Summer Berry Tart Before Demerara Finishing Sugar

I have made a lot of tart recipes in my time, some simple, some complicated. This recipe from Alice Medrich printed in the Wall Street Journal, Summer 2020, is the easiest and tastiest sweet tart dough recipe you will ever need. No cooling the dough or rolling out the dough. It is the best. Use your favorite tart filling, but keep this tart dough recipe in your recipe arsenal.

Easy No-Roll Tart Crust

This smart recipe from Alice Medrich produces the easiest, most delicious tart crust you will ever make. Press it into a tart pan with a removable bottom for a tidy crust with beautifully fluted sides, or push it into a pie plate for a more homespun look. Either way, this crust is remarkably good for something so simple to prepare: buttery, intensely crunchy and deeply flavorful. This immensely accommodating recipe works with either granulated or brown sugar; the latter just gives the crust slightly more complex caramelized taste.

TOTAL TIME: 40 minutes

MAKES: Makes 1 (9½-inch) tart crust or (9-inch) pie crust

KATE SEARS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, FOOD STYLING BY LIZA JERNOW

Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• ¼ cup granulated sugar or brown sugar

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• ¾ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

Directions

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, salt and vanilla. Add flour and mix just until well blended. If the dough seems too soft, let it stand a few minutes to firm up.

3. Press dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a 91/2 -inch tart pan with a removable bottom or a 9-inch pie plate to make a thin, even layer. Press dough squarely into corners of pan to avoid extra-thick edges. If using a pie plate, press crust up the sides but not over the rim. (Crust can be prepared 2-3 days ahead to this point, wrapped and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking.)

4. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake until the crust is fully golden brown all over, 20-25 minutes. If the crust puffs up during baking, gently press it down with the back of a fork and prick it a few times. Set pan on a rack to cool. (Once crust is completely cool, it can be kept at room temperature, wrapped airtight, at least 3 days.)

—Adapted from “Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts” by Alice Medrich

Below is the filling recipe that went along with the above Easy No Roll Tart Crust by Alice Medrich, which is also fantastic. I have made it with strawberries, but also many other fresh fruits. In winter months you could do a lemon curd or chocolate filling without the mascarpone base. Enjoy!

Simplest Strawberry Tart

This is the simplest tart you’ll ever make, and it’s a stunner. Fill a baked crust with sweetened mascarpone and top with the ripest strawberries you can find. Other berries will work, too; so will halved fresh figs. Sprinkle it with Demerara sugar for seasoning and crunch. That’s it.

TOTAL TIME: 50 minutes

MAKES: 1 (9½-inch) tart

KATE SEARS FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, FOOD STYLING BY LIZA JERNOW

Ingredients

• 1 Easy No-Roll Tart Crust (recipe above), baked in a 9½ -inch tart pan with a removable bottom and left in pan after baking

• 1 cup (8 ounces) mascarpone

• 4 teaspoons granulated sugar

• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter, very soft, for sog-proofing (optional)

• 2 pints ripe strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and halved if large, and patted dry

• 2 tablespoons Demerara sugar

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix mascarpone with 4 teaspoons sugar and vanilla.

2. If you will not be serving the tart within 3-4 hours, sog-proof the crust by spreading the bottom with the thinnest-possible layer of soft butter. Chill crust to set butter, 10-15 minutes, before adding mascarpone mixture.

3. Spread mascarpone evenly over crust. Begin arranging berries, as close together as possible, around edges of tart and work toward the middle. Remove tart from pan and transfer to a platter. Refrigerate unless serving within 2 hours. Before serving, sprinkle with Demerara sugar. Tart is best on the first day but still very good on day two.

—Adapted from “Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts” by Alice Medrich

Do you have a favorite “go to” tart recipe? If you make this tart recipe, and like it. Let me hear from you!

Bon Appétit and Bon Weekend….Bonnie

Elegant Hummingbird Cake

This is not a French dessert, but one that originates in this country. It is an elegant fruit cake with a decadent cream cheese frosting. I don’t know the specific origin of this recipe, only that my parents shared it with me years ago from their Missouri area. I can easily imagine this as a featured recipe out of Southern Living magazine. See recipe below.

I think of it as a carrot cake, without any carrots. It is super moist and delightful with combined flavors of crushed pineapple, bananas, and applesauce. The cream cream frosting is a nice yummy addition, and covers the cake nicely. Everyone asks for the recipe!

Recipe Notes: I have made this cake frequently over the years, for birthdays, teas, and special occasions. I now prefer to do a three-layer 8” cake, rather than the two-layer 9” cake, but both work fine. I also freeze ripe bananas and keep them in the freezer, and allow time to let them thaw before making the cake. So chopped bananas work well, or mashed bananas thawed from the freezer. I also don’t always use chopped nuts in the cake, or for garnish on the top. It is your preference. Enjoy!

A Slice of Celebration Heaven

Hummingbird Cake

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups sugar

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. cinnamon

1-8oz. can crushed pineapple—juice packed, drained

½ cup canola oil

4 eggs slightly beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chopped bananas

1 cup chunky-style applesauce

2/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Directions:

Grease and lightly flour two 9” round cake pans. Place a circular parchment paper fitting each pan on top of greased and floured cake pans for ease of removing baked cakes. Set pans aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the sugar, flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add drained pineapple, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until combined, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Stir in bananas, applesauce, and walnuts. Divide batter between two prepared pans.

Bake in 350 degree F. oven about 35 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Cool cake layers on wire racks for 10 minutes. Remove from pans, cool thoroughly on wire racks. Prepare the Cream Cheese Frosting and frost cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

In a large mixing bowl, beat one 8oz. package cream cheese (softened), ½ cup butter (softened), and 1 tsp. vanilla with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Gradually add 5 cups of sifted powdered sugar, beating until smooth and spread consistency.

Ice cake in one direction, trying not to get cake crumbs in the icing. Ice top of first layer of cake, add second cake layer, finish icing cake top and sides.

Press 1-1/2 cups finely chopped pecans, toasted into the sides of the cake. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of finely chopped pecans on top of the cake. (I usually just cover the top of cake with toasted pecans, and not the sides.) Enjoy!!

Do you have a favorite cake or dessert you make for your special celebrations? For more dessert recipes and related dessert posts from my blog, please go to dessert recipes. If you make this Hummingbird Cake recipe, please leave a comment, or tag me on Instagram. I love to hear from you!

Bon Weekend…..Bonnie

Red Ranunculus

February is the month of love, and let this love carry you throughout this year. Surround yourself with those you love, and what you love. Even if you can’t see loved ones in person, you can still reach out to them. Friends and family will feel the love from your heart. Simple gestures go a long way, whether it is beautiful flowers, something chocolate, a sweet note, a sincere compliment, love quotes, a little humor, or even a kiss! Love makes the world go round.

Mom’s Brownies

This is one of my Mom’s recipes that I love, and have made for years. This recipe creates a soft, chewy, rich brownie which disappears fast! It calls for a scant 1/2 cup of sifted flour. Be sure and use quality bittersweet chocolate and vanilla extract. Be careful not to overbake the brownies. Thanks Mom!

Brownie Ingredients:

1/2 cup sifted all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 ounces of bittersweet chocolate melted

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat you oven at 325 F. degrees. Grease an 8” x 8” x 2” pan. Sift flour with baking powder and salt in a small bowl. With an electric mixer beat butter with sugar until very light and fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until very light. Beat in melted chocolate and vanilla at low speed, blend in flour mixture, just until combined. Turn into pan, spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool completely. Frost brownies.

Frosting Ingredients:

1 ounce bittersweet chocolate melted

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon softened butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend together. Can add a dash of cream to make frosting smoother.

The Little Lion Cafe, Ocean Beach

Champagne, or maybe cappuccino?

A Table Set for Valentine’s Celebration

A few years ago I hosted some events around Valentine’s Day. I tried to create a special menu with the theme, “Love is Endlessly Delicious.” Many things I remember with fondness, but what I now associate Valentine’s Day with is Ina Garten’s Dark Chocolate Terrine with Orange Sauce the recipe I made for dessert. Wow, it is a show stopper!

This recipe is from Ina Garten Make it Ahead (2014) cookbook, which is one of my favorite cookbooks. The terrine can be prepared and made ahead, along with the orange sauce. Not a chocolate mousse, not a cake, it is like a decadent chocolate pâté. Garten channels two similar recipes, one from Thomas Keller’s French Laundry and the second, from the famous Taillevent restaurant in Paris, plus adding her Barefoot Contessa spin on it. Marvelous! It is a perfect dessert to celebrate Valentine’s Day!

Making the Dark Chocolate Terrine

Recipe Notes: Use the best chocolate you can find. Garten recommends Lindt bittersweet chocolate. I used Guittard bittersweet chocolate found at Sprouts, Cardiff Seaside Market, and other specialty grocery stores in our immediate area. Valrhona bittersweet chocolate is another great choice.

The dark chocolate terrine needs to chill for a minimum of 4 hours or overnight. Don’t forget the Orange Sauce made with a touch of Grand Marnier liqueur and cognac, which is a perfect complement to the flavor and presentation of the dark chocolate terrine. Lastly, sprinkle with some flaky sea salt. A hot, dry knife helps to make your slices easier. Run your knife over hot water, dry, and slice, repeat if necessary. Recipe makes 10 servings, perfect for sharing with loved ones.

Please share if you make something special for your loved ones on Valentine’s Day!

Ina Garten’s Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

January is a time of hope and renewal. The year is young, filled with possibility. Make intentions, not resolutions, as resolutions require will power and often dissipate before you know it. Intentions are mighty seeds you sow out into the universe and let manifest, often returning back to you in a much grander way than you could ever imagine. Allow time for making your intentions, write them down, and look at them regularly.

Fireside conversations, reading, pouring over seed catalogs, and contemplating are perfect now. Brew a pot of tea, or make hot chocolate, and create a simple treat for yourself or share with a cherished companion.

A great time to think outside of your box and comfort zone. Wear something different from your closet or jewelry box, you don’t normally wear. Try and do one thing creative every day. Go “dry” on something for a month.

The garden is dormant and put to bed. It is a great time of year to see the structure of your garden, what you like, and what you might change. Plan that change. The winter sun is warming, and it is peaceful.

In the kitchen, citrus is in season, sweet, and colorful. Citrus is an acid. It adds brightness, and acid is one of the key foundations of cooking. Use citrus in salads, cakes, breads, marinades, tarts, as a juice, or snack. Good for you, and rich in Vitamin C. The citrus family generally includes citron, grapefruit, kumquat, lemon, lime, orange, pomelo, tangerine, and a few others. If you are able to grow citrus in your garden, it is a treat.

I recently made Ina Garten’s Lemon Poppy Seed Cake from her Make it Ahead Cookbook. This recipe is moist, flavorful, and calls for Meyer Lemons which are sweeter than traditional Eureka lemons. Natural lemon flavor is repeated in the body of the cake, as a syrup spooned over the finished cooled cake, and finally in the lemon glaze. My Recipe Notes & Loving Adaptations: Plan ahead, this recipe calls for soaking the poppy seeds in buttermilk for at least two hours first. My suggestion for the lemon syrup is to make tiny toothpick holes around the top of the cake, so the syrup will be able to soak in more. The tiny holes will be covered by the final lemon glaze. With a bundt cake pan, using the Pam for Baking with Flour, is a lifesaver and ensures your cake comes out easily from the pan with no heartaches.

Another great recipe using citrus is Sunset’s Spinach and Persimmon Salad. Remembering this salad was prompted by a dear friend recently giving me a jar of her homemade Orange Marmalade. The dressing is so simple, so fresh, using 1/4 cup rice vinegar, a couple tablespoons of orange marmalade, 1 teaspoon of sesame oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Whisk together, and toss over fresh baby spinach greens, with sliced fresh persimmons and glazed pecans. It is delicious. My Recipe Notes & Loving Adaptations: This recipe is very adaptable to many substitutions. I didn’t have fresh persimmons, but I had dried persimmons from a farmers market in my pantry, and they were wonderful in the salad. You can use sweet segmented tangerines, ruby red grapefruit segments, or chopped pears in place of the persimmons. Another idea is to use other mixed winter greens, leave in or take out the pecans, and add fresh goat cheese.

This past fall, I mentioned I was more of recipe seeker, than a recipe developer. There is a story behind this Spinach and Persimmon Salad. I found it originally in the November 2008, Sunset magazine and saved it, when Sunset published their “Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes” broken down by categories. Sunset’s reader services department, their past and present food staff, and a special group of subscribers made up this highly elite foodie group, who were then called the Sunset Cooking Club. Believe it or not, these 20 friends met for a potluck meal made from the recipe pages of each current Sunset magazine every month for more than 25 years. That is more than 3,600 Sunset pooled recipes to whittle down for their 2008 “Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes.” This Spinach and Persimmon Salad recipe was classified as “Most Refreshing Bite” and originally dates back to a 2003 Sunset issue. This salad is seasonal through the winter, well after the holidays with lively citrus being in season. Once again, “simple is elegant!”

Winter Salad with Fresh Pear and Goat Cheese

What favorite activities do you like to do in January? What starts your year for you?

A Chocolate Slice of Heaven

A Chocolate Lover’s Dream Cake! This is a perfect chocolate cake for the holidays. It is dense, dreamy, and dramatic! Reminiscent of European desserts, it is sweet, but not too sweet, and the rich elegant chocolate flavor is first and foremost. It is a very rich cake, so dainty slices go a long way, especially if you are serving additional desserts for your occasion.

Springform Pan Ready for the Oven

I originally blogged about this recipe back in 2010, Jim Dodge Chocolate Pecan Cake. I hadn’t made it for a couple of years, but remembered how delicious and easy it was to make. The original recipe has an optional 1/3 cup bourbon in it. Being bold this year I replaced the optional bourbon with 1/3 cup Grand Marnier, and added moist, sweet, dried orange slices as a finished top garnish. Wow! Another option you could try is replacing the 1/3 cup bourbon, with a teaspoon of dried Espresso coffee granules and 1/3 cup Kuhlúa.

Ready to Serve

Obviously, the chocolate in this recipe is very important. Use the best baking chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder you can find. I used Guittard semi-sweet chocolate and Ghiradelli premium unsweetened cocoa powder for the body of the cake, and Guittard bittersweet chocolate for the glaze. You might be surprised to know that there is no flour in this recipe. Toasted pecans finely ground with a food processor replace the need for flour. Another surprise is the cake is immersed in a simmering water bath while baking. Enjoy!

Jim Dodge Chocolate Pecan Cake Recipe

Recipe Notes: The original recipe calls for coarsely chopped toasted pecans, but it is best to use a food processor to finely grind your pecans. You can add bourbon, Grand Marnier, and Kuhlúa as an option, or leave out entirely. Allow time to leave your cake in the springform pan overnight, after baking and before placing on your serving plate. Serve your cake at room temperature for optimum flavor.

Do you have a holiday dessert that is your family’s favorite? If you make this Jim Dodge Chocolate Pecan Cake, please comment and share!

Basket of Fall Goodies

Last fall I was in the Toulouse, South France area with French General for a week long “France Getaway, Exploring Craft, Markets, and Food in France.” Since none of us can be there this year, I thought I would share with you a few photos from the trip. If you are interested in joining a week with French General, contact owner Karri Meng, as she will be offering these trips once again, when it is permissible. For now, sit back and enjoy a few photos, and imagine your are in France this fall.

Two Lucky Lovers Atop an Arch in Saint-Antonin

Walled Garden Below Toulouse Lautrec Museum

Learning the Fine Art of the Cheese Board

Impromptu Roadside Stop at Apple Farm

Completing One Craft, An Original French General Apron

Alfresco Lunch Setting at Local Winery

Cordes-Sur-Ciel Village, One Lucky Cat Lives Here!

Fields of Fall Sunflowers Before Harvest

Last Evening, Last Dessert

Farmgirl Flower Bouquets With Flower Fields As Backdrop

The setting at host family farm, Kendall Farms in Fallbrook, California, couldn't have been prettier for the "Field to Vase" dinner, second to the last of what has been a whirlwind 10-city dinner tour across the country promoting American-Grown flowers.  

Each dinner has been beautifully orchestrated and it is the ultimate in "al fresco" dining  featuring a four-course "farm to table" dinner, locally grown and made wines, and a special floral designer to highlight the host farm's flowers. Guests are encouraged to mingle with the host flower farmers, featured flower designer, and farm-to-table chef. Goodwill Flower Ambassadors, Kasey Cronquist of Certified American Grown, and Debra Prinzing, Founder of the SLOW FLOWERS movement are present to speak about the evening's event and carry the torch for the growing movement to support and buy American-Grown flowers from your local flower farmers.

Even the Tractor Was Dressed for the Occasion

I'm sure not many of the 144 guests who attended knew what was in store for them as they were guided on meandering dirt roads that twisted higher and higher and eventually came  to an open expansive area where the event was held. One continuous table was set in a half circle to take advantage of the postcard-perfect vista and the surrounding landscape of various flowers such as wax flower, sunflowers, myrtle, and silver dollar eucalyptus.

Jason Kendall gave the dinner group a brief history of the farm and tour before dinner commenced. Being a farmer is never easy, and there have been some setbacks such as the 2008 Rice Fire which burned a majority of the farm. What did they do, turned "lemons into lemonade" and the farm has comeback stronger and is thriving. Kendall Farms was Jason's father, Dave Kendall's dream, and the family has embraced his dream. Jason Kendall and his cousin, Troy Conner, are savvy flower farmers in what they grow, how they market, how they build their infrastructure. It was a joy to share this evening with them, and experience first-hand their fortitude, ingenuity, and beauty of their flowers.

Evening Glow Over the Table

Floral Designer for this event was Christina Stembel of Farmgirl Flowers. Chef was Richard Bustos of Heart of the House Catering for Appetizers, Salad, Entree, and Side. Robin McCoy of Robins Nest Desserts, made the Chocolate Torte accompanied with an infused Rosemary Ganache. Fallbrook Winery served their tasty local wines.