crostata al cioccolato fondente e lamponi

I’ve yet to meet someone who doesn’t like the marriage of chocolate & raspberry! The union of bitter dark chocolate with sweet-tart raspberries is heaven to me and (fortunately) to all I hold dear, so when I decide to bake this crostata for a Sunday treat (when raspberries are in abundance), it’s met with oohs & ahhs!

Raspberries are very reasonably priced at the minute whilst they’re in abundance (in season)! I know that they are available all year round, however, raspberries love the summer sun and therefore are truly at their best from about November through till end March/early April (that would be in the Southern Hemisphere)! I purchased these vivid rich ripe pinkisk-red raspberries from the growers market the other week and they were plump; bursting with flavour! So delicious! Now for this recipe, for the filling, I recommend you freeze the fresh raspberries you buy. This will make it easy to fold them through the rest of the batter and without breaking them up into a mush. And you will need to make this crostata shortly after purchasing your ripe raspberries; they don’t last long, even in the fridge!

Creamy milk chocolate is said to be a better match for raspberries than dark, however, I favour the latter! Of course, if you prefer milk chocolate, please substitute it with the dark in this recipe. It will work just the same, possibly a little lighter in appearance I imagine!

I’ll mention here too, the inclusion of almond meal and wholegrain spelt flour in this recipe! Both impart a nutty flavour, and my choice of spelt flour is two-fold; for the flavour and health benefits! As a woman in the midst of perimenopause, and too for the wellbeing of my family, I am only selecting ingredients that are more beneficial. Refined flours impact greatly on the health of all, but particularly for women with depleting hormones! Argh! Why eat crostata at all then, you may ask?! Cut out sweets altogether!  Yes, you would be right to say so and healthier without this and/or other tarts, but I think it’s “healthy” to give yourself a treat “sometimes”. My kids hear this often….”treats are sometimes food!”. But when your treat embraces better nourishing ingredients, you can quite literally, ‘have your cake & eat it too’! I have cut back on baking, leaving it mostly for our end-of-the-week indulgence, aptly for a Sunday – the day of rest…..and treat! Ha!

Buon appetito!

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