Raspberry Cream Cheese Tart

It’s always a wonderful surprise when matzo cake meal can be substituted for flour to produce a dessert that is indistinguishable from a dessert that we would eat at other times of the year. This wonderful tart combines a rich, delicate crust with a sweet cream cheese mixture, baked and then crowned with fresh raspberries.  It not only tastes great, but looks gorgeous as well. You may be as generous with the raspberries as your pocket book will allow you to be!

Food Editor's Note:  This delicious dessert makes an absolutely fabulous presentation.  The mounds of fresh red berries on the creamy filling in a golden crust are beautiful to behold and luscious to eat.  You can make this tart in stages, as I did – one day make the crust; the next day make the filling and bake and cool.  When you're ready to serve, just bring it to room temperature for the best flavor.  Add the berries and powdered sugar (there is a Passover version of confectioner's sugar available) and you're all set for oohs and aahs. 

Ingredients
Sweet Pastry Crust (for a 9-inch tart shell):
1 cup matzo cake meal
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
1 large egg yolk
3-4 tablespoons cold water

Filling:
12 ounces cream cheese (1 1/2 packages), at room temperature
1/4 cup heavy cream or sour cream, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla
2 large eggs, at room temperature

Topping:
3 pints fresh raspberries
Powdered sugar for dusting the tops of berries before serving

TO MAKE THE CRUST
1.  Process the matzo cake meal, sugar, and salt in a food processor for 20 seconds.  (Or whisk them together by hand in a large mixing bowl.)
2.  Distribute the butter evenly over the cake meal mixture and process until it resembles coarse meal, 15 to 20 seconds.  (Or rub the butter into the cake meal with your fingertips or cut it in with a pastry blender.)
3.  Whisk together the cold water and egg yolk.  Start with 3 tablespoons of water.  With the food processor running, pour the egg mixture in a steady stream through the feed tube and process just until the dough comes together, 20 to 30 seconds.  (Or sprinkle the egg mixture over the cake meal mixture while tossing with a fork.)  If necessary, add the extra water.
4.  On a surface lightly dusted with matzo cake meal, knead the dough for several turns to bring it together.
5.  Shape the dough into a thick disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate or roll it out right away.
6.  To roll out the dough, place the dough between 2 pieces of plastic wrap or waxed paper and roll it out to a circle 11 inches in diameter.
7.  Fit the dough into a 9-inch tart pan and trim the edge by rolling over the top of the pan with a rolling pin.  Refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes before baking.
8.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
9.  Line the crust with baking parchment or aluminum foil that has been greased on the underside.  Fill it with rice, beans, or pie weights.  [Food editor's note: I loosely fold the foil over the sides of the pan so that the top edges of the crust will not get too well done.]
10.  Bake the crust for 15 minutes.  Remove the weights and parchment very carefully so as not to disturb the crust, and continue to bake 2 to 3 minutes more.
11.  Allow the crust to cool completely before filling.

TO MAKE THE FILLING
1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Cream the cream cheese, heavy cream or sour cream, sugar, and vanilla in a food processor until thoroughly blended.  [Food editor's note:  I used a hand mixer for the filling.]
3.  Add the eggs and process for 10 seconds.  Pour the filling into the cooled tart shell.  Do not fill to the very top – leave at least 1/8 inch clearance.  Depending on the height of your tart pan, you may have a little bit of filling left over.
4.  Bake the tart on the center oven rack until the filling rises in the center and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
5.  Cool the tart on a rack.  It will take several hours.  If not serving immediately, cover and store in the refrigerator.

TO SERVE:
Bring the tart and the raspberries to room temperature.  [Food editor's note: Do not rinse the berries, as they will become soggy and bleed into the tart filling.]  Just before serving, toss the raspberries randomly on the top of the tart and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Yield:  8 to 10 servings.

Judy Rosenberg opened the first Rosie’s Bakery in Cambridge, and now has additional stores in Chestnut Hill and Boston’s South Station. Rosie’s Bakery has won so many Boston Magazine Best of Boston citations that it is now enshrined in their Hall of Fame. Judy is also the author of Rosie’s Bakery All-Butter, Fresh Cream, Sugar-Packed, No-Holds-Barred Baking Book, winner of an IACP/Julia Child Cookbook Award, and Rosie’s Bakery Chocolate-Packed, Jam-Filled, Butter-Rich, No-Holds-Barred Cookie Book.