Blackberry Tart

They are similar nutrition-wise, as well as with antioxidants and vitamins. However, blackberries have fewer carbs and sugars and more Vitamin C. So even though a blackberry tart might not be the healthiest dish in the world, you are getting important nutrients with every bite!

This can happen whether you're making a pie, cheesecake, or this blackberry tart. The reason for this kind of separation is that all baked goods shrink after baking due to moisture that evaporates. The tart crust and filling shrink in different directions. Even if it separates noticeable, it really doesn't make much of a difference to the finished tart and nobody will even notice.

It's important to keep pastry chilled before using it. Chilling the tart crust helps it relax which can limit or prevent shrinkage during and after baking. Chilled dough is also easier to roll out and shape.

A tart is basically a shallow type of pie with low sides. A torte is taller and more cake-like. Tortes are denser than cakes, since they use breadcrumbs or ground nuts in place of flour, and offer deep, rich flavors. Tarts are pastry-based and often filled with fruit. They make a great warm-weather dessert (especially this blackberry tart), but they are tasty served anytime. Don't ask me to choose between a torte, a tart, and a cake though; that would be impossible because they're all so good!

Although many tarts and pies freeze well, this isn’t one of them. The pastry will go soggy and the quark filling won’t have the same rich texture after thawing.

Fresh blackberries and quark are ingredients that don’t keep fresh for a long time, so we advise making this shortly before serving it, for the freshest result.

You can prepare it several hours in advance, but it will be a bit soggy the next day.

If you can’t get fresh blackberries, you could use frozen ones. Half of them are mashed into the quark mixture while the remainder is used for topping. Thawed blackberries would work but not look so perfect as a garnish. Another option here would be using fresh raspberries as a garnish instead, in which case you might like to use some melted white chocolate on top (since that’s always good with raspberries!)

Quark is technically a soft cheese but flavor-wise it’s more like a smooth yogurt. It’s also similar to yogurt in texture. Mascarpone, a soft cheese, would give a similar result, or you could use Greek yogurt. In fact, a combination of mascarpone and Greek yogurt would be the closest in terms of flavor and texture.

As it stands, it isn’t vegan since we use butter, quark, and dark chocolate. However, you can make some easy substitutions if you want to make it vegan. Swap the butter for vegan butter or coconut butter. You can use Alpro vegan quark or a thick, unflavored vegan yogurt for the filling. As for the dark chocolate, brands with a high cacao percentage are already vegan-friendly. Just check the packaging to make sure it’s dairy-free.

A slice of tart goes with everything! This is already rich and creamy so you don’t need whipped cream on the side. Try it with a cup of coffee or some iced tea or lemonade, as a snack. It is also great served for dessert, and it is a nice make-ahead dessert if you have guests for dinner since you can make it up to six hours ahead.