Elegant French Raspberry Tart

French raspberry tart is made with a short crust base that’s filled with sweet vanilla custard mixture and topped with juicy fresh raspberries!

Both the crust pastry and the creamy custard filling can be made ahead of time and stored separately in the fridge, ready to be blind-baked and assembled within minutes. 

Enjoy this beautiful French raspberry tart as a dessert or sweet treat with your tea. If you’re looking for more scrumptious tart recipes, be sure to try my Pear Tart with French Almond Cream, Apple Crumble Tart, or Chocolate Ganache Tart!

Isn't easy? Don't get intimidated by French recipes. Remember how I demystify the French Crème Brûlée for you?

Jump to:

• 🥧 Why you will love this Tart
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Ingredients You’ll Need
• 📋 Variations
• 🥣 Instructions
• 💭 FAQs
• 📖 French Raspberry Tart

🥧 Why you will love this Tart

• This sweet tart can be baked all year round since raspberries are available most of the year.
• French raspberry tart is an elegant dessert that’s simple to make with pantry-staple ingredients. 
• A fruity summer-time dessert for special occasions or weekend social gatherings. 

Delicious warm, at room temperature, or even cold.

👩🏻‍🍳 Ingredients You’ll Need

This elegant raspberry tart is straightforward, offering a sophisticated dessert without effort. Here are the ingredients you’ll need to get started:

• Raspberries - Washed and dried. 

For the short crust

• Butter - Unsalted butter is best for flavor and to control the salt content. Allow it to soften slightly and cut it into cubes.
• Flour - All-purpose or plain flour is great for a crumbly pastry crust.
• Salt - Just a pinch. Omit if using salted butter.
• Egg - 1 medium-sized egg.
• Egg white - 1 egg white.

For the French vanilla pastry cream

• Milk - Use full-fat milk for the best flavor and creamy consistency.
• Vanilla bean - Scraped.
• Egg yolks - You’ll need 3 large egg yolks. Use free-range eggs for the best quality.
• Sugar - Granulated sugar is best.
• Cornstarch - Used as a thickening agent. 

📋 Variations

Looking for ways to adapt this French raspberry tart recipe? I’ve got you covered: 

• Crust: Use a store bought tart shell instead of making your pastry crust dough from scratch. Great if you are rushed for time! 
• Size: Make mini French raspberry tarts using mini tart molds. 
• Fruit: I’ve made this French tart recipe with fresh raspberries. You could make it with strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or a combination. 
• Sugar: Caster sugar can replace granulated sugar in the almond filling. 
• Garnish: Consider sprinkling this French raspberry tart with confectioner’s sugar, icing sugar, coconut flakes, or toasted almonds. 
• Flavor: Vanilla extract can be used instead of the scraped vanilla bean, although nothing beats the flavor of freshly scraped vanilla bean. 

🥣 Instructions

1. First, make the shortcrust. Mix the butter, flour, and salt together in a large mixing bowl until it crumbles between your fingers.

2. Next, add the egg and gently work it into a smooth ball. Now it’s ready to be added to the fridge to set for about 20 minutes and then rolled onto a lightly floured surface. 

3. Then, roll the dough thinly and place it into the baking mold to blind-bake for 12-13 minutes at 350F. Poke the pastry lightly with a fork and add parchment paper and some baking beads or dry beans on top as a weight. Remove the beads and bake for another 4-5 minutes or until the crust is golden.

Tip: Although the pastry must be thin, it must still be thick enough so that it doesn’t break. The poked holes in the pastry allow steam to escape without breaking the pastry or creating raised pockets, and the baking beads help prevent the pastry from rising too much. 

4. Now, make the French vanilla pastry cream by bringing the milk, scraped vanilla bean, and the opened bean to a boil. 

5. Next, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a separate bowl.

6. Remove the milk from the stove and pour the milk through a strainer into the egg mixture while stirring. Add the cornstarch and stir to get rid of any lumps. 

7. Return the mixture to the stove on low heat and continue to heat until the cream thickens. Remove and allow it to cool. 

8. Lastly, assemble your French raspberry tart by spreading the pastry cream into the crust to the height of the borders. Place the raspberries gently on top, and you’re done!

💭 FAQs

I highly recommend making my recipes using a scale but for your convenience, I have also converted the recipe using this website.

Pastry Cream adapted and inspired from the book French Cooking.