White Chocolate and Boysenberry Tart

Here's another recipe to add to my growing tart collection. I find these to make the most satisfying desserts, which are also rather impressive for guests. Plus I find them a lot easier to make than cakes. 

Pastry becomes really easy to make once you've got the basics covered, and the use of a food processor here cuts back on the elbow grease required too. Once you have a good pastry recipe, like this one, it's all about the fillings. This is the part I love as I get to be really creative. Either with the latest crave, or simply using up fruit or chocolate in the fridge. 

Here I've used frozen boysenberries, but you could easily swap for raspberries, which are traditionally paired with both white chocolate and cream cheese. Personally, I like the depth of colour that you get with boysenberries, plus as a child, boysenberry jam was my favourite. Mixing the melted white chocolate with the cream cheese adds a subtle tanginess to the white chocolate, which can be overwhelmingly sweet at times. 

Ingredients (serves 8-12) 

Pastry:

• 1 3/4 cups of plain flour
• 1/4 cup of icing sugar 
• 180 grams cold butter, diced
• 1 egg yolk (reserve white for brushing) 
• 3 tbsp chilled water
• greaseproof paper
• baking beads or rice 

Filling: 

• 175 grams Whittaker's 23% White Chocolate - you can use another brand of white chocolate, but let's face it, Whittaker's is best. 
• 175 grams cream cheese 
• 3 tbsp icing sugar 
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2/3 cup defrosted boysenberries, well drained

Step 1: Make Pastry

Sieve flour and icing sugar together. Put into your food processor with the diced butter and pulse for a few minutes till all of the butter is mixed in and it becomes a breadcrumb texture. 

Next add the egg yolk and chilled water. Pulse again. When it begins to come together, tip out onto a lightly floured board and lightly knead until you have a smooth dough. 

Flatten into a 15cm disc. Cover in cling film and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Pastry is much easier to work with when it is cold. 

Step 2: Bake Pastry 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease a 30cm loose-based fluted tart tin with butter. 

Remove pastry from the fridge and roll out on a piece of greaseproof paper large enough to fit the tart tin. 

Gently lay the pastry over the tin and press into the edges. Use the rolling pin to roll across the top of the tin to trim off any excess pastry. 

Place the greaseproof paper over the pastry and fill the tin with baking beads or uncooked rice (less than a kilo of rice will fill it - reserve the rice afterwards for using again the next time you bake pastry). This holds the pastry in place and stops it both puffing up and from sinking down the sides. 
Chill again for 10 minutes. 

Place in the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes. 

Remove tart from oven and take off the baking paper and rice. Brush with reserved egg white, before returning to the oven for another 15 minutes to finish cooking through. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. If pastry has puffed up, then simply gently press it back down while it is still hot. 

Step 3: Prepare the filling

Make a double boiler by putting 1 or 2 cups of water into a small saucepan. Cover the top of the saucepan with a bowl so that no steam can escape (the water should not be touching the bottom of the bowl). 
Bring to the boil. Break the chocolate into the bowl and stir, till melted, then remove from the heat. Allow to cool slightly before adding the remaining ingredients. 

In another bowl, beat the cream cheese with lemon juice and icing sugar till softened and smooth. Stir in the defrosted and drained boysenberries. Finally combine the cream cheese mixture with the melted chocolate. Stir 

Carefully spoon the filling into the tart shell and spread evenly. Chill for 2 - 3 hours before serving. Garnish with extra crushed white chocolate or fresh berries if desired.