Raspberry Lemon Tart

As I mentioned in earlier posts, I decided to try some different recipes for my Thanksgiving desserts this year.  Lemon tart was on the list, but it didn't quite work out as I had planned, so a raspberry sauce was added.  I came up with an easy, delicious solution to my lemon tart problems.

I started with a basic short dough.  Of course I rolled it out and chilled it for several hours before baking.  I wanted to brown the crust before adding and baking the lemon filling.  When I pulled my crust out of the oven, it was cracked.  I thought I would proceed as I normally would because when this happens with my chocolate tart, the chocolate is thick enough to not leak through.  Well, that was not the case for the lemon.  It leaked all out of the shell and all over the sheet pan I had put underneath it.  I ended up with a very thin layer of a very tart lemon filling in the shell.  I quickly decided to just make a simple raspberry sauce.  I threw some frozen raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, and water in a pot.  I let this cook and thicken then strained it to eliminate seeds.  I poured this on top of the lemon filling.  It set up somewhat in the refrigerator and was a deliciously sweet counterpart to the super tart lemon layer.  It ended up being a hit!

Keeping lots of different kinds of fruits in your freezer is a great way to be able to make all kinds of different desserts and sauces when needed.  You can throw any kind of frozen fruit into a basic muffin batter.  You could make a sauce or a syrup out of lots of different kinds of frozen fruits by just adding some sugar, cornstarch and water.  You could make a fruit pie or turnovers.  So, if you keep a freezer well stocked with frozen fruits, the possibilities are endless!