The Bordier Raspberry butter goes into the pastry and the cream, which is why this tastes of fruit rather than sugar. Four tartlets: a shortcrust made by rubbing raspberry butter into flour, filled with a lemon cream finished with more of the same butter, topped with fresh raspberries. The butter is salted, so it does the job that a pinch of salt usually does in a lemon tart, and it does it while adding fruit. Around forty minutes of work spread across an afternoon, with chilling time in between.
At a glance
- Difficulty: Medium
- Serves: 4
- Active time: About 40 minutes, plus 30 minutes chilling the dough and time to cool the cream
- Cook: 15 to 20 minutes at 170°C (340°F), plus a few minutes on the stovetop for the cream
- Key ingredient: 200 g Bordier Raspberry Butter
Why this works
Bordier's Raspberry butter came out of a request from a pastry chef friend in 2006. It is salted butter set against tangy raspberry, which is a more interesting starting point than it sounds: the salt keeps the fruit from reading as jam, and the raspberry gives the butter an acidity that ordinary butter does not have. Everything Bordier makes is churned by hand in Brittany on a traditional wooden malaxeur.
The recipe splits 200 g of it across two jobs. In the pastry, 125 g is rubbed into flour before any sugar goes in, which coats the flour particles in fat and limits gluten development. That is what makes shortcrust short and crumbly instead of tough. In the lemon cream, 75 g goes in off the heat once the curd has thickened, where cold butter emulsifies into the hot mixture and gives it gloss and body. Raspberry and lemon are both acidic but in different registers, and the salted butter sits underneath both.
Ingredients
Makes 4 tartlets. Quantities are Bordier's own.
| Ingredient | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 250 g | 8.8 oz, about 2 cups |
| Bordier Raspberry Butter (125 g for the pastry, 75 g for the cream) | 200 g | 7 oz, about 14 tbsp |
| Powdered sugar | 50 g | 1.8 oz, about 1/2 cup |
| Eggs | 4 | 4 |
| Lemon juice | 150 ml | 5 fl oz, about 2/3 cup |
| White sugar | 120 g | 4.2 oz, about 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp |
| Cornstarch | 1 tablespoon | 1 tablespoon |
| Fresh raspberries | 250 g | 8.8 oz, about 2 cups |
| Veined sorrel sprouts (optional) | A few | A few |
Bordier lists 4 eggs without splitting them between the two preparations. Step 1 uses a single whole egg in the dough, which leaves 3 for the lemon cream. That is how we read it, and it is our guidance rather than Bordier's.
Method
Step 1: Make the shortcrust
Rub the flour and 125 g of the Bordier Raspberry butter, cut into small cubes, between your hands until the mixture looks sandy. Once the butter has been completely absorbed by the flour, add the powdered sugar. Add the whole egg and mix just enough to bring the dough into a ball. Work it as little as possible so that it stays soft. Chill it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Cook the lemon cream base
While the dough rests, start the lemon and raspberry butter cream. In a saucepan, mix the sugar and cornstarch together. Add the eggs gradually, one at a time, mixing as you go. Pour in the lemon juice and stir well. Set the pan over medium heat and whisk constantly. As soon as the mixture comes to a slight boil, turn off the heat.
Step 3: Finish the cream and blind bake the shells
Add the remaining 75 g of Bordier Raspberry butter in small cubes and mix thoroughly. Pour the cream into a bowl through a strainer. Let it come to room temperature before you put it in the fridge. Take out the chilled shortcrust, roll it out thinly and line 4 small tart pans. Add baking weights and bake in an oven preheated to 170°C (340°F) for 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 4: Fill and finish
Take the pastry shells out of the oven and let them cool completely. Once cool, fill them with the raspberry butter lemon cream. Arrange the fresh raspberries on top and finish with the veined sorrel sprouts.
Tips from our kitchen
- Work the butter in cold, and work fast. Bordier says to rub it in by hand, which is correct, but warm hands melt butter. Cube the butter straight from the fridge and stop the moment the mixture looks like coarse sand. Visible flecks of butter are good.
- Strain the lemon cream even if it looks perfect. There are always a few threads of cooked egg white. Pushing it through a fine sieve is the difference between a cream that feels smooth and one that feels slightly grainy on the tongue.
- Add the butter to the cream off the heat. If the pan is still on the burner, the emulsion breaks and the cream turns oily. Take it off first, then add the cubes a few at a time.
- Blind bake all the way through. Fifteen to twenty minutes at 170°C is enough for shells this small, but pull the weights for the last five so the base dries out. A pale, soft base goes soggy within an hour of being filled.
- Fill only when the shells are stone cold. Warm pastry steams the underside of the cream and softens the crust. This is the most common reason a home-made tartlet goes limp.
- If the dough cracks when you roll it, it is too cold. Let it sit at room temperature for five minutes and try again. Adding water or re-kneading it will make the pastry tough.
How to serve it
Serve them cold, the day they are filled, with nothing on the side but coffee or a glass of something sparkling. The sorrel sprouts are worth chasing down if you can find them, since their sharp green note cuts the richness, but the tartlets are complete without. For a second raspberry butter dessert to serve alongside, our guide to Alain Milliat jams covers fruit preparations that pair well with the same butter on brioche.
Where to buy Bordier Raspberry Butter in the US
The French Pantry ships Bordier butter across the United States in insulated overnight packaging, straight from the workshop in Brittany.
- Churned Seasonal Raspberry Butter by Bordier (4.4 oz): salted butter worked against tangy raspberry, used in both the pastry and the lemon cream here.
The raspberry is a seasonal butter, so if it is between runs, browse the Maison Bordier collection for what is currently in stock.
Frequently asked questions
How much Bordier butter do I need for this recipe?
The recipe uses 200 g in total, 125 g in the pastry and 75 g in the cream. Bordier blocks are 4.4 oz (125 g), so buy 2 blocks. One block goes entirely into the dough and you use most of the second in the cream.
Can I use plain butter instead?
You can make the tartlets with the Bordier salted butter and they will be good, but they become a lemon tart rather than a raspberry one. If you go that route, consider folding a spoonful of raspberry puree into the finished cream.
How far ahead can I make the components?
The dough keeps two days in the fridge and the lemon cream keeps two to three days covered. Bake, fill and top with fruit on the day you are serving.
Why did my lemon cream stay runny?
It probably came off the heat before the cornstarch was activated. Bordier's cue is a slight boil, and that is the point at which the starch thickens. Take it there, whisking constantly, then stop.
How should I store the butter?
Bordier butter is a fresh, hand-churned product and ships cold. Keep it refrigerated in its wrapper and cube it straight from the fridge for both the pastry and the cream.
Can I make one large tart instead of four tartlets?
Yes. The quantities fill a standard 22 to 24 cm (9 inch) tart ring. Blind bake it a little longer and check that the base is dry and golden before you fill it.
Related reading
- Bordier Butter: What It Is, Why Chefs Love It, and How to Use It
- How to Choose Your French Butter: A Buyer's Guide
- Alain Milliat Jams
Recipe and photograph adapted from Maison Bordier, with thanks. The French Pantry is an authorized US retailer of Bordier butter.