Pear & Almond Frangipane Tartelettes

After a failed attempt at macarons part deux this weekend, I opted for another favorite French dessert. Tarts. Ian and I have had so much chocolate lately (no complaints here), so I felt it was time for a fruit dessert. Tarts take some time to get the hang of, and I hope to make the classic Parisian fruit tarts all summer when everything is in season. It is an art getting the dough perfectly flaky and crumble free.

This morning, after scouring through all my baking books and not finding the exact recipe I was looking for, I perused my favorite blogs. As I was about to admit defeat, I looked no further than Tartelette. I have adored her blog for months, and after making this recipe, I am hooked. I am now coveting one of these on top of one of these. She has so many great macaron, ice cream, cake and tart recipes, on top of her awesome photography. So many blog crushes, so little time.

I followed her recipe almost exactly, but instead made mine with all-purpose flour. My pie weights have gone missing in all of my moves, so the next best thing is dried beans. Also, another trick I just learned is to roll your rolling pin over the top of the tart pan to cut off any excess dough. It works so well!

And the final product, which I have to wait an hour to eat so Ian can finish his studying. With a little whip cream, these will be fantastic. I hope.

Valentine's Day

With Valentine's Day falling on a Monday, it really throws a wrench in my themed baking plans. Tonight, I made a simple treat for Valentine's Day: brownie sundaes. Homemade brownies and ice cream go together like pink and red. I used the recipe from The Modern Baker, and I think they came out pretty well. He tells you to cover them and let them sit for several hours, or overnight. There was no way. Fifteen minutes out of the oven I was already making my heart shaped brownies for sundaes.


Sour Cream Brownies
6 oz. unsalted butter, cut into pieces
7 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 ¾ c. brown sugar, firmly packed
4 large eggs
½ c. sour cream
3 tsp vanilla extract
1 ½ c. all purpose flour

• Line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper and butter the bottom and sides. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
  
• Put the butter in a medium saucepan and place over medium heat. Let the butter melt, stirring 2 or 3 times, then allow it to bubble for about 10 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and add the chocolate. Gently shake the pan to submerge the chocolate in the hot butter and set aside for a few minutes so that the chocolate melts. Use a small whisk to mix until smooth.
• Place the brown sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat in 1 egg on the lowest speed using the paddle attachment. Add the remaining eggs, one at a time, beating smooth after each. Add the sour cream, salt and vanilla and beat smooth.
• Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a large rubber spatula to mix in the chocolate and butter mixture. Mix in the flour. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
  

These brownies got me thinking about other fun Valentine's Day treats I made pre-blog.

Linzer cookies (can't remember what recipe) from 2009:

Mini tartlettes, adapted from The Art & Soul of Baking, in 2010 with a chocolate ganache and raspberry topping. I was so glad only four turned out, I couldn't stop eating these.

So many memories. Happy to be celebrating four years together with my favorite Valentine. Happy Valentine's Day!

Birthday Lasagna!

It was Ian's birthday this week and instead of going out to dinner, I wanted to make him dinner and dessert at home. Dinner is more Ian's domain than mine, so I knew I needed to pick something hearty, meaty (I am not one for cooking with meat) and not labor intensive. He has told me before that he doesn't like lasagna because it is mushy and not very flavorful. What? It can't be. This needed to be corrected, so with that, I was off to the store for some major Italian food item purchases.

This recipe from epicurious seemed like the best option for numerous reasons. I like the idea of making it with turkey, I like mozzarella and I noticed the use of no boil noodles. If Ian thought his previous experience with lasagna was too mushy, I didn't want to take any chances. Turns out, no boil is the way to go. It was so good!

The reviews for the recipe said it was a little bland and to double the herbs and spices. This is definitely a must. I also used 1 lb ground turkey and 1/2 lb ground pork to give it some fat and flavor. The recipe calls for no salt, which seemed odd, so I salted to taste (Ian leans more towards the saltier side).

In addition to the lasagna, I also made what is now deemed Ian's birthday cake of choice. It happened through an accident, but he asks for it every year. A chocolate chip sour cream cake. Two things: for someone who hates white and fatty sauces (sour cream, mayonnaise, hollandaise sauce), he loves this cake; secondly, this all started in an attempt to make a chocolate sour cream cake and in a hurry, and not reading the directions carefully, I just threw the chopped chocolate in the batter. And so the chocolate chip sour cream cake was born. The Boston Globe has a pretty good recipe, so that is what I used this year. However, I cut out the cinnamon and sugar topping, made it in a cake pan and frosted it with vanilla buttercream. It is hard to screw up this cake because of all the delicious ingredients. Overall, it was a wonderful low-key birthday spent at home with good food, good wine and Indiana Jones.

Guinness Ice Cream

Ian got an ice cream maker for Christmas and he wasted no time in trying his hand at the first batch of homemade ice cream. Ian picked Guinness ice cream as the inaugural flavor and he seemed on the fence with the decision. We all ate it happily and thought it was delicious. There will be much more ice cream making in our future.

Macarons

So I am about two years late to the macaron party, but they have always intrigued/frightened me. On top of being the most adorable of desserts, you can make them in any flavor imaginable. The more I researched recipes, the more I saw the boundless color and flavor options. I decided to go with salted caramel.

I have only heard how temperamental the shells are to make and how easy it is to screw up the batter. I went into making these with the attitude that they will fail miserably in hopes I would be pleasantly surprised by their success. Miraculously, they worked out in the nick of time, and I was able to share them with our good friends visiting from Minneapolis. Although, they were slightly browned from leaving them in the oven too long. Whoops. I loved them, and I am now hooked on the magic that is French macarons. Reason number 342 as to why I must go to France.

I went off two different recipes for the macarons. Most recipes for these are in grams and since I don't have a scale I needed one with cups. Here is the salted carmel recipe, and here is the recipe with much greater detail, as well as a step-by-step process to making these desserts. A major piece (also slightly gross), is to use stale eggs. I let mine sit out for 48 hours and I'd like to think that made all the difference. Something about stale eggs keeps the macaron shells from cracking. Hopefully, you will be seeing more of these to come and my success in making these won't be beginner's luck.

Chicken Pot Pie

It has been on my list to make homemade chicken pot pie since I received the Sur La Table cook book over a year ago, and it finally happened last weekend. It was a cold, snowy night, so there was no better time for a hot homemade meal.

This recipe was fairly simple, and if I were to make it again (debatable, since the amount of butter used was more than I would like to admit), I would make it in individual dishes. This recipe instructs you to make it in a pie pan, but I like the little contained bowls of food with pie crust on top. This could just be because I love all things miniature. Who knows.

I didn't have a chicken cookie cutter, but I did have a heart, so there she is.

NYE in Manzanita {love}

We spent New Year's Eve in Manzanita, and true to form, I must post a picture and gush about the beauty that is the Oregon coast. The weather was perfect and the night was so much fun. I haven't baked in what feels like forever, so hopefully that will change very soon. Updates to come.