Summer is here. Mangoes have arrived in large quantities (and great price!) but the stone fruits are nowhere to be seen. No apricots, a pity, I was running low on apricot jam.  For me, it is the yellow nectarines which I miss the most.  What has happened?  I have no idea, google would not tell.  Well, let us this not stop from making tarts, with lemons, raspberries and chocolate, we have many options for bright summer tarts!

Here are two tarts to brighten your dessert plates (and your palates).  Follow the links for the full recipes.

Pierre Hermé’s raspberry chocolate tart

This recipe is one from Pierre Herme’s book “Le Larousse du Chocolat”.  Recipes in the book are not necessarily Pierre Herme’s own recipes but have been selected by him across his professional and personal network.

This is the case for this one, it comes from a Patisserie in Strasbourg, in Eastern France, and is by Thierry Mulhaupt.

What I like here is that the raspberries are not just on top, but some have been juice and mixed with the chocolate ganache.  Click HERE for the full recipe.

Lemon curd tartlets

Oh, so oozy and lemony.  I made those yesterday with some left over pastry and a very large lemon which has already lost its rind in another creation and was threatening to have a tantrum.

You can prepare lemon curd in such a short time: a bit of sugar, a large lemon juice, couple eggs, some butter.  Heat all items except the eggs to which you give a good beating in the meanwhile. Add the eggs when reaching the boiling point. Keep whisking until thick (do not let it boil!) and this is it. Simple, no? As I learnt recently, the colour is associated to the yolk of the eggs, not the rind.

Now, I made the lemon curd on top of my head quite quickly. If you want a recipe look HERE.  The pastry can be a classic sweet shortcrust or the one in the raspberry chocolate tart.