Toasted Hazelnut Chocolate Macarons

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I was walking through the grocery store recently and I came across hazelnut flour made by Bob’s Red Mill (you can also get it here on Amazon). I thought to myself, HUH. I know *JUST* the thing I am going to make with this.

Traditional macarons call for almond flour, so I did not know how substituting for hazelnut flour would work.  Turns out… works great!

Also, I did another thing new this time.  While at Trader Joe’s, I found 100% liquid egg whites and gave them a try. Oh my! What a time saver!! The macarons turned out just the same! I am so pleased! If you are going to use a different brand other than Trader Joe’s, you need to make sure it is only 100% egg white and nothing else.


Materials needed: (affiliate links are used for your convenience)

    • silicone spatula
    • electric mixer (your hand will get tired whipping the meringue, I use this professional one in cherry red, but this model is wonderful too and perfect for those who don’t need THE BIG mixer! )
    • a food scale (yes, you need this. I use this one)
    • a piping tip and piping bag (I like the ateco #806, I use these tips and piping bag)
    • Food coloring (the gels or dry powder works best, not the liquid store stuff)
    • A macaron template
    • food processor (I use this one)

Macarons Recipe

275g hazelnut flour

250g powdered sugar

210g egg whites

210g granulated sugar

1.  Mix almond meal and the powdered sugar in a food processor. Be careful not to grind too long, otherwise it will form a paste.

2. Sift the almonds and powdered sugar. Set aside.

3. Weigh out granulated sugar.

4. Weigh the egg whites.  Beat them slowly on a low speed until foamy. SLOWLY add the granulated sugar to the egg whites as you beat.  Once all mixed, increase speed to medium and beat until a firm meringue forms.  You want a firm meringue with glossy peaks but not stiff peaks.  They should defy gravity and remain in the bowl if you turn it upside down.  If you tilt your bowl to the side and they are sliding out, keep beating.

5. Add the food coloring gel and mix.

6. Then fold in 1/3rd of the almond/sugar mixture into the meringue with a silicone spatula.  Once combined, add another third of the almond mixture. Add last bit.  This batter requires more deflation during this step since it creates such a poofy meringue.

7. Add the batter to a piping bag.  Pipe in rows using your template onto parchment paper.

8. Pick up the pan and beat until the counter.  The cookies need to rest on the counter between 30-60 minutes.  They are ready to go in the oven when they are dry to touch (the shell shouldn’t stick to your finger)

9.  Set the oven to 300F.

10. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes, one sheet at a time. They are done when they look kind of matte and seem firm when you lightly tap on them.  You can always rescue a slightly overcooked one with the maturation process that comes later, but you cannot rescue an undercooked one!!

11. Remove from paper once completely cool. If they stick to the paper, they aren’t cool yet. Or you undercooked them.

Toasted Hazelnuts

Preheat oven to 300F.  Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet.  Bake for about 15 minutes, or until browned.  Half way during baking, stir them.  Once they are cooling, use a towel and rub the skins off of them.

Filling

Use Nutella.

Assembly

1. Once the cookies are cool, add a dollop of your nutella to one cookie and spread with a small knife, spoon, or icing spatula.  Don’t push too hard when spreading, otherwise you will break them!

2.  Place the other cookie to your filling, press gently, and slightly twist the two together. Then, dip a hazelnut in the Nutella and place on top.

3. Once all assembled, put them in an airtight container and let them mature (yes, that’s the scientific word for this process) in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours.

Now, these cookies won’t be bad if you eat them immediately, they will just be amazing if you wait a day.  The theory is that the juices from the filling soak back into the cookie to make an AMAZING cookie.

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French Strawberry Pistachio Macaron Cake

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This French strawberry pistachio macaron cake is the perfect Spring/Summer treat!

French Strawberry Pistachio Macaron Recipe

In fact, it is my favorite French dessert I’ve *ever* made. That’s a bold statement for me, lover of croissants and macarons!

The sweet/tartness of the strawberries goes so well with the pistachios!  I made two different sizes – a larger cake and small individual cakes!

Honestly, when I made these, I thought they were all fails – half of them cracked and seemed overcooked.  But I adjusted the oven temperature and cooking times and the next batch came out pretty well. Just my piping skills need some practice.

It is a pistachio macaron bottom, a pistachio cream filling, then a pistachio macaron ring which the strawberries sit in.

Adapted from Laduree’s Sucre: The Recipes book, get it here

Materials needed

  • silicone spatula
  • a food scale (yes, you need this. I use this one)
  • a piping tip and piping bag (I like the ateco #806, I use these tips and piping bag)
  • Food coloring (the gels or dry powder works best, not the liquid store stuff)
  • A macaron template
  • food processor (I use this one)

Pistachio Macaron Shell Recipe 

• 200g almond flour

• 75g pistachio flour (step 1)

• 250g powdered sugar

• 210g granulated sugar

• 6 egg whites (room-temperature)

• 1/8 cup chopped pistachios

• food coloring (green is traditional color for this cookie)

1 Grind your unshelled pistachios (salted or unsalted, I prefer the salted) using a food processor. Be careful not to turn it into a paste.

2 Sift almond flour, pistachio flour, and powdered sugar through a fine mesh screen into a bowl.

3 Whisk or using a beater, turn 6 egg whites to a foam.  Slowly add the granulated sugar to the egg whites as you beat.  Whip until the meringue has firm glossy peaks but not super stiff peaks. They should defy gravity and remain in the bowl if you turn it upside down.  If you tilt your bowl to the side and the meringue started to slide, keep beating.

4 Add your food coloring.

5 Then fold in 1/3rd of the almond/pistachio/sugar mixture into the meringue with a silicone spatula.  Once combined, add another third of the almond mixture. Then the last third.

6 Add the batter to the piping bag.  Pipe in rows using your template onto parchment paper.  One pan needs to be rings and the other pan needs to be circles.  You can choose your size – I made 4″ and 6″ cakes.

7 Pick up the pan and beat onto the counter.

8 Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  The cookies need to rest on the counter between 30-60 minutes. They are ready to go into the oven when they are dry to the touch.  The shell shouldn’t stick to your fingers.

9 Bake the cookies for 9-15 minutes, one sheet at a time.  The rings baked for 9 minutes and the bottoms baked for 14-15 minutes. They are done when they look kind of matte and seem firm if you tap on them.  You can always rescue an overcooked cookie with the maturation process that comes later, but you cannot rescue an undercooked one!

10 Remove from the paper once completely cool.  If they stick to the paper, they either aren’t cool yet or you undercooked them.

Pistachio cream filling

  • 6 tbsp (90 g) butter, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup (180 ml) whole milk
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 40 g shelled pistachios, chopped into small pieces
  • 1/4 cup (60 g) pistachio paste  ( I make my own – just place shelled pistachios in the food processor and process away! Then add a few drops of water until it gets to a paste consistency!)
  1. In a saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer.
  2. While milk is heating up, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar. Then whisk in the cornstarch.
  3. Once milk is at a simmer, pour one third of the milk into the egg mixture. Whisk together. Then pour the whole mixture back into the remaining milk on the saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil.  You will be wanting to stir with a whisk the whole time so the egg doesn’t burn (other wise you’ll have scrambled eggs!)
  4. Remove from heat once boiling and cool for 10 minutes. Then whisk in half of the butter.  Then let cool to room temp about 70 degrees. If it is taking a while, put in the fridge to cool.
  5. Once room temp, use a hand mixer and mix until smooth and fluffy.  Then mix in the remaining half of butter and pistachio paste.  Once well mixed, fold in the chopped pistachios.

To assemble

  1. Place the cake bottom upside down (if it is too uneven, just leave the flat side down).  Then using a piping tip, pipe the pistachio cream onto it. Then place the ring on top.
  2. Use chopped strawberries to garnish the top.  Sprinkle a few pieces of chopped pistachios on the strawberries.

I had set the table this weekend and put these little cakes down on them… they looked so cute I shot some extra pictures! 

The red berries pop against the blue!

I do hope you’ll try the French strawberry pistachio macaron cake! They are so yummy!Have a happy week!

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On the Eleventh Day of Christmas…

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas…We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

My true love gave to me…

11 piped Bûche de Noël!  Imagine eleven bakers piping these yule logs together!

Okay, a bit of a stretch from the song, but I needed to figure out a way to add my annual Bûche de Noël post! So here it is!

dark chocolate, hazelnut gianduja, cocoa nib and fleur de sel.

 

crispy base gianduja, brown biscuit without flour associated with a mousse with chestnuts, confit and creamy blackcurrant. 

Viennese chocolate cake, dark chocolate and raspberry Chantilly cream, raspberry compote, chocolate shortbread biscuits with fleur de sel. from Pierre Herme.

A chocolate mousse associated with a creamy hazel nut and a dacquoise nutty almond on a crispy dried fruit. Covered with almond paste. from Lenotre.

The inescapable combination of Bourbon vanilla ice cream and strawberry sorbet combined with wild strawberry inclusions, on a delicate dacquoise almond hazelnut.

Decorated with a wave of strawberry sorbet, fruit paste in the shape of mini kouglof and white flakes. from Lenotre.

A pure creation of Chefs who celebrate in beauty and refinement the 60 years of the House: as a
tribute to the heritage of the pastry tradition put at the service of creativity and taste.
It is the image of an immaculate forest populated by graceful animals and imposes itself as an invitation
to greed and sharing. Its creators wanted it both magical and friendly, reconnecting with
the tastes of childhood in all modernity. No doubt it will arouse the wonder of children
as much as the visual pleasure and taste of adults.

A decor inspired by a paper-cut artist, Marianne Guély, who also signs the box that contains it. Made of nine diadems in white chocolate (with the image of the squirrel, the wolf, the deer, the tit, etc.), it required the exclusive development of a secret technique.

Then, thanks to the irresistible alliance of textures that she hides in a hazelnut muslin,
rolls of cigarette paste form the base. Covered with milk chocolate they envelop a
Hazelnut flaky praline, crushed to obtain a perfect crisp in contrast
with the cream. At the heart of the log, a dacquoise hazelnut roll, a vanilla bavaroise
Bourbon, a ribbon of hazelnut caramel with fleur de sel ...
Finally, pastry chefs had a happy idea to perfect the moment of dessert:
fans can choose to accompany their share of a rum cream served separately while the youngest (and all those who prefer!) will stay on the pure delicacy of the cake alone. from Lenotre.
 A sweet chestnut parfait combined with strawberries, caramelized Italian meringue decorated with chocolate flames. from Jean Paul Hevin. 
 
This log is made from vanilla, juniper berry cream, and genoa bread soaked with light lemon syrup, a kumquat compote and crispy almond biscuit. From Fauchon.

This log from Dalloyau has a base of lime infused jam, almond meringue.  A moist financier biscuit sits in the center with a mango passion fruit compote and Madagascar vanilla cream.

A pear sorbet with grand cru chocolate ice cream, topped with macaroon mushrooms, grounded cocoa and candied pear. From Nicholas Bernarde.


The onion domes of the Russian churches are turned into meringues filled with lemon curd.  It sits atop an orange creme brûlée biscuit with crispy puffed rice. From L'hotel du Collectionneur.

If you have missed any of the 12 Days of Christmas, click here.

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Easy Fall Dessert- Apple Rose Puff Pastry Recipe

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I saw these cute apple rose puff pastry tartlets online and thought, well now, I must give it a try!

They are called apple roses because they look similar to a rose, not because they taste like rose!

These were actually surprisingly easy to make.

They would go well for any Fall parties you have planned and they would also work well for Thanksgiving! 

I have included a recipe and some pictures with the tutorial – forgive the poorer quality of the pictures, I had put this on my insta-stories and a lot of you wrote comments to me so I thought I would include a blog post about it!


Apple Rose Puff Pastry Recipe – get printable version here

Ingredients – makes 12 roses

1 package (2 sheets) Puff Pastry

4 apples (preferably red apples to make red roses, but I used a mixture of Granny Smith and Honeycrisp)

2 tbsp lemon juice (half a lemon)

Flour, for sprinkling the counter

about 4tbsp Granulated sugar, for sprinkling

about 3 tbsp ground cinnamon

powdered sugar, caramel, or salted caramel for sprinkling on top

A little bit of butter to grease your muffin pan.


Directions


1. Thaw two sheets of puff pastry (1 package) at room temperature. This should take about 30 minutes.


2. Prepare a microwave safe bowl with water (enough to cover your sliced apples) and the lemon juice.


3. Cut your apples in half and remove the core.  Cut the apples into very thin slices, about 1/8” thick. 


4. Leave the peel on so you can get the red or green color for your roses.  Immediately place your slices into the lemon juice water bowl so they do not brown.


5. Microwave the apples in the bowl for about 3-4 minutes, so that the apples are soft enough so that when you roll them they do not break.  Alternatively, you can simmer the apple slices in the lemon juice water on a stove pan for a few minutes.  If your apple slices break when bending, cook a little longer.

6. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.  Grease a muffin pan with butter.

7. On a lightly floured counter, roll out the puff pastry to about 9×12 inches.  Then cut the dough into six strips, about 2 x9 inches. 


    8. Next, drain the apples. If they are still wet you may pat them dry on a paper towel. 

9 . Arrange the apple slices on the dough so that they are overlapping each other.  They should overlap each other by about 50%.  Make sure the skin side of the apple sticks a little bit out of the dough strip (this is what will become “the rose”).

10. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar (I do not give you an amount, please sprinkle with your desired sweetness). 

11. Fold the bottom part of the dough up.

12.  Starting from one end, carefully roll the dough, keeping the apple slices in place.  Seal the edge at the end of your roll with a little water if it doesn’t stick.  Place in a regular muffin cup.  

13.  Do the same for all of the roses.  Bake for about 40 minutes until cooked.   IF the apple start to burn on the top (about 30 minutes in), cover loosely with aluminum foil for the last 10-15 minutes.

14. These are best eaten warm.  They can be stored in air-tight container for 2 days at room temp or in the refrigerator for 3 days.  You may always warm them up just before serving (and it is encouraged).
15. Sprinkle with powdered sugar or your favorite (salted) caramel!

I chose to garnish mine with salted rum caramel (not one that I made, one I purchased from a favorite store in the Napa Valley).  But you could always serve with ice cream!

Where I Party 


http://peoniesandorangeblossoms.blogspot.com/

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A French Strawberry Cake – Fraisier Recipe

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In this post: a Fraisier recipe which is a French strawberry cake. This post contains affiliate links.

I made a Fraisier once again this year!  The Fraisier is my favorite French dessert… what’s not to love about a strawberry cake?

 

We took the cake outside and ate it next to the blooming lavender!

On to the recipe – adapted from Laduree and Cakelets and Doilies.

This recipes makes either one 9″ cake or eight 3″ cakes.

This recipe has to chill overnight so you need to make it ahead of time. (Or make it very early in the morning so it can chill all afternoon)

Here is the printable version of the recipe.

Almond Génoise Cake

50 g (3 1/2 tbsp) butter , unsalted

200g (1 2/3 cup) cake flour

  6 eggs

200g (1 cup) granulated sugar

50g (1/2 cup) ground almonds or almond flour

1 1/2 tbsp butter

Making the Génoise cake

  1. Melt the 1 1/2 tbsp butter and using a pastry brush, butter your cake pan.   Place the cake pan in the fridge to allow the butter to harden.(notes – if you are making mini cakes, you will want to bake your cake in a 12×8 rectangular cake pan)
  2. In a small saucepan, melt the 50g of butter over low heat.
  3. In a large heatproof mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs and the sugar.
  4. Preheat oven to 340F.  Place your heatproof mixing bowl over a pan of gently simmering water and whisk until the mixture is warm, thick and pale, and the mixture has tripled in volume (approximately 122F).  Then remove from the heat and keep mixing until the mixture is cool (notes – I could not get this thing to triple over the simmering water. So I just heated it, while stirring constantly, until it was 122F and then attached it to my kitchenaid mixer and let it whisk until it tripled in volume and the mixture was  completely cool).
  5. Once completely cooled down, fold in the sifted flour into the mixture.  Then fold in the ground almonds.  And then the melted butter.
  6. Lightly flour your cake pan and tap out an excess. Then immediately fill with batter and place in the oven. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.

Kirsch Syrup

100mL (1/2 cup – 1tbsp) water

100g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar

40mL (2 1/2 tbsp) kirsch liqueur (see notes below about kirsch)

Making the syrup

Combine the sugar and water into a small saucepan over medium heat.  Stir until the sugar dissolves. Allow to boil for just 5 seconds. Remove from the heat, let it cool, then stir in the kirsch liqueur.

Crème Mousseline

350g whole milk

100g granulated sugar

1/2 a vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped for inside beans/seeds

4 egg yolks

35g plain flour

200g unsalted butter, softened

1tbsp cherry liqueur (optional)

Making the creme

  1. Place milk, vanilla bean and scraped seeds into a saucepan and bring to a boil.  Then remove from heat and set aside.
  2. In another bowl, whisk egg yolks and sugar until mixture is pale yellow.  Mix int the flour until well combined.
  3. Remove vanilla bean pod from milk mixture.  Then pour the hot milk into the egg mixture, constantly whisking to combine.
  4. Then pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan and place over high heat.  Whisk constantly until it is thickened, smooth, and glossy.  Then remove from heat and transfer pastry cream to a plate. Immediately cover with plastic cling wrap and place into the freezer to cool but only for 10 minutes.  Do not allow it to freeze (If you don’t put the cling wrap on immediately, the pastry cream will get a film on it that’s lumpy and gross and you will have to strain it out later, so don’t miss this step)
  5. While the cream is in the freezer, beat your butter until creamy.  Then when the pastry cream is about room temperature, add the cream to the butter and mix until while combined.   Add the liqueur.
  6. Spoon the mousseline into a piping bag with 1cm piping tip.

Strawberry Gel

250g strawberries, washed and hulled

2g agar agar (or 1 tsp)

Blend the strawberries to a puree. Strain to remove the seeds – Place puree in sauce pan and sprinkle over the agar agar. Heal until boiling and stir until agar to dissolve.  Pour onto parchment paper and spread evenly. Place in fridge to set.

Assembly

1 pound of strawberries, cut in half and with the green tops removed.  (Save your cutest strawberries for the top and set them aside.  Also, smaller strawberries look cuter in the cake and are more sweet.  When you cut the berries, you want them to all be the same height).

Cake mold(s)

Assembling the cakes

Take your cooled sponge cake out of the baking pan. Optional – you may cut it in half so that you can have a layer on top and a layer on the bottom. I did not do that this year but I preferred it better so next time I will do it!  Now find your springform pan and place a circle of plastic cake wrap.  Then put the sponge cake.  Brush the cake with the kirsch syrup.  Arrange the strawberries around the edge of the cake ring with the flat edge facing the outside.  Pipe or spread the creme mousseline over the strawberries.  Then place another layer of sponge cake on top.  Put the gel on top.  Place in the fridge overnight. The following day, dip a strawberry into the kirsch syrup and put on top just before serving. Confession – I ate this cake several hours later after it had cooled. I am unsure if it really has to wait overnight.

Assembling the Fraisier: line your springform with strawberry halves. The pour the rest of the strawberries in the center. Then spread the mousseline cream evenly.

Materials I used to bake Le Fraisier (affiliate links)

Stand Mixer

Hand Mixer (I did not use it this time, but I will next time!)

Plastic cake wrap

Scale

Food coloring

Cake Sheet pan

3″x3″ Cake molds

9″ spingform

9″ cake pan

 So I’ll admit how I messed up.

The strawberry gel did not set how I wanted. I placed it on the foil and then it stuck to the foil.

Next time I either recommend placing in on parchment paper OR if you do the two laters of cake, just pour it directly onto the cake. I could not pour it directly on the cream here as it would have melted!

 But that’s okay. It still tasted pretty dang delicious!

We had a nice little evening here enjoying our cake al fresco.

Do you ever eat in your own garden?

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French Easter Chocolates

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

In this post: Easter chocolates from Paris

 

Every year I take a look at the Easter chocolates from Paris.

I think they are more creative and fun than the Easter chocolates here!

 

La Maison du Chocolat

Inspired by rabbits, chickens, cows and sheep!

 

 

 

Prince de Galles Paris

Inspired by a beehive

 

 

Michalak Paris

image from Sortira Paris.com

Le Meurice

Chocolate nest and eggs covered in gold dust.

 

Hugo et Victor

 

 

Lenotre

This years theme is a bridge of little pastry chefs!

 

 

 

 

 

Nicolas Bernarde

Chickens, pigs, sheep…

 

 

Maison Fouquet

 

 

A la Mere de Famille

 

Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

 

Arnaud Lehrer

Laurent Duchess

Alban Guilmet

 

 Christophe Rousel

Angelina Paris

The pen egg with copper feathers

 Fauchon

a marbled egg

 

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Meyer Lemon Tart

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.
One of the things I love most about living in California is the ability to walk out to our garden and pick fresh citrus during the middle of Winter!
We have a Meyer lemon tree and it is *wonderful*.

Meyer Lemon Tart

 

Last year I attempted to make this tart and it was a fail. We didn’t properly plan for a freeze and the lemons were ruined. I tried to use them anyway and it just did not work.

This year though… we prepared for the freeze. So, this tart is a year in the making!

 

Tart dough (recipe from David Leibovitz, I recommend reading his recipe on his site – it’s funny)

90 g (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

150 g (5oz, or 1 slightly-rounded cup) flour

  1. Preheat the oven to 410º F
  2. In a medium-sized ovenproof bowl, combine the butter, oil, water, sugar, and salt.
  3. Place the bowl in the oven for 15 minutes, until the butter is bubbling and starts to brown just around the edges.
  4. When done, remove the bowl from oven (and be careful, since the bowl will be hot and the mixture might sputter a bit), dump in the flour and stir it in quickly, until it comes together and forms a ball which pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
  5. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch (23 cm) tart mold with a removable bottom and spread it a bit with a spatula OR transfer the dough to your mini tart pans. It doesn’t matter the size of your tart pans. Save a raspberry size piece of dough and set it aside.
  6. Once the dough is cool enough to handle, pat it into the shell with the heel of your and, and use your fingers to press it up the sides of the tart mold.
  7. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork about ten times, then bake the tart shell in the oven at 410F for 15 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown.
  8. Remove from the oven and if there are any sizable cracks, use the bit of reserved dough to fill in and patch them.
  9. I find it best to pinch off a small amount of the reserved dough, roll it gently between your fingers to soften it, then wedge it into the cracks, smoothing it gently with your pinky.
  10. Let the shell cool before filling.

Lemon Cream from Pierre Herme

200 g whole eggs (which is about 4 eggs)
240 g granulated sugar
160 g fresh squeezed Meyer lemon juice
zest from about 4-5 lemons
300 g unsalted butter, room temperature and cubed (I used 1 1/2 sticks butter which is less)

  1. Rub the zest with the sugar using your finger until the sugar is moistened with the lemon zest.
  2. Next, preferably on a double boiler, combine the sugar, eggs and the lemon juice.
  3. Whisk constantly until the mixture reaches about 185F. You must do continue stirring as this keeps the eggs from scrambling.
  4. Strain the mixture into the blender and let cool to about 155F.
  5. In the blender, add the butter a couple of pieces at a time.  The mixture will lighten in color as you blend.. Continue running the blender for several minutes until it is light in color and airy.
  6. Pour the mixture into prepared crust and refrigerate.
  7. Served cooled. Tastes best served the same day.

 

I reduced the amount of butter for the lemon cream by almost a stick and I couldn’t even tell…

I think that it made it a bit more tart compared to the original (had the original in Paris!)

 

This tart was nice and refreshing. It is nice balance of tartness and sweetness. I do suggest using Meyer lemons and not substituting for “regular” lemons.

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Buche De Noel 2016

We use affiliate links in our posts and our site. This means if you make a purchase using these links, we may earn a small commission. You don’t pay a cent more than you would otherwise! Our full disclosure is available under About.

Have you ever had a Bûche de Noël?  No? How about a Yule Log? Well, they are the same thing!

Except, the Bûche de Noël sounds much fancier… and when the French make them, they also look fancier!

Above, by Lenôtre, a chocolate cake with marshmallow and meringue!

Above, also by Lenôtre, a chestnut mousse that hides in its heart a brown-blackcurrant-blueberry filling placed on a chestnut biscuit and sanded crunchy blackcurrant. Coated with chocolate icing milk and chestnut cream.


Below, a chocolate almond mini cake!

Below, a delicate pear sorbet with pears from the King’s Vegetable Garden at Chateau de Versailles, married to a chestnut ice cream with a chestnut cream and chestnut chips, covered with a fine almond paste. Covered in candied fruits and chocolate balls .

What’s not to like about chocolate and marshmallow cake below?

A dancer in feathers of white chocolate, sugar swans, dark chocolate moon, all dancing on a shortbread crust with orange compote and an almond biscuit. Certainly not your traditional buche!

This chocolate, raspberry and vanilla buche is from Angelina’s Paris!

 This Mousse praline with caramelized hazelnuts, a dacquoise hazelnut biscuit coated with a marmalade and an orange cream is being served at the Ritz Paris!

This cute little car is at the Plaza Athenee, inside the car are strawberries and cream with violet, the wheels are in gianduja, the bumper in chocolate and the windshield in sugar.

Below, three beautiful creations from Hugo et Victor! The first, a chocolate hazelnut!

The second, a beautiful lemon meringue! I love the lemons on top!!

 This Buche looks like a Book, it is a Tanzanian mousse and Peruvian cream, praliné in two textures with crunchy almond praliné, hazelnut praline light cream and a chocolate biscuit! Can you say miam miam?

This pretty in pink cake is from Laduree, it is an almond biscuit with creamy cheese, light pink champagne mousse and strawberry confit.

This beautiful star one is from Pierre Herme, it is chocolate, but there are many other flavors!

This one is limited edition from Pierre Herme, it is made of three logs of wood with bark in almond paste and garnished with light ganache with chocolate.

This one below is so cute, it is from a la mere de famille!  It is Caramel ice cream with chocolate and crisp speculoos.

 All of the following are from Jean Paul Hevin.  This can can girl cake is chocolate, almond and cherry! 

This one below is made of frozen chestnuts with strawberries on an almond biscuit, with caramelized Italian Meringue.

This city scene below is made of chocolate and almond biscuit, caramelized orange crème-brulée, chocolate mousse, cereal, orange and candied ginger crisp.

 This fashion purse is made of a dark chocolate biscuit boosted with Venezuela Grand Cru dark chocolate mousse and crisp gluten-free streusel with dark chocolate.

 This Tuilieres Log below is a dark chocolate and almond biscuit soaked with the green cardamom infusion, chocolate mousse with cocoa Grand Cru from Ecuador, chocolate and pistachio gianduja.

Patrick Roger makes a moose of chocolate and caramelized almond trees!

Now, the question is, which one would YOU order??? I think I would go for the moose, mainly because it doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen in the states before! But, for flavor, I think I would probably choose the Hugo & Victor Book!


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Chocolate Orange Ganache Macarons

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If you regularly read my blog, you know that I *love* macarons.  I tried one many years ago and was in love.  Then one day several years ago, my Dad and I decided we were going try to bake them.

Of course we couldn’t just make one, we made a whole day of it…  We made 6 flavors and about 600 macarons.

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chocolate orange ganache macarons recipe

Since then, I have been practicing and baking them with all sorts of different flavors.  Today I present to you the chocolate orange ganache macaron!

You know those little chocolate oranges that you wack on the table to break the orange apart that are popular at Christmas? That is what inspired this flavor!

The oranges and satsumas came from my garden… that is what I love about California. The rest of the country is covered in snow and we can walk outside and pick fruit!

(I used oranges for the flavor and satsumas and oranges for the photoshoot)

Chocolate Orange Ganache Macarons

If you’ve never made macarons before, let me tell you, these are very finicky cookies. In fact, the French don’t consider them cookies at all, they are actually considered little pastries (as I was told by a Parisian in one of the patisseries, or rather, scolded, for thinking they were cookies).

 

Here are a few tips…

Never make them on a rainy day.  They will not turn out.

When you are folding your almond flour into the meringue, you have to get it just right.  The right consistency is like that of molten lava.

You have to have a scale to weigh your ingredients. The tbsp and cups do not work.

You have to be in the right mood. Seriously. If you are stressed, they will not turn out because you will mess something up in the process.

Chocolate Orange Ganache Macarons

Materials needed: (affiliate links are used for your convenience)

    • a food scale (yes, you need this. I use this one)
    • a piping tip and piping bag (I like the ateco #806, I use these tips and piping bag)
    • Food coloring (the gels or dry powder works best, not the liquid store stuff)
    • A macaron template
    • food processor (I use this one)

Chocolate Macaron Shells (get the printable recipe HERE)

260g almond flour

250g powdered sugar

15g cocoa powder

210g granulated sugar

210g egg whites
brown food coloring, *optional*

1.  Mix almond meal, cocoa powder, and the powdered sugar in a food processor. Be careful not to grind too long, otherwise it will form a paste.

2. Sift the almonds, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Set aside.

3. Weigh out granulated sugar.

4. Weigh the egg whites.  Beat them slowly on a low speed until foamy. SLOWLY add the granulated sugar to the egg whites as you beat.  Once all mixed, increase speed to medium and beat until a firm meringue forms.  You want a firm meringue with glossy peaks but not stiff peaks.  They should defy gravity and remain in the bowl if you turn it upside down.  If you tilt your bowl to the side and they are sliding out, keep beating.

5. Add the food coloring gel and mix.  To make mine a richer brown color, I used “chocolate brown” food coloring.

6. Then fold in 1/3rd of the almond/sugar mixture into the meringue with a silicone spatula.  Once combined, add another third of the almond mixture. Add last bit.  This batter requires more deflation during this step since it creates such a poofy meringue.

7. Add the batter to a piping bag.  Pipe in rows using your template onto parchment paper.

8. Pick up the pan and beat until the counter.  The cookies need to rest on the counter between 30-60 minutes.  They are ready to go in the oven when they are dry to touch (the shell shouldn’t stick to your finger)

9.  Set the oven to 300F.

10. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes one sheet at a time. They are done when they look kind of matte and seem firm when you lightly tap on them.  You can always rescue a slightly overcooked one with the maturation process that comes later, but you cannot rescue an undercooked one!!

11.  Remove from paper once completely cool. If they stick they stick to the paper, they aren’t cool yet.

 

Chocolate Orange Ganache Filling (adopted from this French website)

150g dark chocolate, finely chopped

100g heavy cream

zest of one orange (or clementine/satsuma)

50g of fresh squeezed orange juice

 

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, heat the cream with the zest of one orange.  Do not let it boil, just when it starts to steam.  Leave it to infuse for 30 minutes.  I turned it off the heat and covered the saucepan while it infused.

2. Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl.

3. After 30 minutes, bring the cream just to a simmer (just to get the cream hot enough to melt the chocolate)
4. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let it sit for one minute. Then, gently stir the chocolate and cream until the chocolate has melted. Do not whip it, you want to gently stir it as not to add air into the ganache. Next, add the orange juice and gently mix in until combined.
5. Next, pour into a dish and let it sit for at least 30 minutes before placing in your macaron shells. You can store the ganache in the fridge for longer (I do not know how long, probably until the cream expires?)

Assembly
Either pipe or spread the ganache over one macaron shell, then place another on top. Store in an airtight container for 24 hours in the fridge. Take them out of the fridge 2 hours before eating them. Resist the urge to eat them immediately – I promise they will be better on the second day!
*note* You can use either fresh orange, clementine, or satsuma for these cookies – they will all taste good!

 

Chocolate Orange Ganache Macarons

I thought these were a great alternative to the peppermint chocolate ganache to make for the Christmas holidays as I know there are quite a few peppermint haters.

This is a great website with lots of info on Macaron Troubleshooting!

Chocolate Orange Ganache Macarons

They are really really good.  You can’t eat just one.

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Peppermint Chocolate Ganache Macarons

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When I was thinking of what to bake for this year’s holiday dessert, I was actually inspired by Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Jo-Jo’s. Never had them? They are like Oreos but with flakes of candy cane in the filling. So I thought, how I can French-it-up?

And the peppermint chocolate ganache macaron was born.

These are seriously the best macarons I have *ever* made.

Materials needed: (affiliate links are used for your convenience)

    • a food scale (yes, you need this. I use this one)
    • a piping tip and piping bag (I like the ateco #806, I use these tips and piping bag)
    • Food coloring (the gels or dry powder works best, not the liquid store stuff)
    • A macaron template
    • food processor (I use this one)

I also couldn’t stop taking pictures of them.

Peppermint Chocolate Ganache Macarons
Chocolate Macaron Shells (get the printable recipe HERE)

260g almond flour

250g powdered sugar

15g cocoa powder

210g granulated sugar

210g egg whites
brown food coloring, *optional*

1.  Mix almond meal, cocoa powder, and the powdered sugar in a food processor. Be careful not to grind too long, otherwise it will form a paste.

2. Sift the almonds, cocoa powder, and powdered sugar. Set aside.

3. Weigh out granulated sugar.

4. Weigh the egg whites.  Beat them slowly on a low speed until foamy. SLOWLY add the granulated sugar to the egg whites as you beat.  Once all mixed, increase speed to medium and beat until a firm meringue forms.  You want a firm meringue with glossy peaks but not stiff peaks.  They should defy gravity and remain in the bowl if you turn it upside down.  If you tilt your bowl to the side and they are sliding out, keep beating.

5. Add the food coloring gel and mix.  To make mine a richer brown color, I used “chocolate brown” food coloring.

6. Then fold in 1/3rd of the almond/sugar mixture into the meringue with a silicone spatula.  Once combined, add another third of the almond mixture. Add last bit.  This batter requires more deflation during this step since it creates such a poofy meringue.

7. Add the batter to a piping bag.  Pipe in rows using your template onto parchment paper.

8. Pick up the pan and beat until the counter.  The cookies need to rest on the counter between 30-60 minutes.  They are ready to go in the oven when they are dry to touch (the shell shouldn’t stick to your finger)

9.  Set the oven to 300F.

10. Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes one sheet at a time. They are done when they look kind of matte and seem firm when you lightly tap on them.  You can always rescue a slightly overcooked one with the maturation process that comes later, but you cannot rescue an undercooked one!!

11.  Remove from paper once completely cool. If they stick they stick to the paper, they aren’t cool yet.


Peppermint Chocolate Ganache
1 cup heavy cream
9 ounces dark chocolate chips (or bittersweet chocolate, chopped)
1 tbsp unsalted butter
3/4 tsp – 1 tsp peppermint extract
1/4 tsp salt
crushed candy canes in a separate bowl

  1. In a sauce pan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat (the purpose of this is to get the cream hot enough to melt the chocolate!)
  2. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for a minute.
  3. Add the peppermint, salt, and butter. Whisk until glossy and smooth. (If you like your ganache more pepperminty, add 1 tsp, if less, then add 3/4 tsp)
  4. Cover in plastic wrap and chill for about an hour  (If you chill it too long until it is hard, that’s okay, just use a spoon to whip it up and it will get soft again!)
  5. Once chilled, scoop the ganache into a piping bag with a round tip.  Pipe on one of side for the macaron at the edge.  Place the other macaron shell on, sandwiching the ganache in the center.
  6. Roll the macaron in the crushed candy canes in the bowl so that they stick to the ganache!
  7. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate! These taste best served the next day, so resist the urge and let them rest overnight! They will keep for several days in the fridge in an airtight container.

I feel like I could sell these they were so good!

 

 

I’ve included some outtakes from this photoshoot.  Chloé the cat decided to do some photobombing and I thought I’d share…

***Jaws Theme Music Starts***

 

 

Why yes, I’l take a lick of the candy cane…

She left… then came back for another round. “What?” she says??

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Pumpkin Tart Recipe

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A pumpkin tart! Every Thanksgiving for the past several years, my husband and I have attempted to make pumpkin pie from scratch. I mean, like FROM SCRATCH… like grow the pumpkins in our garden, roast the pumpkins, harvest the fruit, make our puree, and then bake a pie (with homemade pie crust, of course).

And EVERY YEAR we have failed… I don’t know what happens. The thing explodes. It cracks on top. Or it’s too watery. I don’t know.  I don’t get it. We can make pecan pie, apple pie, and shoot, even lemon meringue pie *from scratch* without difficulty. So I don’t know why the pumpkin pie is so elusive.

So I thought, wait a minute. I can bake tarts. Why not… make a pumpkin tart. 

A delicious pumpkin tart recipe

 

So we set off on a mission to make our own pumpkin tart from scratch.  I used the standard French tart dough recipe below that is very easy to make and found a promising looking recipe on Martha Stewart (of course).

A delicious pumpkin tart recipe

And guess what?! We nailed it on the first attempt! WHAAAT? Take that, pumpkin pie!  And honestly, this tastes exactly like a pumpkin pie.

So what’s the difference between the pumpkin pie and pumpkin tart?  They taste the same. But the pumpkin tart has more crust than the pumpkin pie. Granted, tart crust is tastier than the pie crust.  I suppose I could have made the crust thinner if I wanted.

A delicious pumpkin tart recipe

Would I make this again? YES! Plus, it’s cuter than a pumpkin pie.

Tart dough (recipe from David Leibovitz, I recommend reading his recipe on his site – it’s funny)

90 g (3 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

156 g (5oz, or 1 slightly-rounded cup) flour

  1. Preheat the oven to 410º F
  2. In a medium-sized ovenproof bowl, combine the butter, oil, water, sugar, and salt.
  3. Place the bowl in the oven for 15 minutes, until the butter is bubbling and starts to brown just around the edges.
  4. When done, remove the bowl from oven (and be careful, since the bowl will be hot and the mixture might sputter a bit), dump in the flour and stir it in quickly, until it comes together and forms a ball which pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
  5. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch (23 cm) tart mold with a removable bottom and spread it a bit with a spatula OR transfer the dough to your mini tart pans. It doesn’t matter the size of your tart pans. Save a raspberry size piece of dough and set it aside.
  6. Once the dough is cool enough to handle, pat it into the shell with the heel of your and, and use your fingers to press it up the sides of the tart mold.
  7. Prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork about ten times, then bake the tart shell in the oven at 410F for 15 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown.
  8. Remove from the oven and if there are any sizable cracks, use the bit of reserved dough to fill in and patch them.
  9. I find it best to pinch off a small amount of the reserved dough, roll it gently between your fingers to soften it, then wedge it into the cracks, smoothing it gently with your pinky.
  10. Let the shell cool before filling.

Pumpkin Filling (recipe from Martha Stewart)

15 ounces (1 can) pumpkin puree

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1tsp coarse salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp allspice

2 large lightly beaten eggs

  1. Preheat oven to 325F.  Whisk together all of the ingredients.
  2. Pour into your prepared pie tart crust.
  3. Place dish on a rimmed baking sheet.  Bake, rotating halfway through, until filling is set and slightly puffed but still a little wobbly, approx 55-60 minutes.
  4. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. Refrigerate uncovered for at least 6 hours. Serve chilled, with whipped cream or ice cream! It will keep for 2 days.

I use my AWESOME instant whipped cream maker to make the whipped cream.  I *love* that thing.

A delicious pumpkin tart recipe

I decorated it with some pumpkin seeds too.  You can impress your friends with this pumpkin tart, and frankly, I thought it was easier to make than the pumpkin pie (no explosions this year!).

A delicious pumpkin tart recipe

 

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Peach Clafoutis Recipe

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I have said it before and I’ll say it again: we have peaches coming out of our ears. So that means I have been busy baking up a storm using all of the peaches!

Now, I have been wanting to try to make a clafoutis because it sounds so fancy.  It is pronounced kla-foo-tee.  But guess what? It is SUPER EASY to make.  I feel like the name is deceiving for that reason!

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Now, for the recipe, I simply used Julia Child’s recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  She used other fruit but I substituted peaches. It was tasty!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
  • 3 eggs
  • 1tbsp vanilla
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 3-4 ripe peaches, sliced

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. In a blender, blend the milk, 1/3 cup of sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, and flour.  
  3. Then, pour about a 1/4 inch layer of the matter into a lightly buttered baking dish (a cast iron pan works the best!). Place over heat for 2-3 minutes on the stove top until the batter sets up in the pan. 
  4. Remove from the heat and then spread the peaches evenly over the batter.  Pour the remaining batter on top.  Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup sugar on top of that (I only sprinkled part of it as it seemed like a lot of sugar).
  5. Bake at 350F for 45 minutes to 1 hour.  The clafoutis is done when it is puffed and brown. Plunge a knife in the center and if it comes out clean you are down!
  6. Serve warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar.

If you have never had a clafoutis it is kind of like a pancake/flan batter with fruit cooked in the middle.

You can impress your friends by making this dish – it sounds so fancy but it is SO EASY to make that  a beginner could make it! 

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Strawberry Peach Crepes

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This past Christmas I received a crepe pan and I was SOOOOO EXCITED to make crepes.  It took many tries to find a recipe that we liked the best, but then we finally found it!! 

What I did now know when I received my crepe pan, is that my husband would turn out to be the master crepe maker as someone (*cough*me*cough*) likes to sleep in and misses the early morning preparation for crepes.

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I’m including the basic crepe recipe that we use to make all of our crepes – the fillings we choose are usually just fruit simply cut up and served either with whipped cream, Nutella, yogurt sauce, or raspberry-cassis sauce.

Basic Crepe Recipe – makes 6 crepes

adapted from NYT cooking


Ingredients

1 1/4 cup low-fat milk

2 large eggs

1/4 tsp salt

1 tbsp (15g) granulated sugar 

1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp (55g) all-purpose flour, sifted

1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp (55g) whole wheat flour, sifted

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, plus a little bit of butter for the pan

1 tsp final grated lime zest (or lemon)

Directions

1. In a blender, place the milk, eggs, salt, and sugar.  Turn on, and with the motor running, add the flours then the melted butter.  Then blend on high speed for 1 minute, until well-mixed and smooth.  Transfer this to a bowl, stir in the lime zest, cover, and let rest for 30 minutes.

2. To make the crepes, heat up the crepe pan over medium-high heat and brush lightly with butter.  Pan must be hot when you add the crepe batter. 

3. Give your batter a quick whisk before you use it now. Then, lift the pan off the heat and add approx. 1/4 cup batter, just thin enough to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. Tilt and swirl pan to distribute evenly.

4. Return pan to heat and cook crepe for about 1 minute until the edges color and the crepe bottom is lightly browned. It should not stick to the pan. Flip crepe over and cook for another 30 seconds or so on the other side, until speckled.

5. Place crepe onto a plate and continue with the remaining batter, adding butter occasionally to the pan if desired.

6. Crepes are best served at their hottest, so assemble one by one.

7. Here, we cut up fresh strawberries and peaches. The proper way to serve the crepe is to fold it in half, then fold it in half again, so you end up with a quarter triangle like below.  We filled this one with strawberries, peaches, and whipped cream!

8. Crepes can be made ahead and reheated in 250 degree oven for 20 minutes. (I have not personally tried this)

What we found when making our crepes was that for some reason the first crepe that comes off the pan is always wonky and stupid and we always throw it away. I don’t know why, but it just seems to be the case.

A note on crepe pans…

You don’t HAVE to use a crepe pan to make crepes, but I figured that it must be better made on a crepe pan otherwise they would have never invented such a thing. The key to a crepe pan is having the heat evenly distributed.

Now, this is the crepe pan that we use (by Staub) and we LOVE it. It is cast iron which evenly distributes heat.

This copper crepe pan of course is a winner but it is nearly twice the price as the one we have.

This one from De Buyer is only $25 and can be used on induction cooktops. 

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Strawberry Pistachio Tart Recipe

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This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosure policy.

With the last days of Summer (and strawberries), I thought I’d bake something with strawberries!  I received this tart pan for my birthday and I have only used it once! So I have been dying to dig it out again for *something* and with strawberries on the brain, I began dreaming of strawberry pistachio tarts and voilà! Here we are.

What I love about baking tarts is that they come out looking fancy and beautiful and they really aren’t THAT HARD to make. 

So what I’m saying, if you have guests, you can impress them with a tart.

Plus, a fruit tart is a nice refreshing dessert. It isn’t too heavy like cakes but is fancier than a cookie!

Strawberry Pistachio Tart Recipe

printable version HERE

recipe adapted from epicurious

Ingredients

1 pre-made pie crust

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup ground pistachios

1/4 cup honey

1 cup heavy whipped cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 pint strawberries, washed, dried, with stems removed and diced in half vertically

1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees F. Take your pre-made pie crust and roll it out onto the counter.  Place the pie crust over the tart pan (my tart pan is 9″) and then gently push the pie crust into the tart pan mold.

2. Using a fork, poke several holes into the pie crust on the bottom of the tart pan to allow steam to escape.

3. Bake tart crust for approximately 13-15 minutes until lightly browned and then set aside to cool to room temperature.

4. Using a mixer, whip the cream cheese, ground pistachios, and honey until well combined and set aside.

5. In a different bowl, whip the heavy cream with the powdered sugar until you have whipped cream (or you can use one of these awesome tools  to make your whipped cream!)

6. In the cooled tart shell, spread the pistachio cream evenly.  Then spread a layer of whipped cream. Arrange the cut strawberries with the tips pointing up, in a circle starting on the outside first.

7. Sprinkle the tart with chopped pistachios and serve immediately.

You don’t have to use a pre-made pie crust to make your tart shell.  I was just too lazy to make my own. If you want to make your own from scratch, this is the recipe I ALWAYS use. For those that are curious,this is the tart pan I used.

So really, this tart is easy to make especially if you use pre-made pie crust. I used the ones from Trader Joe’s and it is pretty good.


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Peach Honey Tarts

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It’s PEACH season and I’d love to say we have peaches coming out of ears like last year BUT the birds have been eating them like CRAZY this year.
I would put up a net to protect the peaches but I did that for the cherries and a bird got caught in the net and died and now I can’t do that ever again.
So we still to have a lot of peaches, but just not AS MANY as last year. But we still have enough to make a tart!

The peaches we grow are from the “free stone” variety of peaches – meaning the peach pit comes out of the peach much easier than the “cling” variety of peaches. The cling variety of peaches are what you get in the grocery story- they ship much better and are less susceptible to bruising. BUT the free stone peaches are much sweeter (and therefore bruise) but they are much tastier than any peach you will find in the store!


Peach Honey Tarts

printable version here


Ingredients

1 pre-made pie crust

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup honey

1 cup heavy whipped cream

1/4 cup powdered sugar

peaches (roughly 1 peach needed per tart), sliced thinly length wise

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 410 degrees F. Take your pre-made pie crust and roll it out onto the counter.  Place the pie crust over the tart pan (my tart pans are 4″) and then gently push the pie crust into the tart pan mold.

2. Using a fork, poke several holes into the pie crust on the bottom of the tart pan to allow steam to escape. I could make four 4″ tarts with this.

3. Bake tart crust for approximately 11-14 minutes until lightly browned and then set aside to cool to room temperature.

4. Using a mixer, whip the cream cheese and honey until well combined and set aside.

5. In a different bowl, whip the heavy cream with the powdered sugar until you have whipped cream (or you can use one of these awesome tools to make your whipped cream!)

6. In the cooled tart shell, spread the honey cream evenly. Then spread a layer of whipped cream. Arrange the peaches in any pattern you desire

 7. Serve immediately.

You want to make this tart extra decadent? Make some honey ice cream and serve it on the side!
Oh, and as for honey, this Orange Blossom Honey from Savannah Bee Company is seriously the best honey EVER!

peach honey tart

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