some come, some go

Well, I'm back! Miss me?
No? Well that's okay.

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming. Today I have made a brown butter tart with raspberries. You can make it with whatever fruit you like, but I like the tartness of the raspberry since it cuts through the sweetness of the tart very well. This is a completely baked tart unlike my previous ones, and it's delicious, nutty, and rich. It's not especially summery, but I've been making lots of autumn-y foods lately, so maybe my mind is trying to tell me something... that it's ready for summer to end, perhaps? It's served best slightly chilled but not frigid. It's not so great warm, to be honest.

I put together this tart using a crust recipe from Baker's Companion, the filling from Bon Appétit, and the streusel I made myself.

It's not much to look at (some powdered sugar would do wonders), especially considering I made too much streusel for this one. I used a full cup of flour and sugar instead of 3/4, so you can't see the berries very well. Whatever! It still tastes delish.

Brown Butter (Raspberry) Tart
Makes one 9-inch tart

Crust:
1 1/4 cups flour (pastry if possible)
1 tsp nonfat, dry milk (optional)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, chilled
1 egg yolk, cold
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs cold water

Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, and dry milk. Cut in the butter until the largest pieces are about the size of large peas. Mix the egg yolk, vanilla, and water together, and then stir it into the other ingredients. Roll out the crust and place it in a 9-inch tart pan, and then chill for 30 minutes in the fridge. You may want to chill the mixture some before rolling it out if your ingredients have gotten warm. Bake at 375F for 12 minutes, covered in parchment paper and weighted down. Remove the weights and parchment, and then bake for another 2 minutes. Allow the crust to cool. You may leave the oven on. The entire tart will continue to bake at this temperature.

Filling:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 stick butter, diced
12 oz (2 packages) raspberries or other fruit

Mix the sugar, eggs, and salt together. Add the flour and vanilla, and mix until smooth. Place the butter in a pan, and melt it over medium heat for 5 or 6 minutes until the water in the butter has mostly evaporated and the butter has turned brown. (If you wish, you may add the extra stick of butter included the streusel recipe at this point and only pour half of the butter into the egg-flour mixture. Since the water will have evaporated, it will be 6.5 tbs of butter, not 8 in the mixture.) However, don't let it burn! Pour the butter into a heat-proof bowl and add the sugar-egg-flour mixture and combine. Arrange the berries however you would like on top of the crust and pour the mixture over it. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Streusel:
1 stick butter, melted and browned
3/4c sugar
3/4c flour
1tsp lemon zest

Whisk the flour, sugar, and zest together in a medium-sized bowl. Pour the brown butter over the mixture. Using a butter knife, form a streusel with the largest pieces about 3/4" - 1" across. After the tart has baked for 30 mins, remove the tart and cover it with the streusel. Return to the oven and bake for 15 more minutes. Place the tart on a rack and allow to cool. You will likely wish to chill it some before you eat it.