If we can cook it, you can cook it!

Category: Tarts

Claudia Fleming’s Chocolate Caramel Tart

Claudia Fleming’s Chocolate Caramel Tart

Come ‘Out East’ for a recipe a famous Pastry Chef gave a special twist to. The East End of Long Island is extremely fortunate in the caliber of chefs that are either restaurant owners or lured here to work in what is a gorgeous place…

Savory Roasted Tomato Tarte Tatin

Savory Roasted Tomato Tarte Tatin

        A couple of years ago, I read a very detailed recipe for a tomato Tarte Tatin in Bon Appetit. I worked with the recipe and came up with two versions of the dish. Now that Tomato season is in full swing, I revisited this…

Absolutely the creamiest, smoothest, most spectacular French Lemon Cream Tart from Pierre Hermé

Absolutely the creamiest, smoothest, most spectacular French Lemon Cream Tart from Pierre Hermé

The last time Andrew and I were in Paris, we pretty much went from one spectacular bakeshop or chocolatier to another.  And you can’t really miss those belonging to Pastry Chef Extraordinaire Pierre Hermé.  The man himself is arguably the most acclaimed of all living…

A Summer Dinner Party Menu in 3 Parts

A Summer Dinner Party Menu in 3 Parts

When Andrew and I plan a dinner party, the menu starts to percolate once the RSVPs have been received.  We try to think of our audience and we try to make things interesting.  Generally that means doing something completely new.  We have a fair amount…

Bittersweet Chocolate Raspberry Tart from Nick Malgieri’s “The Modern Baker”

Bittersweet Chocolate Raspberry Tart from Nick Malgieri’s “The Modern Baker”

Our Godchild hit a major milestone this month. Olivia graduated cum laude from Poly Prep Country Day School in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn. For four years she has left her home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and  travelled to school, a considerable journey.  There…

Ploughman’s Cheddar and Onion Marmalade Tart

Ploughman’s Cheddar and Onion Marmalade Tart

A couple of weeks ago, I returned from “A Cheddar Odyssey”, an offering from Cheese Journeys, who, as their name implies, runs tours that combine Culture, Exploration and Cheese. Lots and lots of cheese.   It’s one of those trips that beguiles you long after you’ve…

Honey Pine-Nut Tart from Gina De Palma’s “Dolce Italiano”

Honey Pine-Nut Tart from Gina De Palma’s “Dolce Italiano”

As often as not, Andrew volunteers to bring dessert whenever we’re asked out to dinner.  On this particular occasion, he asked our friends Bill and Peter if they had any requests.   Peter asked for ‘something nutty’.  I seemed to remember an amazing tart Andrew had…

Maple Syrup Pie a la Quebecoise

Maple Syrup Pie a la Quebecoise

In Spring, Quebec taps its sugar maples. As a lot of my readers know, I am from the province of Quebec in Canada.  Even though I have lived my entire adult life in the States, I still revere my Canadian roots and I am very…

Thanksgiving Way Out West, Dessert Round: Nick Maglieri’s Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

Thanksgiving Way Out West, Dessert Round: Nick Maglieri’s Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

         Several weeks ago, Andrew went to the Institute of Culinary Education, a great cooking school on 23rd St. in Chelsea (www.ice.edu) where he had signed up with one of the masters of the baking arts, Nick Maglieri.  The class was small – just 9 students –…

Alice Medrich’s Plum and Almond Tart

Oven and Camera Ready! Vanilla Ice Cream on the side is highly recommended When you have a blog to write, you tend not to repeat recipes once you have made them.  You’re pretty well under the gun to cook something you’ve never tried before simply…

John Barricelli’s Lemon Meringue Tart from his SoNo Baking Company Cookbook

As you can see, this is one gorgeous dessert.  And it gave Andrew an opportunity to use a 13 ¼ inch rectangular tart pan.  But don’t put off it you lack one of this size and dimension.  John Barricelli’s original recipe gives the green light…

Toad in the Hole, British Comfort Food at its best.

Toad in the Hole, British Comfort Food at its best.

         Bangers and Mash I have a weakness for English dishes with picturesque names. Even the simplest of these is a riddle.  “Bangers and Mash”, or Sausage and Mashed Potatoes, is the simplest to understand.  The sausages used in the original recipe,…

Claudia Fleming’s Apple Crostata with Bacon Toffee

Claudia Fleming’s Apple Crostata with Bacon Toffee

For such a relatively small corner of the world, the East End of Long Island is long on extremely talented chefs.  Proximity to New York has led many a city chef to, if not abandon the city, set up a second home out in the…