Raspberry and lemon are a marriage made in heaven in this beautiful large pastry that gets cut into individual servings.
The concept is to put a tart or pie filling inside a brioche shell. Brioche, being a light, eggy bread, makes a wonderful vessel for the filling.
My inspiration comes from Julia Child, and Brian Hart Hoffman at Bake from Scratch. When I ran across a beautiful version of what they call a brioche tart, I decided to come up with my own variety. Hoffman adds fruit preserves to the one he makes, so I found a good, sweet, yet tart raspberry jam and thought I’d pair it with a touch of lemon in my cheesecake-like filling. It’s reminiscent of a cream cheese pastry.
I basically use the same brioche recipe as the one at Bake from Scratch. You may use any you prefer. You can also omit the lemon, or even the jam, if you desire. If you use jam, you can certainly choose your favorite. I found one at Costco I like, a seedless raspberry that has the consistency of a curd. Which leads me to believe lemon curd would be a perfectly acceptable option as well—maybe even a full layer of it beneath the cheesecake filling.
However you customize it, it’s great with tea or coffee for breakfast, or to serve as a dessert. Enjoy food made fresh!
Raspberry-Lemon Pastry
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar, or honey
2¼ teaspoons instant yeast
1½ teaspoons salt
½ cup plus 1 tablespoon warm milk (120 to 130 degrees F)
3 eggs, divided (plus 1 tablespoon water)
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Cheesecake filling, (recipe follows)
1½ tablespoons turbinado sugar
In a medium mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar or honey, yeast, and salt with an electric mixer on low speed until combined. Slowly add warm milk on medium speed. Add 2 eggs and vanilla and continue mixing on medium until well combined and dough begins to come away from the sides of the bowl.
Knead with a dough hook attachment on low speed, or by hand on a lightly floured surface, for about 8 minutes, incorporating butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover and let rest in a warm spot for 30 to 45 minutes until doubled in size.
Spray a 9-by-9 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray. Line with parchment paper with edges hanging over 2 sides.
Roll dough out on a floured surface into an 11-inch square. Place into the prepared pan and fold excess edges in to create a crust to hold the filling. Cover and let rise for 20 to 30 minutes.
FILLING
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoon butter, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
2 tablespoons raspberry jam
1 tablespoon water
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
In a medium mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, cream together cream cheese, butter, and sugar on medium speed. Add egg, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest and continue mixing on medium speed until smooth.
Spoon filling into the dough. Mix jam with 1 tablespoon water until smooth. Make several indentations in the cheesecake filling to drop dollops of jam. Use a knife to swirl the jam into the cheesecake mixture.
Beat remaining egg with water and brush the top edges of the dough. Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of the egg wash.
Bake in preheated oven for approximately 35 minutes or until center of filling is set and brioche is golden brown. Let cool, then remove from pan by loosening edges with a butter knife and lifting out by the overhanging parchment. Cut into individual servings. Makes 8 servings.
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