16 April, 2010
Tarte Au Citron et Aux Amandes (Lemon Almond Tart)
07:10 | 
Posted by
W
Naturalists argue that there is no choice; we all make decisions based on previous experiences culminated with the stimuli present at any given time. The human brain is essentially a function, input of stimulus goes through the function of previous experience and the output is action, which can be predetermined and is inescapable. One could suggest this is why most of the decisions we make on a daily basis pass without any notice at all; there really was no choice to begin with. Therefor I would suggest it is a rare moment when we are fully aware whilst making a decision of it's pros and cons and how the results will in turn be effected; today I had one of those moments.
I had planned to make a dessert from Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"; after consulting Alin, I had a plan to make the Tarte Au Citron et Aux Amandes. Now here is where the big choice comes in; to buy or not to buy the tart shell? Well.. I've made pie crust before and it's awful; I still haven't gotten around to buying/stealing a rolling pin and they always end up so ugly. So as I strolled the aisles of Market Street, I pictured the pre-made tart shells, I even knew exactly where they were, and yet I resisted. Am I mouse or am I woman? What is a this foodblog if not to be a place where I highlight my ugly yet homemade tart shells? I made a choice, authenticity over aesthetics.
So I present you with What You SHOULD Know's Lemon Almond Tart:
This recipe is broken into 3 parts:
1. Tart Shell
2. Candied Lemon Peel/Glaze
3. Tart Filling
Part 1: Sugar Crust Tart Shell
This part of the recipe takes awhile, and needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours.
- 1 1/3 cup flour
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons shortening
- 1 beaten egg (with teaspoon of water)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- wax paper
Mix the flour, sugar, and fats together in a large bowl. Break the butter down amongst the dry ingredients into small crumbles. Add in egg (whisked with water) and vanilla extract and blend quickly, kneading the dough into a ball. Divide the ball into four pieces, and on a board covered in wax paper place 1/4 of the dough and push forward with the palm of your hand, making a 6" smear. Gather the smeared dough and repeat 4 times. Repeat with each fourth of dough before recombining them to one ball, wrapping in wax paper and leaving in the refrigerator to chill. This practice of smearing is to best combine the fats at flour.
After waiting at least two hours roll out chilled pie crust quickly (or it'll warm up), and place in a buttered false bottomed pan and roll edges down.
You can also use just a plain buttered pie plate, but removal would be harder, but if you're fine with keeping it in the pie plate, who cares?Poke bottom of tart crust with a fork 7-10 times, so that it doesn't puff in the oven. Bake tart at 325F until baked but not brown.
Part 2: Candied Lemon Peel/ Glaze
- 2 lemons
- a julianne peeler or sharp knife
Peel the lemons and cut the peel into strips of 1/8th inch or smaller.
Leave the white of the lemon peel intact as it's bitter and will be crucial in maintaining enough structure to later squeeze the lemons.In a small saucepan boil the lemon peels for 12 minutes. Afterwards drain thoroughly.
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 2/3 cup water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lavender
- boiled lemon peel
Mix sugar, water, lavender, and drained lemon peel in a small saucepan and boil. Continue to boil sugar mixture until it reaches 230F or drips off the spoon in a constant stream like honey. Add vanilla extract and remove from heat, let sit for 30 minutes
Part 3: Tart Filling
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup almond meal
- 1 tsp almond extract
- lemon zest of 1 lemon
- juice of 3 lemons
Whisk eggs and sugar together for 5 minutes until slightly thickened. Slowly mix in almond meal, almond extract, lemon zest, and lemon juice.
Cover the edges of tart crust in foil so as not to burn the edges...like I did.
Bake in a preheated oven at 325F for approximately 25 minutes until the center is set and lightly browned. My tart didn't brown but it will set up in the middle, trust me, you can tell.
Assembly:
Separate lemon peels from sugar glaze and place around top of tart. Continue to boil remaining sugar glaze until it has thickened to a thick honey consistency.
Do NOT let it boil furiously as the sugar will re-crystalize and become gritty. Bubbles are not your friend.Spoon glaze on top of tart focusing in the middle. Let cool.
Also great as mini-tarts!
Labels:
14 April, 2010
Gluten-free Cupcakes
I ran across a recipe on Healthy Indulgences that I had to try. I didn't have a lot of the strange chemical ingredients, and I really don't like coconut flour (trust me, you don't either), so I made some substitutions. This cupcake is quite dense and not terribly sweet. I find it's perfect topped with a swipe of Nutella, but if you're really serious about this sugar-free business, then some cool whip I suppose would work just as well.
The Perfect Yellow CupCake, sugar and gluten free
- 15 oz white beans canned or cooked
- 4 eggs
- 5 tablespoons light butter or margarine
- 3/4 cup splenda
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 6 tbsp ground almonds
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- cupcake liners
Before you get started, or even buy that $11 bag of almond meal here is what you should know..
You will need a blender of some sort, a hand blender will do, but this is necessary to de-skin the beans. WARNING: make sure the blender does not smell like anything (ie that potato soup you make that week) because the egg yolks will pick-up the smell.
Rinse and blend beans with eggs and extracts with blender or food processor until no bean pieces remain. Cream butter and Splenda in bowl, slowly adding in salt, baking powder and soda, and ground almonds. Wisk into the butter mixture the egg and bean mixture. Place in cupcake liners at bake at 350 F until golden. Depending on size should make 12-18 cupcakes.
These cupcakes are best small as they are so dense.
Top with no sugar added whipped cream or cool whip.
Makes the cupcakes so moist and yummy, no one would suspect the beans.
25 March, 2010
Changes
I shall be brief, my faithful handful of readers, on the changes whence forth shall be implemented upon the instance of the entry following. So I am changing the blog up; it's going to still feature dishes, recipes, and odd tellings but in a new way, get excited! I'm currently waiting on one of my programmer friends to make this all happen layout-wise, and currently trying to tweak my new idea. As for the cookbook image to my left, I was recently gifted, by a dear friend, Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".. Now as I join the myriad of college food bloggers in gushing the praises of the cookbook I'll warn you that, yes, there will be recipes from this book featured, but hopefully in a new and possibly unique way.
What is truly amazing about this book is the depth of the instructions, accompanied by pictures even, holding your hand through some of the most intimidating recipes in the french repertoire. I find it particularly wonderful that due to the age of the book there is no recipe which requires a kitchenaid mixer, or other expensive accoutrement, to execute. Each recipe is an in depth true recipe and never requires canned biscuit dough or a packet of italian dressing, unique for it's time, unheard of in the present.
11 March, 2010
Eggs for Dinner
I love eggs; they're cheap, healthy, and really can be prepared for any meal. Dinner again for Alin and I last night and I made this an occasion for my first shot at hollandaise sauce, because poached eggs just aren't enough of a challenge on their own.. 
The trick, I've found, with poaching eggs is to not let the water boil while the egg is in the water, it should just be almost to a boil, the bubbles tear apart the whites.As for the hollandaise sauce, I was a little nervous. After stories of the sauce 'breaking' or the egg yolks 'scrambling' in the double boiler, I was hesitant to use more than 2 egg yolks, as I only had 6 eggs (some of which needed to be poached). But all in all, after removing and then returning and removing again the metal bowl from the double boiler (for fear of a scramble due to heat) it all turned out fine, and even kept for 30 minutes in a warm oven! Granted I whisked in a tad more warm water to the sauce after it sat for awhile, but all in all, the reputation is surely more intimidating than the execution itself.
With the eggs on toast we also had orzo salad, made with heirloom tomatoes, feta, olive oil, and basil.
Hollandaise Sauce
- 3tbsp butter
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp warm water
Whisk eggs and lemon juice together in metal bowl. Melt butter separately. In a double boiler beat egg/lemon mixture, careful not to let the eggs get too hot, while slowly adding in melted butter. If the sauce is thick whisk in warm water. Salt and pepper to taste.
26 February, 2010
Gluttony and Alcoholism: The Grapefruit
Pink is such an odd color for the grapefruit. It is not a girly fruit; there's nothing feminine about the slight bitterness that reaches around and slaps the sweetness right off of your tongue (or perhaps there is). The name itself even seems confusing; it's nothing like a grape, which is itself a fruit. Apparently the name grapefruit came about as they grow in clusters, much like grapes do...I'm pretty sure that's where the similarities end. This being said, I love grapefruit. They are so much juicier than oranges and thus, if you like to juice, are much more appealing and economical than oranges. I don't mind the bitterness either, you kind of warm up to it after awhile. So with a large bag of grapefruits and nothing better to do I set off, to drink and eat some cake.
- 1 part sky vodka
- 1 part fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
- 1 part La Croix pamplemousse water
- grapefruit slice
Now onto the cake. I'm going to be honest, I have a minor thing for this food blog, Chocolate Dust. I do, I like the fact that it's in Croatian, I like the fact that the english directions leave so much to wing, I like the difficulty of the recipes and their international flare. I might have a foodblog crush and I might just start writing my recipes in random languages, so look out for that. So I found this recipe on the blog, that the author had for a dark chocolate orange cake, sounds awesome right? Yes. It does. But I didn't have dark chocolate, I had white chocolate. I didn't have oranges, I had grapefruits. Yes, thats what I did, I made a white chocolate grapefruit cake, similar enough right? Well, kind of.
White Chocolate Gapefruit Cake
cake
- 350g white chocolate
- 175g butter
- 70ml grapefruit juice
- 250g almond meal
- 5 eggs
- 100g sugar
- 2 tsp almond extract
Melt white chocolate on double boiler, adding in the butter and almond extract. Stir until fully melted and then set to the side. In a separate bowl mix together the almond meal and flour. Separate the eggs and mix the egg yolks with 20g of sugar and add into the cooled white chocolate. Slowly add the chocolate to the flour mixture, as well as the grapefruit juice. Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar until white, and fold into batter. Pour into 2 9-inch pans and bake for 12 minutes at 350F.
filling
- 1 cup organic sour creme
- 1/3 cup sweetener
- 1 tsp almond extract
Let the cakes cool in and mix sweetener with sour creme and almond extract and spoon between the layers. Place in freezer.
icing
- 300g white chocolate
- 100ml half and half
- grapefruit zest
Melt chocolate in double boiler and slowly add the half and half to the mix.
Add the half and half in spurts and stop if the ganache starts to thin too quickly. You may not use all of the half and half.Once melted allow to cool and then pour over chilled cake, top with grapefruit zest, chill.
This cake went over pretty well, though it was no honey cake. It's dense and tart and, though a seemingly odd combo it worked by countering the overwhelming sweetness of the white chocolate.
18 February, 2010
Simple, not boring.
I only have one knife and yes, it's pink; I want to keep my life and kitchen simple.. and I really only need one good knife anyway. It helps though, it really does, when you live in a small house to cut out the unnecessary. I live in a 500 sq/ft back house, which I've decorated with the theme of 'romantic college budget'; it's got everything I need, a couch, a shoe-shelf, and a kitchen. Now the kitchen.. yes I only own 1 knife and 11 forks, I have over 40 spoons; how this discrepancy happened, I don't know. I own only 2 martini, wine, and pint glasses..and 5 Marie Antoinette inspired champagne glasses (they were a gift and I would have 6 but 1 did not survive my birthday party). I avoid gadgets and abhor disposable accoutrement of any type and thus I have enough room for what I need. My kitchen was really the selling point of my apartment, it's enclosed, which for most college kids isn't a necessity, but as a recent college graduate this is irrelevant for me.. 
Now I know the cappuccino machine isn't a necessity but.. I blame England. I like expensive waters but I use my old Sanfaustino and Pellegrino bottles as candle holders, which cuts down on the electricity. Well not really. I try, as hard as I can, to keep things clean, clutter-free. One extravagancy
for all of you in dormitories, overseas, or otherwise unfortunate, I do have a full-sized refrigerator.Enough about my love of my kitchen, on to food! So here's one lovely concoction I came up with tonight for dinner, for just me. It's all about the preparation really.
Fresh Faux
- 1 fake chicken serving
- 4-7 cherry tomatoes
- 1 basil leaf
- 1 roasted garlic clove
- feta cheese
- cracked pepper
- olive oil
Cook the fake chicken (or real chicken for that matter) serving fully, I do this in a frying pan. Cut the tomatoes into halves and mix with tsp of olive oil and garlic and place in small pile on frying pan. Place a fresh basil leaf, which you should always have, on top of the tomatoes. Then place the 'chicken' on top of the tomatoes and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes. Use a spatula to flip the whole thing onto a plate. Top with cracked pepper, salt, and feta cheese and say goodbye to boring faux chicken.
03 February, 2010
Limonada Cordoba
Last night when I got home from the gym I was thirsty, very thirsty. The kind of thirst that a drinking fountain couldn't quell; the next thing I knew it was 11pm and I was at Market Street trying to refrain from buying every beverage in sight. I did come away with; one gallon of water, a two litre bottle of Diet Coke, eight oranges, eight lemons, a mint plant, and a single serving bottle of Honest Tea "Peach Oo-La-Long". The tea and some water were enough to sate my thirst enough to go to bed but this morning it was back in full force, so I began to juice. As previously mentioned I've been making fresh juices a lot recently. I have this cheap-o Betty Crocker juicer that works horribly, it's no Philippe Starck juicer (as pictured), but if I don't plug it in I can manage to use it as a manual juicer. My most recent favorite has been grapefruit juice, almost solely because grapefruits are juicer and cheaper than oranges. However as you will have noticed last night I bought oranges and lemons, so orange juice it is, but what with the lemons? I had some sort of idea while in my thirst frenzy that I would make mint lemonade, like a sort of non-alcoholic mojito type concoction. However, like many plans, things changed. After making the orange juice and pouring it into my reusable wine bottle I bought from Kensington Whole Foods in London (and can't stop raving about how useful it has been), I turned to the lemons... How could I make this different from your baseline lemonade? This is what I've come up with; named after the blooming almond trees of Cordoba, Spain I present Limonada Cordoba.
Limonada Cordoba
- 7-10 lemons juiced (roll them before you attempt to juice them, it helps)
- 1/2 cup Splenda granular (or sugar)
- 5 sliced strawberries
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 3-5 cups of water (however strong or weak you like it)
- ice
Juice lemons and place in sealable drink container, add sweetener and stir until dissolved. Add sliced strawberries and mash with wooden spoon into the bottom of the lemon juice. Add almond extract. The mixture should be pinkish. Then add the desired amount of water, though try and keep it strong as you'll pour it over ice later. Serve with lemon slice over ice.
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