1.  Add the flour, lemon zest, sugar into a mixing bowl and mix well.

2.  Add the softened butter to the bowl. Using a fork or dough cutter, break up the butter into the mixture well until you begin to get pea size pieces of the mixture.

3.  Add the eggs, salt, almond extract and vanilla extract to the bowl and mix thoroughly. The flour mixture should absorb the rest of the ingredients and begin to form a ball as you continue to mix. If the mixture remains too wet, add more flour until you can mix the dough and form it into a ball.

 

 

 

4.  Once the mixture begins to come together, empty the contents of the bowl onto a pastry mat and begin kneading the dough. Continue to knead for 5 - 10 minutes until the dough is mixed well and is pliable. It should not be too hard or too soft. Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

5.  In a sauce pan, add the berries and 1/4 cup fresh water. Heat the pan over medium heat and cook the berries until they form a sauce, approximately 8 - 10 minutes.

6.  Once the sauce is cooked, raise the heat to medium high and cook to reduce the sauce by 1/3, stirring constantly so the sauce doesn't burn on the bottom of the pan, approximately 3 - 5 minutes.

7.  Remove the pan from the heat and let the sauce cool.

8.  After the sauce has cooled, pass and press the sauce through a strainer to sift out the raspberry seeds.

9.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

10.  After 1 hour, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Roll it out to the necessary size for your tart or pie pan. It should be about 1/8 of an inch thick.

11.  Place the dough into the pan and shape it as desired. Pour the berry sauce into the pan with the dough. Spread the sauce so that it is evenly distributed in the pan and over the dough.

12.  If you have extra dough, you can use it to create a lattice for the top of the tart. Roll out the extra dough to 1/8 of an inch thick and cut it into 1/4 inch strips. Place the strips over the sauce in your desired shape and trim as necessary.

13.  Sprinkle the slivered almonds over the lattice.

14.  Place the tart in the oven on the bottom rack and bake for 45 minutes. The tart is finished cooking when the dough is a deep golden brown and has pulled away from the sides of the pan.

15.  When the tart is finished, remove it from the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Notes

- To make a lighter version of this recipe, you can substitute 1/4 cup of canola oil for the butter and use 4 large egg whites for 2 eggs. The dough, however, will not be as tender.

- You can substitute your favorite preserves for the filling; thin the preserves with a small amount of water before spreading over the dough.