Chocolate Raspberry Tart

This luscious chocolate raspberry tart uses an easy press-in shortbread crust (no chilling required!) with a quick egg yolk custard. Fresh raspberries topped with a melted chocolate shell on top make for an elegant and delicious dessert.

Chocolate covered strawberries get all the credit, but have you ever had a chocolate covered raspberry? I’ve been dreaming of re-making this raspberry tart topped with a chocolate magic shell ever since last summer!

I used my fruit tart bake off to select the shortbread crust and pastry cream that are the lowest effort with the highest payoff in my opinion. Forget recipes that require working in cold butter, using a food processor, or rolling out pâte sucrée!

Alison Roman’s crust recipe uses melted butter for a shortbread dough that can be mixed by hand in under a minute. It also gets pressed into the tart pan (no rolling required!) for a rustic but very easy, no-fuss crust that bakes to golden perfection in 25 minutes or less.

I also like Alison Roman’s straightforward pastry cream with the perfect ratio of sugar to milk that lends a light but not overpowering sweetness. Thickened with both egg yolks and cornstarch, the cream cooks up in under 5 minutes on the stove and has a wonderfully creamy texture and vanilla flavor.

Why you’ll love this chocolate raspberry tart

• A symphony of textures: There’s the crunch of the chocolate shell, the creamy custard filling, the juicy raspberries and the melt-in-your-mouth crust. It’s simply a joy to eat!
• Chocolate + raspberries = love: If you love the combination of chocolate and raspberries, I can’t imagine anything better! Carried in a vehicle of a buttery shortbread crust and creamy custard, this is my ideal dessert.
• Short bake time: Fruit tarts are all about showcasing fresh fruit as summer heats up. All you’ll need to do is bake the crust for less than 30 minutes. The rest of the work is mainly assembly with just a bit of stove time to make the custard!
• No special equipment needed: You won’t need an electric mixer to make the simple melted butter crust. All you’ll need is a 9-inch tart pan (though a 9″ cake pan can also work in a pinch!).

How to make this tart from scratch

Find the full recipe below in the recipe card!

We start by making the custard so it has time to cool as the crust bakes.

1. In a small saucepan, heat up the milk and sugar over medium heat until the milk is steaming. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, cornstarch and salt.
2. Whisk in the hot milk gradually (so you don’t cook the eggs), then return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens into a starchy custard texture.
3. Immediately remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla extract. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (pressing the film against the surface of the custard to prevent a skin forming) and set aside to cool.

Next, we’ll make the crust:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Whisk together the flour, powdered sugar and salt. Pour in the melted butter and mix with your hands or a spatula until a soft dough forms.
2. Press the dough evenly into a 9-inch tart pan and prick all over with a fork. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crust is just starting to brown on the bottom and sides.
3. Once the tart crust is done, turn the oven off and immediately sprinkle 1/4 cup chocolate chips over the crust. Place the crust back in the oven for a minute or two to let the chips melt in the residual heat.
4. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the bottom of the crust and set the crust aside to cool.

And now, to assemble!

1. Melt the remaining 1/2 cup of chocolate chips with oil in the microwave or double boiler until smooth.
2. Place the raspberries in a decorative pattern on the tart shell, packing them tightly together. Drizzle the melted chocolate over the top of the raspberries, pausing over each berry to get maximum coverage (you likely will not coat the entire surface of the tart, but it’ll still taste delicious!).
3. Refrigerate the finished tart for at least 30 minutes to let the chocolate shell harden before serving. The tart will develop a bit of condensation the longer it sits in the fridge, so I recommend serving soon after assembling if possible.

Tip and tricks

• Pick the perfect raspberries: This tart is all about showcasing beautiful raspberries, so make sure to try to pick the freshest, most plump berries you can find! Although I used about 2 pints of raspberries for this 9-inch tart, it’s best to buy 3 pints just in case. Usually there are some crushed berries in each pint that aren’t ideal for using.

Serving and storage recommendations

This tart is best served fresh the day it’s made! If you’d like to make this ahead, you can bake the tart shell a day ahead (with the chocolate shell) and keep it tightly wrapped at room temperature until you’re ready to use. You can also make the custard up to 3-4 days ahead of time as it will keep well in the fridge.

Covered well or kept in an airtight container, the tart will keep in the fridge for at least 3-5 days!