Berrylicious Tart

Some people don't like chocolate. I am most definitely not one of them. But if I were, this would be my favorite dessert. This is the first tart recipe I've ever tried and it may well be the last. It it just too easy and too perfect. You can make it hours to days in advance, and you can fill it with just about anything. I found it in my new favorite cookbook, Baking; from my home to yours. I actually skipped the full tart recipe, which called for pastry cream (dozens of eggs!) and fruit glaze (not my favorite) and just made the dough. Then I filled it with homemade whipped cream (nothing better) and topped it with fresh fruit, no glaze necessary. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Dough-
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick plus 1 tsp (9 tsp) very cold butter but into small pieces
1 large egg yolk
Whipped Cream-
Heavy whipping cream
a few TB sugar
Filling-
fresh fruit, lemon custard, whatever you want!

Tart Preparation:
Put the flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Drop in the butter pieces and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in. Stir the yolk to break it apart, then add it a bit at a time, pulsing after each addition. When the egg is fully in, process the dough in long pulses until the dough forms "clumps and curds." (You can hear the difference when the dough has reached this point.) Turn the dough onto a work surface and knead a bit until the dough sticks together.

Butter a fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Press dough into the pan. Seems strange at first but it will spread out nicely as you push into it. Press the dough until it is pretty thin, it will rise.

Freeze the dough for at least 30 minutes and as long as overnight.
Pre-heat oven to 375. The recipe calls for fitting the dough with a buttered piece of foil to keep it from rising. I've tried this recipe both with and without the foil and didn't notice a difference. So that part is up to you. Bake on the center rack for 25-30 minutes. Remove the foil (if you used it) and push down the dough a bit with the back of a spoon. Put tart back in the oven until it turns a golden brown, approximately 5-8 more minutes. Remove from oven and immediately transfer to a rack to cool to room temperature before filling.

Whipped Cream Preparation:
Whip heavy cream with electric beater. Note that the cream will almost triple in size. Usually half a pint is sufficient. Add sugar to taste. Whipped cream can be stored in the fridge for a few hours.

Putting it all together:
Spread whipped cream on crust. Top with fresh berries. Serve right away. That's it!

Special thanks for Jodi and Erin for their photography!

Winter Meyer Lemon Cake

It was my mom's birthday so she got to choose the dessert for her birthday dinner. She always prefers fruit over chocolate, so we headed to the supermarket to see what looked good in the produce aisle. Being late December and in Colorado, nothing looked so good. Nothing except a beautiful bag of bright yellow Meyer lemons.

So Meyer Lemon cake it was. I found this recipe here (didn't know Domino did recipes!). Easy, not too many ingredients, and tastes great for days after. I made a few variations to make the glaze extra crunchy and the cake really solid, the way my mom likes it. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

8 tbsp unsalted butter

4 large eggs, separated

3 1/4 cups sugar

2/3 cup buttermilk

6 Meyer lemons (2 for cake, 2 for glaze, 2 for candied lemon slices)

2 cups cake flour (or sifted all purpose flour, unbleached)

1 1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 2/3 cup confectioner's sugar

Preparation of the Cake:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Melt butter in saucepan, set aside to cool

In mixing bowl, use electric mixer to beat egg yolks with 1 cup of sugar until thick and light in color. Add in buttermilk, 1/3 cup Meyer lemon juice (2 lemons), and 1 tbsp Meyer lemon zest.

Sift together cake flour, baking powder, and salt. In separate bowl, beat egg whites until they hold soft peaks, add 1/4 cup of sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form.

Fold half the flour mixture into the egg -yolk mixture, followed by half the egg white mixture. Repeat with the rest of the flour and egg white mixture.

Take 1 cup of the batter and mix into the cooled butter. Then gently fold butter/batter into the rest of the cake batter. (Gently so the cake stays fluffy!) Pour batter into a buttered and floured 9 inch cake pan or Bundt pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until cake is lightly golden and pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Preparation of the glaze:

Combine 1/3 cup Meyer lemon juice (2 lemons) and confectioners sugar in a saucepan. Heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved. Set aside until cake is ready.

Preparation of the candied lemon slices:

Cut 2 Meyer lemons widthwise in 1/4 inch slices- discard end pieces and remove seeds. In a saucepan, combine 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water. Bring to boil and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Add lemon slices and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, until rinds seem edible. Remove and dry on parchment paper.

Putting it all together:

When cake is done, let it cool completely, in the pan for 5 minutes and then on a cooling rack. With a long toothpick, poke deep holes for the glaze to seep in. Slowly spoon glaze over the cake, allowing to sink in. Add lemon slices. If you like

the cake warm, serve immediately. If you prefer a more set solid cake (as my mom does), put in the fridge until you are ready to serve.