A few weeks ago, Justin and I spent a Saturday in Old Town, Fort Collins and popped into a small bakery for some treats. We bought some delicious Manchego cheddar biscuits and a slice of raspberry lemon tart. {Northern Colorado peeps…check out the Little Bird Bakeshop, you will not be disappointed.} That tart…that unbelievably scrumptious tart…sparked a great desire in us to make our own! And when I say us, I mean my amazing baker husband Justin. He made three tarts before he found the perfect recipes. Recipe is plural because he ended up combining three of them to get the results he wanted! I know that may sound kind of exhausting, but he swears that the final recipe I’ve posted here really is extremely easy. So don’t be intimidated…this tart was amazing and well worth the three step process to make it! And it looks amazing too! {Seriously…look! Look how pretty this thing is!}
Mixed Berry Lemon Tart
Yield 8-12 servings
Recipe from various sources: crust - back of a Wilton Bakeware dish; filling - a nice lady named Allyson from our grocery store; glaze - Food.com
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup confectioners sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
Lemon Filling
- 5 ounce cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice {2 large lemons}
- 1 tablespoon lemon zest
- 3 cups mixed berries {strawberries, blueberries, raspberries}
Glaze
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 cup fruit juice {any kind}
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
Instructions
Shortbread Crust
- In a large bowl, combine the fl0ur, sugar, and salt. Mix it together and blend it well.
- Add the butter pieces and beat with an electric mixer until it’s all incorporated and the mixture turns to moist crumbles, for about 1 minute.
- Pour the mixture into the tart pan. Press the crust evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan.
- Preheat your oven to 350*F and freeze the crust for 15 minutes.
- Remove the crust from the freezer and bake it for 18-22 minutes or until it’s a light golden brown.
- Let it cool completely before putting in any filling.
Lemon Filling
- Preheat your oven back to 350*F.
- Swirl the cream cheese in a mixer or food processor until it’s smooth.
- Add the sugar, eggs, lemon juice, and zest, one at a time, until it’s all smooth.
- Pour the filling into the tart shell and bake it at 350*F for 25 minutes.
- Remove the tart from the oven and cool it in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Once it’s cooled, top it with the berries.
Glaze
- Bring the sugar and 1/2 cup of the juice to a boil.
- Dissolve the cornstarch in the remaining juice. Add it to the boiling juice and cook it until it’s thick.
- Stir in the corn syrup. Bring it back to a boil and remove it from the heat.
- Let the glaze cool and drizzle it all over the tart.