TWD: Ice Cream Tart, no Coffee

The thought process of an overthinker:

I am going to NYC this weekend.  I will eat a lot of yummy restaurant food in NYC.  I will eat some (tasty) crap in NYC as well.  This tart sounds good but I don’t really want to eat a lot of or much of it, frankly, or maybe none of it.  If this is a coffee tart, I will be the only one who will eat it.  I will regret every bite of it as I am chowing on a bagel…It is ice cream.  Ice cream is not something I can bring to work.  I love coffee ice cream.  How can I skip coffee ice cream?  I am skipping coffee ice cream.  Period.  What will the boy eat?  Peanuts.  Yup.  Peanuts and chocolate and vanilla ice cream with caramel.  Should I still make the coffee tart?  No.  No coffee.  Peanut/chocolate/vanilla/caramel it is.  Hmmm…that sounds good.  Edit: HALF a peanut/chocolate/vanilla/caramel tart it is.

I am exhausted.

but, of course, I tried a piece.  It was HOT on Sunday (91 degrees!).  good.  very good.  that crust is a keeper.  Full post at domestic deep thought.

WWD (again…sigh): Tarte Fine

To my utter dismay, TWD made the brown sugar apple cheesecake before I joined.  To my utter amazement, I still have not made it.  (and it’s not looking good with all of the apple and/or fall fruit recipes coming up.  how am i going to squeeze a cheesecake into a month with two pies???).

I did, however, manage to get to the tarte fine.  I did not manage to come up with any apricot jam.  I knew there was a cosmic reason a jar of Smuckers Caramel topping has been sitting in my “pantry” (quotes for the house…pantry is being used liberally) for some time now.  I have to say, I am not sure the apricot jam would have been any better.

Overall, we liked this and polished it off in record time.  If memory serves, I prefer the apple turnovers but am looking forward to trying Dorie’s apple pie.  I almost made it a couple of weeks go but went another direction.

Next week:  more apples – bundt cake style.

TWD: Catch up Post

OK.  I am still here.  Life is moving at warp speed.  I have actually made the last three recipes but haven’t posted them.  I am not going to have time to mess with pictures today but I feel compelled to post my reviews of the last three before it turns into four.  So, here goes:

BRRROWNIES

I really wanted to make these with York pieces but I had a small window of time to make them on Sunday afternoon.  And there was a torrential downpour.  And I had Andes baking pieces in the cabinet.  You do the math.  I tried a small corner and declared them moist, chocolatey and minty.  Then I sent them to a friend who is serving overseas.  COMPLETELY forgot to take a picture.  I have made a similar recipe with whole york mini patties from Everyday Foods.  It has a row of patties in the middle of brownies.  Also very good.

Tarte Noire

I made this for my mom’s birthday and she declared it one of her favorite desserts.  This is one of those desserts that will fool your friends into thinking that you really know what you are doing.  AWESOME.

Rum Drenched Vanilla Cakes

I had no time and no rum.  I made one cake and used chocolate chips and coffee instead of rum.  Very nice simple cake.   I wish I had remembered to coat the chocolate chips with a little flour because they all sunk to the bottom.  Oh well.  I turned the cake over and it became a cake with a chocolate chip topping.  Probably not a repeat for me but that is mostly the result of my ambivalence towards poundcakes.

Whew.  Next week I hope to be back in the game.  with pictures even.

TWD: Quick Classic Berry Tart (you, too, can make a decent looking dessert)

The good news:  We loved this tart.  It was absolutely beautiful and just as tasty.  This one could almost fool me into believing I can make pretty desserts.  Almost.  I made it a few weeks ago after I realized I had purchased a metric ton of berries from Costco (yes, that means camera photos).  I had planned on adding some liqueur to the pastry crème but realized that I only had vodka and beer in the house.  Exactly.  Neither was a tempting possibility.  It was not important enough to justify a trip to the store so no added flavor.  It would be embarrassing to tell you how quickly we ate it.  Just know that we  were in no way testing the limits of freshness with this one.

The bad news:  (relatively) I have nothing else to say about this one.  My creative writing skills haven’t gotten me far in life, and they are tapped out when something turns out like I expected with no obstacles along on the way.

So, what else shall we talk about?

It was 49 degrees here today.  May, right?

Do you love Glee as much as I do?  I pretend I can sing like Kristin Chenowith until my sons remind me that what is coming out of my mouth does NOT sound like what is going through my head.

I drank more rum in Puerto Rico than I have in this entire millennium.  Have you had a mango colada?  You should.

Variations: none

Bottom Line:  Very good.  very easy.  very pretty.

Next week:  apple apple bread pudding.  I must (MUST) put my math skills to work on this one.  Those mango coladas?  Not calorie free, I understand.

For this week’s recipe visit Cooking with Cristine.  Now that I am back in the regular swing of things, I am hoping to actually see some other tarts this week!

TWD: Chocolate No-Crunch Caramel Tart (a little really goes a long way)

Ganache overflow

This tart was sooo rich.

How rich was it?

It was so rich I saw a hundred dollar bill under the caramel.

This tart was sooo rich.

How rich was it?

It was so rich it bought me dinner.

Thanks.  I’ll be here all week.  [and no I am not quitting my day job.]

Throwing a dinner party during a recession?  This is the dessert for you.  For me to remark on how rich something is you know it truly is.  When it comes to my consumption of all things dessert related descriptors like “dainty” “sparingly” and “nibble” don’t usually never come into play.  I have made exactly ONE TWD recipe that I did not taste (I am not counting the rice pudding which nobody tasted) and I have seconds or more of most.  I skipped the Twofer Pie because pecans are not a part of my life and I would prefer they be eliminated from all recipes written or otherwise moving forward.

Crunchless…

On that note, I skipped the crunch.  I briefly considered hazelnuts, which I can tolerate, but decided that was a lot of expense and trouble for something that wouldn’t improve the recipe for me.  I will be curious to see if anyone had success with non-nut crunchables.

Back to the decadence.  I can usually handle those over the top desserts with ease.  I have been known to have thirds of cheesecake and hot fudge was a welcome addition to my last cherry malt (heaven).  So, imagine my surprise when one slice of tart turned out to be more than plenty.  It could be partly related to the hour and circumstances under which I consumed it.  I started the tart Sunday evening after we arrived back from a weekend in Nebraska**.  During the course of tart making I burnt my finger on some hot caramel.  And, for the record, hot caramel?  BURNS.  I accidentally hit my finger with a spatula covered in caramel as I was spooning in the butter.  Don’t do that.  I had to peel the caramel off my finger.

The missing test slice.

By the time I was done melting chocolate, chilling caramel and burning flesh (a convenient reason to skip that second load of laundy btw), it was about 9:00pm.  I probably should have called it a night but, damn it, I had to know if the tart was good after all that.  And, yes, it was.  Good and…rich.  Enjoy.

Right sized slice

The full recipe is Chocolate Moosey by Carla.  Next week:  split level pudding.  Will my desire to make coffee pudding trump my instinct to make it kid friendly?  We shall see…

**Nebraska trip:  My husband was born and raised in Lincoln, NE which really is the college football capital of the world.  Before you naysayers start rolling your eyes, I will tell you that we were there for the 300th consecutive home sell-out.  That is not a misprint.  The streak started in Nov. 1962.  My dad was a FRESHMAN in college.  He is now retirement age.  The Beatles were unknown in America.  The Cuban Missile Crisis had just ended.  And the stadium isn’t small.  It has held between 70,000 – 86,000 (renovations) people during that time.  Ponder that for a moment.

YWPWT: Blueberry Cream Cheese Tart

I’m back.  It has been a while since I participated in So You Want Pies With That.  Life (and an ever slowing metabolism) gets in the way sometimes.

This month our theme is summer.  There are million ways to go with this one.  “lemon pie to celebrate the sun I haven’t seen in months;” “my kids are home all summer rum soaked pie,” etc.  But I chose to honor two summer specific things: fresh berries and hot kitchens.  While I can find a banana, apple or pear year round, fresh berries only make an appearance during the summer.  I consider it my duty to gorge on them accordingly.

And let’s face it.  Who needs the stress of keeping butter ice cold for pastry dough in July?  Not to mention an extra hour with a hot oven…Not me.

So, I present Blueberry Cream Cheese Tart.  It is chock full of fresh berries and almost (!) no bake.  I wish I had a picture of a slice but it was gone quickly on the Fourth.  I had overnight visitors and errant fireworks to worry about.  Photography fell off the radar.  Between the graham cracker layer and the blueberries is a thin layer of cream cheese filling.  The result?  Delectable (and easy).

Blueberry Cream Cheese Tart

Crust

• 10 graham crackers
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 4 tablespoons melted butter

Cream Cheese Filling

• 6 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
• 2 tbps. heavy cream
• 3 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Blueberry Topping

• 4 c. fresh blueberries
• 3/4 c. sugar
• ¼ c. water
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp cornstarch

Preheat oven to 350.  Butter or spray  9 inch tart pan.  Grind graham crackers and sugar in food processor.  Add melted butter and stir to mix.  Press graham cracker/butter mixture into pan.  Cook for 10 minutes.  Cool.

Whisk together the cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla.  Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine 2 c. berries, sugar, salt, water, and cornstarch.  Cook over medium heat for a few minutes until liquid thickens and turns clear.  Remove from heat and add remaining blueberries and lime juice.

Spread the cream cheese layer over the crust.  Spoon on the blueberry mixture.  Refrigerate for an hour.  Enjoy!

TWD: Not-so-apple Parisian Tart

Let’s get one thing straight.  I love apples.  Truly.  If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, I figure I’m good til about 138.  But, and there is always one isn’t there, it’s June.  I have been surviving on apples, pears and the occasional orange for months upon months now.  To say I am ready to move on would be an understatement.  The second other fruits starting appearing regularly in the grocery, I start buying them (even though I know their arrival is always a bit premature).  Come late August I will be salivating over Pink Ladys, Jonagolds and the sheer beauty of a McIntosh.  But that is August (and through what always seems like the never ending midwestern hell some people politely refer to as winter).

Cherry, nectarine, mango, combo

So, with Dorie’s stated approval, I ventured forth in other directions.  I had three tarts to make and a mango (sigh), cherries (double sigh) and a nectarine ready to go.  It being summer (hooray! it just can’t be said enough), I had a date with the pool and not homemade puff pastry.  Pepperidge Farm at the ready.

This is the kind of dessert that seems deceptively difficult if you don’t spend much time in the kitchen.  It is a lot of bang for your buck without a lot of effort on your part.  I am not sure this is something I would make a special trip to the store to get puff pastry for, but it is definitely something I would make again if there are leftovers in the freezer (as there are right now).  You will have to check out those who persevered through the homemade puff pastry to see if their efforts were rewarded.

I cut all the variations (cherry, mango, nectarine and cherry-mango) into little slices and we all agreed the cherry was the best.  Pitting the cherries increased the effort required but, since a miniscule amount fit on each tart, don’t let it scare you off.

The full recipe is on Jessica’s blog My Baking Heart. Next week:  honey peach ice cream.  Now, we are really talking summer.

TWD: Lemon (strawberry) Tart

Major announcement:  These pictures were not – I repeat – were not taken with my laptop.  They are the product of an actual camera.  A Thanks, Jamie!  Unfortunately, it was late in the day before I got it charged and the weather gods decided this Mother’s Day should be gloomy and melancholy.  Oh well, it is a still a camera.  The photography can only improve from here.  Huzzah!

As for the tart, I wasn’t really feeling it this week.  I started late in the day and was lacking in my usual enthusiasm.  I made a six inch in my springform.  In fact, I was really really wishing I had some graham crackers on hand for the crust.  What kind of mother of two young children has no graham crackers in the pantry?  I feel certain I am breaking some unwritten rule.  Since I didn’t think the ranch flavored Goldfish (I know…ick) would be a good fit, I quickly threw together the crust.

Speed was my downfall.  I was rushing too much to see the abandoned bowl of melted butter on the counter…until I had thrown the tart in the oven.  Oops.  Unfortunately, since I decided to get cute and put sliced strawberries in the tart, I couldn’t just dump out the filling and mix it all together.  Looking back, I wish I would have thrown it all back into the blender.  I bet it would have turned a cool pink shade.  But, my thoughts were more along the lines of “Oh, crap. I boiled the damn peel only to skip the butter.  Idiot.”  So, I carefully poured the butter in, stirred and prayed.

Happily, I don’t think you could tell.  We had no comparison but nothing seemed glaringly out of place.  The lemon wasn’t too tart and I did like the addition of the strawberries (I thought they would stay on the bottom – boy it would be nice to know what I am doing sometimes).  Truthfully, though, I really liked the Most Extraordinary Lemon Cream Tart better.  It was the recipe that convinced me to join TWD.  So, when a lemon tart is necessary I will probably go with that one.

I don’t have any pictures as I made it on Saturday (pre-camera), but the Sour Cream Coffee Cake from Baked?  oh my.  An amazing coffee cake.  I gave a small one to  my 95 yr old grandma and she couldn’t stop eating it.  I found the recipe on Megan’s site.  Make it.  Soon.

The full recipe is at Babette Feasts.  Next week:  Fresh Mango Bread.  My choice!  I hope it works out…the pressure.

TWD: La Palette’s ApriStawCherry Tarte

[This is a terrible picture.  I took the only broken piece - none of the others could wait before digging in.]

When I lose my laser like focus (ha!) in the kitchen, my mind wanders to random series of thoughts.  What will my kids look like in 5 years?  Where is that skirt I haven’t seen in months?  Why is there only one clean spoon in the drawer…always?  You get the idea.  Lately though, one thought keeps bubbling to the top:

How in the hell is Dorie Greenspan so thin?

Seriously.  It’s not that I think her recipes are any more calorie laden than anyone else’s…but…by her own admission, she bakes almost every day (see Introduction) and eats ice cream every day, even if only a spoonful.  I followed a similar schedule in 2007.  It ended with weekly Weight Watchers’ meetings and a self imposed limit on baking (and consuming) all the good stuff (butter, sugar, cream).

This week’s recipe (chosen by Marie of a Year from Oak Cottage) is La Palette’s Strawberry Tart which, all things considered, is one of the lighter recipes…if you ignore the fat stick of butter in the crust.

I love strawberries and we had plenty of them but we also had apricots and cherries.  Plus, it being summer, I am in the mood to grill.  Everything. (unexpected from a vegetarian of 10+ years?)  I brushed lightly with oil and sprinkled a little brown sugar and grilled away.

I also changed the crust.  My spouse doesn’t eat eggs and I had made this crust for the lemon tart.   Since I wasn’t yet a member when the Pecan Brown Sugar Shortbread cookies had their week, I subbed that in for the crust.  Yum.

Colin came in at the tail end of rolling the shortbread dough and was very irritated when I put it in the fridge.  This is actually him rolling the dough for the second set of cookies he talked me into.  See the very bottom for the less than successful results.

  Finally, I topped with a little caramel whipped cream (see Weight Watchers’ above).  Caramel sounded so appealing with the grilled fruit.  I found a recipe from Daniel Boulud and, despite my initial misgivings about my own skills, it worked!

We consumed every last bite of it after Sunday dinner with Grandma.  Perfect end to a summer meal.  Go check out the other tarts here.

Next week: Peppermint Cream Puff Ring.  I have been wanting to try this recipe.  The challenge this week will be finding the adequate time to devote to it. 

 

 At Colin’s irresistable request to roll more dough, we quickly threw together some of Maida Heatter’s Chocolate Pillows.  I was looking for a cookie that had to be rolled but NOT chilled.  Three year olds are not known for patience.  My apologies to Ms. Heatter.  I have made these before with better results.  In our haste we screwed something up and they totally crumbled.  Better luck next time…