Today is National Raspberry Tart Day, which got us thinking: What exactly is the difference between a tart, which sounds kind of fancy, and a plain old pie, which does not?
Both have baked pastry crusts and can be filled with endless varieties of sweet and savory ingredients. Both can be made as multiple-serving dishes or as individual ones. Both have bottom crusts – but the moment you place a top crust on your tart, it becomes a pie.
There are differences in the crusts themselves. Pie crusts pride themselves on flakiness. Tart crusts are more sturdy, since the finished creations are often unmolded before serving so the diners can admire them. Yes, a pie is also a beautiful thing to behold, but many varieties contain juicy fillings that ooze onto your plate. Such behavior from a tart would not be tolerated.
A pie pan has sloped sides. A tart pan has straight or fluted sides. To complicate matters, there are round and rectangular versions of both.
A quiche is a tart. So is a cheesecake. A pecan pie could actually be called a tart, since it doesn’t have a top crust, and so could a tomato pie – but we call them pies because most often they’re baked in typical slope-sided pie pans.
Pop-Tarts are not tarts.
But back to the Raspberry Tart being honored today. We found over 1.1 million recipe links and wouldn’t even attempt to choose a favorite. Instead, we’re sharing this unusual recipe for Mason Jar Chocolate Raspberry Tarts from Driscoll’s growers.
Enjoy these tasty tarts. Just promise us you won’t cover them with crust.
