spanish sweets

spain was chock-full of bakeries with windows chock-full of crazy pastries. at first i thought i was in heaven. but when i too a second look, i realized it wasn't so... they were mostly very bready, not my favorite kind of sweet. i was glad, because had they been cupcakes or cookies that's where all my per-diem would've gone!

besides cinnamon-sugar topped bread twists, merengues were also popular. i thought a swirled mass of merengue was a cupcake once. i'm not sure they make cupcakes in spain :(

holiday tarts

one christmas i made little trios of tarts as gifts for special friends. choosing three came out of not being able to choose one that would please everyone's palates. the three finalists were:

• ethiopian coffee bean-infused chocolate tart (from book of tarts, recipe on a previous post)
• blackberry tart with rose cream (from tartine, another trusted cookbook. i'll post about their buttermilk scones soon!)
• cranberry, caramel, and almond tart (from book of tarts, recipe below!)

unfortunately due to a faulty computer, i lost the pictures. what a shame... they were nice. they were each so different, it was fun for me to test out all the recipes, although challenging to do them all at one time.

i love coffee and chocolate, and together it's hard to go wrong. the rose cream tart came from another book, and the crust was quite different than maury rubin's. i didn't particularly like it as a tart crust, but it's now my staple sugar cookie dough. for that, it's incredible! the cranberry, caramel, and almond tart was very good, also. it's a perfect winter tart-- warm from the oven, the fresh cranberries (that burst in the oven) make it super tart, and the caramel and almond are the perfect compliment to that.

can't wait to enjoy that one next to my well-lit christmas tree in a few months.

cranberry, caramel, and almond tart

1 cup sugar, 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, 1 3/4 cups cranberries, 6 ounces sliced almonds, 6 partially baked tart shells of standard dough

1 preheat oven to three hundred and fifty degrees.

2 to make the caramel, spread the sugar in a large heavy skillet and heat over low heat. place the cream in a small saucepan over low heat next to the sugar, until the sugar melts into a sheet of even caramel, approximately five minutes.

3 meanwhile, heat the cream over low heat

4 whisk the heated cream into the caramel and cook until any large pieces of hardened caramel melt. strain into a medium bowl, and let cool for fifteen minutes.

5 add the cranberries and almonds to the caramel, and stir to coat.

6 place the tart shells on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. divide the cranberry mixture among the tart shells, mounding it up in the centers.

7 bake for twenty to twenty five minutes, until the cranberries have puckered and the juices are bubbling slowly around the edges. remove from the oven and let sit for thirty seconds, then remove tart rings with tongs (unless using tart pans, in which case cool for ten minutes on a wire rack before removing from the pans). using a wide spatula, transfer to a wire rack to cool for at least ten minutes before serving.

(from book of tarts, page 96)

tart tarts

strolling in central market's produce department one day, i spotted an interesting variety of summer berries. reigning from a small farm in washington, i quickly grabbed a mini crate of each variety: gooseberries, red currants, and blackberries. i knew then and there that i'd be making tarts that afternoon.

i easily whipped up some standard tart dough and lemon curd and the berries practically jumped right in. i can't believe how pretty they looked. the combinations were ridiculous, they tasted so amazing... the lemon filling brought the best out of the strange berries-- the tart currants were kindof seedy on their own, but in the pastry you didn't notice it, they just exploded and married perfectly with the sweet lemon curd. the gooseberries were kindof grape-like, and also delicious in the simple tart.

i couldn't believe how successful these were.

and how quickly they disappeared from my fridge.

lemon cream (for summer berry tarts)

1 cup sugar, grated zest of 1 lemon, 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 4 large eggs, 1 large egg yolk, 12 tablespoons or unsalted butter in 12 pieces, 12 fully baked tart shells with standard dough, 2 cups assorted seasonal fruits or berries

1 place the sugar in a medium bowl and grate the zest of one lemon into it. rub the sugar and zest together between the palms of your hands.

2 pour the juice into a medium nonreactive saucepan. add the eggs, egg yolk, butter, and the zested sugar, and whisk to combine. set the pan over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, for three to five minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken. be sure to whisk all over the bottom of the pan, especially the edges. at the first sign of a boil, remove from heat and strain through a sieve into a bowl.

3 with a ladle or a large spoon, fill each tart shell nearly to the top with the lemon cream. refrigerate for twenty to twenty-five minutes or until set.

4 arrange the fruit in free-form patterns on the tops of the tarts, and serve.

(from book of tarts, page 28)

sparkle balls

thanks epicurious iphone app for the pretty idea!

glittering lemon sandwich cookies

i thought they sounded good and (more importantly?) were really pretty. again, during the injured months i was willing to try anything.

i love a mess in my kitchen, but only when the end product makes it worthwhile. not so with these guys. between making the dough, scooping and forming little balls, rolling each in glitter, not to mention baking and assembling with frosting... it was just too much work. to get one tupperware of mini sparkly cookies. that i didn't even like.

they flattened out a bit in the oven, going from balls to soft domes.

later, you make a sandwich out of them with a lemon flavored frosting in the middle.

sure, they looked cute-sie. the cookies had a nice light texture but were kindof dry and tasteless. next time i'd add a bit more lemon zest, or replace corn starch with rice flour to reduce dryness and a strange taste (as some of the reviews of the recipe suggest). the filling left much to be desired. if i made these again, i'd use magnolia's buttercream and add some lemon juice or zest.

regardless of what i thought, they went fast and i got tons of compliments on them. sometimes people are weird ;)

pears

pears are yummy.

i rarely eat them on their own, though-- i find them a little blah. (this is where my friend maury rubin comes in ...again.) a few years ago, i threw an "autumnal themed" dinner party, and decided to try rubin's square peg pear tart ...because it looked pretty, and i trusted it'd taste good. i mean, my tart bible hasn't failed me yet.

the square peg pear tart is mostly pear puree mixed with heavy cream and whipped to make, quite simply, pear whipped cream. fill the tart shells with the cream, top with a small square pear peg, sprinkle with sugar, and torch like creme brulee. it's simple and beautiful (and only a little bit like baby food).

the flavor of pears in a dessert like this is so delicate and delicious. actually, it's just pears on their lonesome that i can't take.

when ashley and i hosted a dinner at home for the grandmas, pear was integral to the meal. a staggering stacked pear salad started the meal. after much debate between the co-hosts, ash and i agreed on how to produce the image i had in my mind. it took careful slicing of a pear per guest, and filling the slices with goat cheese, dressed arugula, toasted pine nuts, and cranberries, then was the real challenge: re-assembly.

click the picture to enlarge it and get a better look at the awesome results!

after dinner (pears weren't a part of dinner. didn't want overkill...), we served another from the book of tarts, a tart of white chocolate infused with pear skins. ashley choose this one, a tart i'd never made before. it was quite rich, but wonderful. it would be really good as mini tarts, where there would be a higher ratio of crust to tart filling. for another occasion...

so in conclusion, i'm open to pears as a part of a recipe. in a dessert or on a salad. just don't hand me a pear and think i'll be happy.

...then again, don't get any funny ideas-- don't you dare try to make a pear cupcake. eew.

white chocolate infused with pear skins

1 1/4 cups heavy cream, peels from 2 large ripe bartlett pears, 4 ounces white chocolate chopped finely, 6 fully baked tart shells (either standard dough or chocolate dough), 1 ounce of bittersweet chocolate for design (we made marbled chocolate pear cut-outs to top each piece)

1 combine three quarters of a cup of cream and the pear skins in a small saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and puncture several holes in it with the tip of a paring knife. refrigerate for at least four hours, or overnight.

2 place the white chocolate in a medium bowl. pour the remaining half cup of cream into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. pour the hot cream all at once onto the white chocolate. let stand for one minute, the whisk until smooth. let cool to room temperature.

3 strain the chilled pear-infused cream into a mixing bowl, pressing hard with the back of a spoon to extract all of the flavor from the pear skins. using a hand-held mixer, beat at medium speed just until soft peaks form (don't beat too much!). fold the whipped cream into the cooled white chocolate cream.

4 ladle or spoon the white chocolate cream into the tart shells. refrigerate for thirty minutes, or until set.

5 fill a small paper pastry bag with the melted chocolate. stripe and dot the top of each tart to make a simple design. let sit at room temperature for fifteen minutes before serving.

(from book of tarts, page 90)

messy

early summer when i was injured and bored, i did a lot of experimenting in my kitchen... baking for the poor swans working to the point of exhaustion and beyond. i felt guilty that i got out of it (little did i know, i'll get my go as a swan this october at the woodlands), so i baked for the dancers. turns out the tan i'd gotten only made them more mad when i came in-- jealous they were stuck in the window-less wortham studios instead of by the pool or making cookies.

so i had to come up with something so spectacular that it took all those icky thoughts away! and i have to say i succeeded. this treat doesn't have an official name yet, for now it's just a gooey-nutella-filled krispy. directions to follow...

inspired by thecrispery.com (thanks, dailycandy)

and now serving at the new block7 for $5 a pop: brown butter rice krispies, chocolate ganache, toasted marshmallow, passion fruit (click here!)

to make these crazy treats, you'll need to prepare two batches of rice krispy treats as the box directs. spread one batch along the bottom of a rectangular brownie pan. let cool a bit, then spread one jar of nutella evenly on top. refrigerate until the nutella hardens a little bit, and spread the next batch of rice krispy treat over that. again, it may help to refrigerate the pan between layers to allow them to harden and settle. finally, spread (most of) a jar of marshmallow fluff over the top and finish off with sprinkles. i like to use the tiny rainbow balls for these, but anything will work. either cut into squares or any other shape. they don't retain their form well, though, just as a warning. they are very messy.

dirty kitchen

love it/hate it.

the first one

to kick-start this new project, i figured i should start with something extra special.

so i pick maury rubin! author of the most beat-up, butter-stained, dog eared cookbook in my collection: book of tarts. other bakers my disagree, placing their faith in that martha stewart bible, but for me, book of tarts is where it's at.

it all started at city bakery on 18th street in chelsea. discovered during my first summer in nyc, city bakery is easily one of my favorite places in the city. aside from yummy food (what kind of cherries are those!?) the purposefully messy piles of sweets at the counter easily make one drool. it's hard to deny the famous chocolate chip cookies, or pretzel croissants, and hardest of all to resist the tarts. if you're ever in new york, you MUST go here!

maury rubin, creator of this wonderful haven, was kind enough to put his favorite and most successful tarts in a book. the first time i used this book was at home with my mother, and we made a basic lemon tart with fruit as well as the milky way tart. i remember she was tentative, nervous about all the different elements. there are so many ways to misstep between the two different crusts, lemon curd, caramel, and chocolate mousse! but rubin calmly and clearly guided us through the process, and a few hours later we had some delicious and beautiful tarts!

lemon curd and summer fruit tart

milky way tart

as i've experimented with other recipes over the years (does that sound silly?), i always return to my book of tarts for security. rubin has given me confidence in my baking abilities, trying techniques and combinations i never would've tried, which spread beyond his book to all kinds baking and cooking even.

a part of that confidence definitely comes from the fact that i've never made an unsuccessful tart from his book. i think i'm going to share my favorite recipes (except the dough, since that'd take forever. for that deliciousness just buy his book!!!):

chocolate custard infused with ethiopian coffee beans

3 large egg yolks, 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, 1 heaping tablespoon coarsely ground ethiopian coffee beans, 3 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate finely chopped, 6 fully baked chocolate tart shells, 1 ounce melted bittersweet chocolate for design

1 place egg yolks in a med bowl

2 pour heavy cream into a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. remove from heat and add the coffee beans. let infuse for exactly one minute, whisking several times. strain cream through a fine sieve into a medium saucepan.

3 bring the coffee cream to a simmer. remove from heat, add the chocolate, and let sit for one minute. whisk until smooth. slowly add the cream to the egg yolks, whisking constantly. strain into a bowl.

4 with a ladle or a large spoon, fill the tart shells with the chocolate custard. refrigerate for at least thirty minutes, or unitl set.

5 fill a small paper pastry bag with melted chocolate. stripe and dot the top of each tart to make a simple design. let sit at room temperature for ten minutes before serving.

(from book of tarts, page 34)

zinfandel-marinated cherries with cocoa

2 pints dark pitted cherries (1 can=1 1/2 cups, 2 cups=1 pint, so get 3 cans), 2 cups red zinfandel, 6 partially baked chocolate tart shells, 3 tablespoons heavy cream, 2 teaspoons granulated sugar, cocoa powder for dusting

1 place the cherries in a medium bowl and pour the wine over them. cover with plastic wrap and let marinate for one hour.

2 preheat the oven to 350 degrees f

3 with a slotted spoon, transfer the cherries to a plate. then pack them tightly into the tart shells with their smooth sides up.

4 pour 1/2 cup of the zinfandel marinade into a small nonreactive saucepan, and stir in the cream and sugar. (you won't need the rest of the marinade.) heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. remove from heat.

5 divide the zinfandel cream among the tart shells. bake twenty to twenty-five minutes, until the juices are bubbling around the edges. remove from the oven and let sit for one minute, then remove tart rings with tongs. using a wide spatula, transfer to a wire rack to cool.

6 very lightly dust the tops of the tarts with cocoa powder and serve.

(from book of tarts, page 62)