Raspberry and caramelised white chocolate tartlets

Click HERE for the recipe

This past couple of weeks, I was reminded how lovely Dublin is when the sun shines and how important it is to enjoy it while it is here. For people in Ireland, it is already Spring time. It is something I find a bit hard to believe as first of all, it is still freezing cold. And second of all, I will always have the French calendar of seasons in my head. And Spring for us starts on 21st March, still a month to go!
But I adapt myself to the seasons in the country I chose to live in, as well as I did when I lived in Australia.
So, after a bit of 'Spring' cleaning, I decided to create a delicious sweet tartlet that remind me of sunny times and beautiful things.

Let's start with the beautiful things. Every time I eat white chocolate, I think about two persons in particular. The first person is my younger brother who will not eat milk or dark chocolate but adores white chocolate (and peanut butter M&M's but that is another story). He just devours it like if there was no tomorrow. It always makes me laugh to hear him speak about white chocolate like if it was some very rare food.
The second person is my good friend R. with whom I also shared a house before I left for Australia. She absolutely loves white chocolate and she was always delighted when I brought some back for her or put my hands on a packet of white chocolate powder for hot drinks. And the few times I ate white chocolate since the very start of 2013, I thought of her even more as her new little family grew bigger. So I really want to dedicate this article and recipes to R. and her small family, and especially to her little boy who decided to discover the world we live in 8 weeks early. Welcome little one!

Now, for the sunny times, this tartlet recipe brings other memories to me. The raspberries have always been part of my childhood: picking them from the bushes, eating them all before they even managed to pass the kitchen door or smelling a lovely jam being cooked. For me, it is one of the fruit that really reminds me of the sun and blue skies.
The other memory that I have about white chocolate and sun is a discovery I made a week before leaving Australia. Summer was starting then, and we were trying to spend as much time as we could with our friends and E.'s family, as well as getting a bit of sun before returning to wintery Ireland. A few of us eventually wandered in the most fabulous shop you could think about: Burch & Purchese Sweet Studio. This place is pure sweet food heaven!
And since the day I have stepped in this shop, I have had an obsession for one of their product in particular: the caramelised white chocolate. They sell it as a chocolate bar with puffed quinoa through it. Or you can also taste it in one of their delicious cakes.
The problem is: what do you do when you want something really badly but live thousands of kilometres away from it?
Well, I guess you just have to make it yourself to satisfy your needs. I do not eat a lot of white chocolate as I am more of a dark chocolate addict, but sometimes I have flavours in my head that I really want to taste to be reminded of people or moments of my life.
So, I give you here my version of caramelised white chocolate after a few tries, a few burns (because I seem to be impatient when it comes to tasting melted chocolate) and fingers covered in the delicious stuff (that would be the clumsy part of me).
And keep scrolling down for the recipe of a delicious raspberry and caramelised white chocolate tartlet.

Raspberry And Caramelised White Chocolate Tartlet Recipe (Gluten Free, Vegetarian)

Click HERE for the recipe