Rêves Francophones, Part One: Raspberry Browned-Butter Tart

I've only been back in the states for a week, and I'm already having serious French food withdrawals. If you had lived five glorious weeks in the land of the world's best cheese and pastries and then been violently removed back to the land of burgers and enchiladas, you would understand.

My nostalgia led me to do some baking of my own. This tart is a hybrid of a popular French fruit tart and the popular Southern browned-butter pie. I think it's a winner. The sweet, nutty browned-butter perfectly compliments the tart flavor of the fresh raspberries. And a homemade crust is always a winner in my book.

Hello, beautiful.

Raspberry Browned-Butter Tart

Ingredients:

Crust:

7 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

pinch of salt

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup diced unsalted butter

12 oz fresh raspberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix the melted butter, sugar and vanilla for the crust in a medium bowl. Stir in flour and salt until incorporated. Refrigerate dough for roughly 5 minutes.

2. Transfer dough to 9-inch pie or tart pan. Press dough evenly into sides and bottom of pan.

3. Bake crust until just golden, about 15 minutes. Crust will puff slightly while baking. Allow crust to cool while preparing filling.

4. Whisk sugar, eggs and salt for the filling in a medium bowl. Slowly add in flour and vanilla; whisk until smooth.

5. Brown butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. The butter should slowly turn medium brown and begin to smell nutty. Make sure you don't burn it, though! This is the trickiest part.

6. Transfer butter to its own (preferably glass) cup and let it rest and cool for several minutes.

7. Arrange raspberries side-up in concentric circles inside the cooled pie crust. (Or dump them in... as you like.)

8. Mix browned butter slowly in three stages into the egg and sugar mixture. Whisk until incorporated.

9. Carefully pour filling over arranged raspberries in crust.

10. Bake about 35-40 minutes or until puffy and golden.

The concentric circles idea becomes more of a loose idea in practice....

Viola! A beautiful piece of raspberry tart.

Happy summer, y'all.

--Alyssa