Oh my. This one is crazy good, and perfect for the holidays. Please make it. You’ll thank me, and your guests will thank you. Picture this—a buttery shortbread crust, lined with chopped walnuts and smothered with raspberries, filled with a simple custard batter and baked. It’s like a clafoutis wrapped in a shortbread cookie. The tart raspberries with the buttery crust? Amazing.
It’s easy to make. The crust requires no rolling out. You just process flour, butter, and powdered sugar in a food processor or blender until it comes together in a dough, and then you press the dough into a tart pan with your fingers. You do pre-bake the crust, and I find that freezing a crust before you pre-bake it helps keep the crust sides from collapsing as they bake, so this step may be a little fussy, but it’s not hard.
The photos show a ceramic tart pan we used for this tart. We’ve also made it with a metal tart pan with a removable bottom, which works even better, making it easy to remove the tart from the pan for slicing into serving pieces. If you use a tart pan with a removable bottom, place the pan on top of a rimmed baking sheet in the oven to catch any butter from the crust that may leak.
Many thanks to my friend Gabrielle who gave us this recipe with a twinkle in her eye, just knowing how much we would enjoy her raspberry walnut tart. Thanks Gabby!
Raspberry Walnut Tart Recipe
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups (200g) flour
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar (80g)
- 1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup or 12 Tbsp) butter
Filling:
- 3/4 cup (75g) chopped walnuts
- 10 ounces (283g) frozen or fresh raspberries (do not defrost if frozen)
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup (150g) white granulated sugar
- 1/4 (35g) cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Method
1 Make the crust. Place the crust ingredients—flour, powdered sugar, and butter—in a blender or food processor. Process until a dough forms, about 30 seconds to a minute. Lightly grease the inside of a 9 to 10 inch wide, 1 inch high, tart pan with a little butter. Place the dough in the tart pan. Use your fingers to spread the dough and press it evenly all over the inside of the tart pan. (You can use a rolling pin to roll over the top of the tart pan to remove any excess dough and create an even top edge.) Place in the freezer and freeze for one hour or longer.
Pre-bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 25 minutes. (It helps if before baking you line the crust with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights, such as dry beans; this will keep the tart crust from slumping.) Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes.
2 Heat the oven again to 350F (175°C). Place the chopped walnuts in the crust in the tart pan and spread evenly over the bottom. Place the fresh or frozen raspberries on top of the walnuts and spread in an even layer.
3 Beat together the remaining filling ingredients—eggs, sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla—until smooth. Pour the egg mixture over the raspberries and walnuts in the crust.
4 Bake in the oven on the middle rack for 40 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned all over and the filling has set. When you remove the tart from the oven the center should still wiggle just a little. Take a sharp knife around the edge of the tart to separate it a little bit from the pan. This will make it easier to remove pieces once the tart has cooled.
Let cool to room temperature to serve.
Yield: Serves 8.
The crust is beautiful. Do I really have to share it?
Served this along with other desserts Xmas day and it was a big hit,infact my son-in-law and another quest were arguing who was going to get the last piece. I baked it in a tart pan with a removable bottom, put it on a pretty glass plate and then decorated the plate, it looked so prertty
Lil
I just made something very similar this week except I used lots of lemon in the custard, omitted the walnuts, and added a bit of buckwheat to the crust. The fans went wild!
(The recipe I was using: http://bit.ly/nzQLX0)
YAY!! I have all the ingredients! This looks fantastic!
Going to make this with blackberries. We recently moved to the Pacific NW- blackberries everywhere! Love clafoutis. Love buttery crust. I have a freezer full of blackberries. The rest of the recipe will remain the same. Thanks!
Do you think that substituting almonds for the walnuts would affect the texture too much?
I don’t know. You could also grind up almonds to make almond flour and substitute a little of that (maybe a quarter cup) in the flour of the crust.
This looks lovely! Do you use salted or unsalted butter for the crust? Thanks!
I use unsalted butter, but you could use salted butter if you want.
Is the baking time going to vary depending on whether I use fresh or frozen raspberries? Or should I defrost the frozen ones before using them? Thanks.
The baking time may be a little shorter with the fresh raspberries. If you use frozen raspberries, do not defrost them. I tried that the first time I attempted this tart and the raspberries defrost into a mushy lump. You’ll have much better results if you keep them frozen as many of them will stay whole and the juices will not completely run in with the custard.
love the look of this. i wonder if cranberries would work, or would they be too tart? i like the idea of making it extra holiday-ish :)
Maybe, if you coated the cranberries in sugar first. Otherwise they might be too tart.
If anyone tries it with cranberries, please let us know. I would be interested in the result. The recipe as is looks amazing.
that sounds delicious, and it looks so lovely! perfect for the holidays!
ELISE! Thank you so much for this. I am visiting my Mama in Sacramento later this month and she loves anything with nuts and fruit for dessert with buttery crust. I am not joking when I say I have been coming up with desserts to make her mouth water. I miss her so much that the way I love to connect with her when I see her is a hug and great food. This is what I am making her, we will love it together! Where did you get your raspberries, they are watery up her in the Northwest right now? But I imagine better in Sacramento.
Hi Fabiola, I just used frozen raspberries from Whole Foods. They crumbled a bit, but overall worked just fine.
Elise! How perfect! Many of us in the Pacific Northwest are year-round raspberry lovers, and this recipe definitely will be used this holiday season! Happy holidays!
Lovely! This is such a pretty tart…I love fruit-custard-nut tarts like these, so tasty.
Ruh Roh, I’m in trouble. Raspberries and custard both my faves…together?? YUM!!! I think I will make this for a Christmas dessert.
Raspberry and walnut anything that has those two thing in it I love…. <3 Looking at food blogs while being hungry is not the best idea hahaha!
What about using cranberries? It would be so seasonal
As mentioned in an earlier comment, I think cranberries may be a little tart. If you use them, I would recommend dusting them with sugar before putting them in the pan.
Elise, I love your recipes! Could you use pecans instead of walnuts?
Hi Diane, yes, I think it would be great with pecans.
Looks absolutely gorgeous and I know the taste will be amazing! Thank you and happy holidays to you and yours!
Thank you. I have been on the look out for something different in the way of holiday deserts. I love raspberries and shortcake so this will hit the spot. I have frozen raspberries in my freezer from this summer. I might try draining them a little bit before using.
Isn’t this pretty! Love the bright red red red amidst the soft brown pillow of custardy filling. I have to figure out what I’d sub the raspberries for because it’s not so common here. I think any kind of soft fruit would work, right?
Hi Elise thank you for a wonderful site, this recipe looks so good what do you mean by powdered sugar, here in Aus we have ordinary sugar caster sugar and icing sugar which is used for icing cakes is this what you mean by powdered sugar?
Yes, it is the sugar that you would typically use to make icing.
I am going to try this for a girls morning out! I have sour cherries in my freezer so hopefully they will work.
I have never been one to make anything that includes a homemade crust (I do not have the proper tools much less skill) but this appears simple. Not only am I inspired but I absolutely love your site!
Any thoughts on how this would perform with gluten free flour?
I absolutely hope blueberries will work in this recipe. The freezer is full…but no raspberries in sight. My gang loves blueberries and this looks like something I could convert to gluten-free fairly easily so…..crossing my fingers for a Christmas dessert with this one!
This sounds *wonderful.* And I bet it will work with hazelnuts instead of walnuts, too (partner with walnut&pecan allergies, but so far hazelnuts are ok, yay!)
i am speechless. this looks so good. i have all the ingredients except i am out of frozen raspberries. but… i do have blueberries and blackberries. somebody is getting thrown in there from the freezer! :)
hi,
please let us know what does a butter stick means.
how many grams please?
One stick of butter is about 112 grams. So 1 1/2 sticks of butter is about 168 grams.
The recipe looks wonderful. What kind of tart pan are you using that you can go from the freezer to a 350 degree oven?
Also, any estimate on cooking time with fresh Rasberries?
Thanks!
Hi Jim, our ceramic tart pan hasn’t cracked yet! Though it helps that it goes onto a rack, and not a solid piece of hot metal, and that it is going into hot air, and not hot water. You can also make the tart with a metal tart pan with a removable bottom. I do a lot of pie making. I almost always freeze the raw crust before baking, unless making a top and bottom crust pie, whether I’m baking the pie or just blind baking the crust. Usually I use a pyrex pie dish for pie making.
The minute I read this recipe I knew it would be the dessert for my next English Sunday Lunch (guests gather for drinks at 11.30 a.m, roast beast at 1.00 p.m., everybody gone by 4.00 p.m.) I really enjoy the simple yet delicious recipes you post.
Hi Elise,
Thanks for the post. Would using canned fruit make a difference. Do not have frozen raspberries, but canned apples.
Thanks for your response
Hi June,
No idea about the canned fruit. If that is all I had to work with, I would try it, but make sure the fruit is well drained of excess liquid before adding it to the tart pan.
Delicious! I used a slightly larger tart pan and almost didn’t have enough custard to cover the filling, but it puffed up nicely and was absolutely fabulous. Tart and sweet and rich and wonderful. And a great reason to use some of the raspberries we put away this summer! Thank you!
can a tart pan with a removeable bottom be used
Yes. If you use a removable bottom tart pan, I recommend putting a rimmed baking sheet underneath it to catch any melted butter that might leak out in the oven.
This is what I used and it worked perfectly with a baking sheet underneath as Elise suggests, not that anything leaked out anyway. The removable bottom made it super easy to pop the tart out for serving.
Hi Elise:
I’d like to make this for my father’s 87th birthday, two days after Xmas. Do you know if I can make it in advance and freeze it? Thanks for your terrific work and have a wonderful Christmas.
It’s sort of custardy, so I’m thinking that perhaps it would not freeze especially well. But that’s just a guess.
Thanks, Elise. That’s exactly what my mother said.
No milk in the custard?
Nope!
The baking powder is listed under “Filling”.
Yes, the baking powder goes into the custard filling, not the crust.
I am definitely going to try this, I will substitute the walnuts with pecans, and use coconut and Quinoa flour instead of wheat flour, and Pure white honey for the sugar. I will let you know how it turns out. Thanks so much for sharing this. Happy Holidays
This looks great and something will try. Do you think frozen blueberries (from this summer’s U-pick season) would work well in this recipe?
I just made it and it’s instantly my favourite!
Hey Elise, I made this over the weekend. It was super delicious, but it stuck horribly! I didn’t have a tart pan so I used a pyrex pie plate. I buttered the pan very generously and everything. Can you tell me why it may have stuck so badly? I had to scrape out the crust. It just didn’t want to release at all. :(
Hi Amy, I’ve made this several times and once it stuck pretty bad, which is why I now grease the pan first. Did you try separating the crust from the pan by running a sharp knife around the edge while the crust was still warm? That should help.
I used a removable bottom metal pan and I sprayed it with cooking spray. It came out perfectly and I didn’t even run a knife around the edge.
My husband started a gluten-free diet 3 weeks ago and I am new at gluten-free cooking. How can I make this recipe gluten-free?
You might try using almond flour instead of regular flour for the crust, and perhaps 2 Tbsp of corn starch instead of 1/4 cup of flour for the filling. I haven’t tried this myself yet, but it might work. Or just try making the tart with one of the several gluten-free flour mixtures on the market.
I made this for my husband’s permaculture group yesterday. Everyone (including my husband) LOVED it!! The bright flavor of the raspberries with the butter shortbread plus the crunch of the nuts — nirvana!
If i don’t have a blender or food processor, is there another way of making the crust?
I tried using an electric mixer to make the crust and it didn’t work, or maybe I just didn’t give it enough time. Don’t really know how you would do this by hand, other than making sure you start with butter that is at room temp and pliable, and then beating the ingredients together for a long long time with a wooden spoon in a big bowl.
Thanks! I can’t wait to make them:)
cut cold butter into small cubes and rub into the flour with your fingertips… should have the consistency of fresh breadcrumbs …
I had a terrible experience with this recipe. The finished tart stuck horribly to the glass pie plate. How, with all that butter??? The crust was over done from the double baking, the filling was goopy and overall it was ghastly sweet. Not that my boys didn’t scarf it down.
The crust has stuck on me once before, no idea why, with all that butter. Now I just make a better effort to grease the pan, and if using a ceramic tart pan I run a knife around the edge to loosen the crust from the pan while the tart is still warm. The filling can be a little goopy, though if it is excessively so, it sounds like it needed to be cooked a little longer. My friend’s original recipe called for more sugar than I have listed here. For me the balance is just right, though if you want a more “tart” tart, you could easily reduce the amount.
Made this for guests on Saturday and they loved it! It was easy to make, looked just like the picture, and was elegant without being complicated!! Perfect, perfect! Also, I took your advice and ran the knife around the tart pan… I guess I’m extra glad I did!! :) Thanks, Elise!
We’re making this for our big Christmas Eve dinner. Well, we’re actually going to save it for Christmas Eve dessert. Ha! Thanks much. We can’t wait. I bought plenty of raspberries today.
Delicious! Even my husband who doesn’t really eat desserts went back for seconds. Thank you!
Mine turned out beautifully! I used pecans instead of walnuts. The only thing I am curious about is perhaps adding a bit less salt?
This turned out beautifully! Thank you for the wonderful recipe!
You must be a food processer person; I’m a blender person and just spent 15 minutes (vs. 30 sec to 1 min) to get the dough to come together.
Very rich, but absolutely delicious! I saw the recipe and just HAD to try it. My family loved it, and my mom (who knows me well…) asked me if I really made it according to the recipe. Yes, for once I did (or at least almost – I only used 1/2 cup sugar in the filling). Definitely a keeper!
I just pulled this tart out of the oven and it’s beautiful! Can’t wait to take it to Christmas dinner today and put it on the dessert table.
I made 2of these for 15 wonderful friends on Christmas Day. Everybody loved it. Served it with fresh whipped cream. Making it again this weekend for our family Christmas celebration. Thanks soooooo much!
Wow, this is one of the best desserts I ever had. (raspberry lover). I used a 12 inch pan, and had to make a little bit more of the filling, and cook it slightly longer. This turned out fantastic! Everyone at the family dinner loved it. The crust was so simple and delicious. Definitely making this again.
I made this for Christmas brunch and my mom’s house and it was a *big* hit. It was the only dessert that was completely gone, and for an hour afterwards people were still asking about it.
The only issue I had baking it was that the crust and some of the filling started to overbrown with about 15 minutes left. An aluminum foil “toilet seat” fixed that, though.
I’m thinking of making a second recipe, just for myself!
I made this late last night with a couple of substitutions only because I didn’t have exactly everything I needed.
I used pecans because I didn’t have walnuts and I mixed raspberries and blackberries because I didn’t have enough raspberries. It came out of the oven around 11:30 PM. It was everything I could do to not dig into it right away.
Guess what I had for breakfast? It was amazing…I hope there is some left for tonight!
Elise I love your website and have often thought of posting… after having of course thoroughly enjoying one of your delicious recipes/posts.
But I had to post after making this absolutely delicious and easy to make fantastic dessert! My family Loved it! Definitely going to go into the rotation.
Used the metal tart pan – no need for a knife around the edge – cooked perfectly. Although I did forget the pan underneath the tart! But that butter was easy to wipe up ; )
Thanks again for sharing!
Made it for 2 separate Christmas dinners. It was fantastic! Everyone loved it. T’was one of my first forays into baking, and it paid off. Thanks for the great recipe!
Is it possible to use wholewheat flour to make the crust?
I haven’t tried making a pastry or tart crust with whole wheat flour, but if you do, please let us know how it turns out for you.
Not to bee too adventerous, I used half the quantity whole wheat flour and the other half regular flour.. Really tasty!! Maybe next time ill try using only whole wheat, since im a huge fan.. Thanks alot for a great recipe!!
I made this on New Years Day and the family loved it. I just wish we had had some French vanilla ice cream to go with it. Will definitely make it again. I used the left over walnuts to make the Walnut Parsley Pesto.
…made this for Christmas Eve family dinner…an absolute hit!…..this is definately a recipe to keep….I’ve since made it with blueberries….cut back on the sugar…to a scant 1/2 cup…which was still a little too sweet for me….but it was good…..I’d make it again……