refrigerate it for a minimum of 20 minutes, and then toss it into the oven for 15 minutes, and it should turn golden brown. Pull it out and let it cool.


For the custard, whisk together the corn starch and the heavy whipping cream until there are no lumps (you don't want to do it too much otherwise the whipping cream will start to clump...forming well, whipping cream). Then add in the two eggs, mixing until they're just combined, then add in the 4 yolks. Add in the vanilla, then let it sit. 


While its sitting, in a medium saucepan heat the vinegar until its reduced from 0.5 cups to 0.25 cups approximately. Then add in the sugar, and water, and mix it together and allow it to come to a boil. Then pull it off the heat and let it sit for 1 minute off the heat. 


The slowly whisk in the vinegar mixture into the cream mixture. Make sure you add it slowly and you are whisking the whole time. This will prevent the eggs in the cream mixture from cooking. Mix it well, then run it through a sieve/strainer.


Straining it takes away any of the eggs that may have scrambled. Then allow it to sit for about an hour. 


When everything is cool, pour the custard into the pie crust, and stick it in the fridge for 30 minutes to set up. Then top in a pretty pattern with fresh berries! Chill for 2 hours, then serve!