White Chocolate Raspberry Tort for Abby

I was aware of Abby's love of white chocolate for a while. I remember one lunch when she bought a bar and I was slightly surprised because I don't know many people who can eat that much white chocolate by itself. So when Abby's turn came around I thought what better companion to white chocolate than raspberries? The tangy raspberries offset the richness of the white chocolate while the bittersweet tart grounds the ensemble. This tart is from The Art of the Tart by Tamasin Day-Lewis but it has been slightly modified by my mother (I used the recipe from my mother's blog).

For the Chocolate Pastry Crust:

• 1 c flour
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbs confectioner's sugar
• 4 tbs cold butter, cut into small chunks
• 1 egg yolk
• A few tbs ice water

For the Filling:

• 1 c creme fraiche
• 1 c heavy cream
• 6 oz white chocolate, cut into small pieces
  
• 1/2 lb raspberries
• A little cocoa powder for decoration

Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease a 9" tart pan. Sift the flour, cocoa and sugar into the bowl of your food processor. Add in the chunks of butter and process briefly. Add the egg yolk and a tablespoons or two of water, and process just until the dough coheres. Wrap and refrigerate the dough for half an hour (I didn't). Roll on a surface sprinkled with some cocoa powder and line your prepared tart pan. Bake the pastry crust blind with beans for 20 minutes, and 10 minutes more without the beans. It should be crisp and slightly browned. Cool.

Bring 1/3 c of the whipping cream to boil. Pour it over the pieces of white chocolate and stir until completely melted. Refrigerate for a few hours. Whip the remaining 2/3 c cream until thick. Combine it and the creme fraiche with the white chocolate mixture, and stir until the filling comes together uniformly.

Crush some of the raspberries lightly so that they release some juice. Line the cooled pastry crust with the berries. Pour the filling, and use a spoon to smooth it over the fruit. Refrigerate for a couple of hours before you dust the tart lightly with cocoa powder and serve or decorate the top with white chocolate curls by scraping thin slices with a knife (the white chocolate curls better when the it is slightly warm). The consistency and flavor definitely improve after a night of refrigeration.