One Raspberry Tart and One Lemon Meringue Tart to go, please....

Today was a pretty successful day in the kitchen. On the list to recipe test were an idea for a lemon meringue tart - based on Arlene's infamous lemon meringue pie and a Raspberry Frangipane Creme Tart.

Raspberry Frangipane Cream Tart

I will start with the Raspberry Tart. The result was pretty right on. Need some tweaking - mainly in the pastry crust. I think that needs to be tweaked all the way around as it was the same recipe I used for the Lemon Meringue Tart as well. Will be playing with that over the next week. The Vanilla Creme Patisserie was just downright fabulous! My first attempt at Frangipane was much more successful than I had anticipated. It took me some searching to find just how fine I needed to grind the almonds, silly it seems. Its always very difficult to tell if you have something right the first time you attempt a new skill and have no idea what the standard is. Thank goodness for the internet and youtube, although you can't taste test a video! I am on a mission in Madison to find a restaurant where I can sample a good frangipane and pavlova, so if you know of one - let me in on it!

So my self-critique on the Raspberry Tart -
Try a different Pastry Crust and make it thicker and travel up the sides further, so it doesn't shrink.
Frangipane need to be thinner.
Add a thin layer of Creme Patisserie onto the crust BEFORE the frangipane.
Cool the creme pat longer - as well as the entire tart.
Revamp the glaze for the berries.

However - I consider all of that minor. The taste was spot on, so say the family at least. There is still some left over - come over tomorrow and try some for yourself!

As for the Lemon Meringue Tart - The lemon curd was perfect! I will post a pic when I get the meringue perfect and change up the pastry crust!

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