It Tastes Like Summer!: Tomato Confit and Marinated Tomatoes Served on a Crispy Tart

I am very fortunate to be married to someone who does all of the cooking (thanks, Tom!), but whenever we host a vegetarian dinner guest, I usually make a savory vegetarian tart -- it's really not all that different from making a dessert tart.  Last weekend, I decided to make the recipe for "Tomato Confit and Marinated Tomatoes Served on a Crispy Tart" from epicurious.com.  What attracted me to this tart is that is is fairly light, in contrast to many vegetarian tarts I've made that are held together with melted cheese.  This tart is essentially just greens and tomatoes topped off with shaved Parmesan and fresh basil -- it seemed like a great choice for a casual outdoor summer meal.

The crust for the tart is made in the food processor from flour, salt, chilled butter, egg yolks and water.  The dough needs to be chilled before being rolled.  The recipe directs you to make a free form tart 12 inches in diameter.  Since it only takes an extra 30 seconds to put the rolled out dough into a tart pan, I put the dough into a 10-inch diameter tart pan.  You pierce the crust, brush it with egg glaze, and then bake it until it's golden.

The cooled tart shell is then topped with greens lightly dressed with olive oil and salt (I used baby arugula), and both tomato confit and marinated tomatoes.  The confit is made by roasting quartered and seeded tomatoes for a couple of hours along with thyme, garlic cloves, and salt, and then removing the tomato skins.  The marinated tomatoes and made by marinating peeled, quartered, and seeded tomatoes in olive oil at room temperature for two hours, with some garlic cloves, thyme and salt added in.  The final layer of the tart is shaved Parmesan and basil leaves.

I didn't think that the marinated tomatoes were anything special, but the tomato confit is crazy delicious.  Roasting the tomatoes with the garlic and thyme results in heavily fragrant, intensely flavorful, concentrated tomato goodness that captures the very essence of summer.  You could use this tomato confit as a pasta sauce, on top of toasted bread, or in any number of other applications.

The tart as a whole -- with the crispy crust, spicy arugula, tomato confit, Parmesan, and basil all together -- is just fabulous.  It's also light and refreshing, perfect for summer.  My only complaint is that the tart shell was quite fragile and crumbly.  Nonetheless, I was completely happy with the way the tart turned out (I didn't mind chasing bits of crumbled tart shell around my plate with a fork), and the leftovers were terrific even after a day in the refrigerator.

Love, love this tart.

Recipe: "Tomato Confit and Marinated Tomatoes Served on a Crispy Tart," from epicurious.com.

Belgian Biscuit Tasteoff: Biscoff v. Speculaas

Last week I had to fly to several cities for business; it just so happens that the final leg of my travels was a Delta flight back to D.C.  I almost never fly Delta, and I had forgotten the best part about the airline until I heard the flight attendant coming through with the beverage cart.  Not only was he serving drinks, but he was also handing out snacks, querying each passenger: "Would you like some peanuts, pretzels, or a cookie?"  A cookie?!  It had completely slipped my mind that they serve the uber delicious Biscoff cookies on Delta.  I think the kind flight attendant sensed my unbridled excitement when I responded to his question with an expectant ear-to-ear grin and an enthusiastic, "Biscoff please!!"  He looked around, lowered his voice, and whispered "Don't tell anyone else that I gave you more than one!," while he furtively slipped some extras onto my seatback tray.

I opened one package of cookies (they come two to a pack) and enjoyed them right away on the plane.  I decided to save my extras to take home so that I could taste them side by side against a homemade version, using the speculaas recipe from Baked Explorations -- which the cookbook authors say is as close to the Biscoff as possible.  I made the speculaas a few months ago and thought they were fantastic, but I couldn't resist the urge to make another batch to see how they measured up against the real thing.

I still love the speculaas -- they are spicy, crispy, and lightly sweet.  But make no mistake, they are not Biscoffs.  The Biscoffs were drier, crispier, more buttery, and had a lovely toasted flavor absent from the homemade version.  In addition, the speculaas had a stronger spice flavor.  To be honest, I prefer the Biscoff.  Something about the crisp texture is so satisfying.  However, after my real Biscoffs were gone, I continued to wholeheartedly enjoy the homemade speculaas.  They might not be able to pass for real Biscoffs, but they are still incredibly tasty.

I packed up my speculaas and shared them with my extended family when we got together for a father's day brunch.  I knew that the speculaas were a real smash hit when my cousin's children, three-year old Alexis and almost two-year old Josh, happily noshed on them.  After all, children aren't afraid to tell you what they really think.  Alexis said she loved her biscuit, and even before she finished eating it, she announced her plan to eat another one later in the day after her nap. 

 

 

I can't say that the speculaas beat the Biscoff in a head-to-head taste test, but I'm still going to declare the speculaas a winner.  They're delicious, they make kids happy, and best of all, I don't have to fly Delta to get them, but can bake them any time I feel like it!

Recipe: "Speculaas" from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

Previous Post: "The Biscoff Knockoff: Speculaas," November 18, 2010.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Rosemary Apricot Squares

I made these bars after Thanksgiving last year and didn't have time to make them again for the bakealong... so you can read about my experience with this recipe in my previous post, here.

Recipe: "Rosemary Apricot Squares," from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at BAKED Sunday Mornings.

Previous Post: "Post-Thanksgiving Baking: Rosemary Apricot Squares," November 29, 2010.

When Copy is Sloppy: Feathery Jam-Filled Butter Cakes

I decided to try the recipe for "Feathery Jam-Filled Butter Cakes" in The Perfect Finish by Bill Yosses, mostly due to the fact the the picture of the cake in the cookbook was adorable -- a golden little hockey puck of a cake bisected to reveal a glistening filling of dark berry jam.  Also, the crumb is described as having "an irresistibly buoyant texture," and who wouldn't want to experience buttery, buoyant feathery-ness?

When I read through the recipe, I noticed some glaring errors.  The first listed ingredient is "2 cups cake flour (16 ounces, 450 grams)."  Normally when measurements are given by both volume and weight, I will go by weight, since it is more accurate and also saves me the trouble of dirtying a measuring cup.  But 2 cups of cake flour do not weigh an entire pound, not even close.  I also noticed that the ingredient list calls for "2 large eggs, lightly beaten," but the instructions tell you to add the two eggs one at a time (thus making it unlikely that they should be beaten first).  Most bizarre of all, the ingredient list says the glaze contains only powdered sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest, but the instructions tell you to make the glaze by whisking together "the sugar, egg white, milk, and lemon zest."

I decided to forge ahead anyway.  Looking at the proportions of other ingredients in the recipe, I knew there was no way that the recipe should use a pound of cake flour, so I went with the volume measurement of 2 cups instead.  The rest of the batter ingredients are baking powder, lemon zest, salt, butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and whole milk.  At the end, you fold in seedless fruit jam (I used raspberry), divide the batter into greased cupcake tins, and bake.

Although the cake pictured in the cookbook has a completely flat cylindrical shape, my cakes rose in the oven and had peaked tops, like muffins.  I made the glaze from lemon juice, lemon zest, and powdered sugar (ignoring the directions that mentioned egg white, milk, sugar, and lemon zest -- because that just sounds disgusting), and dipped the tops of the cakes in the glaze while they were warm. 

These cakes were hugely disappointing.  First, the jam distribution was quite uneven.   I had completely expected this would be the case, because the recipe actually touts property this as a virtue: "I prefer to gently swirl in the jam rather than fold it in completely.  Not only does this make for a prettier presentation, but it also distributes the flavor unevenly, which I find is the fun of it... some bites are intensely jammy, while other are more about the soft buttery cake...."  In contrast, I found the uneven jam distribution to be quite irritating.  I wouldn't mind some bites within a single cake having more jam than others, but some cakes were sorely lacking in jam overall.  In fact, one person who tasted these complained about the lack of jam in her cake and came back for another, hoping to fare better in the jam lottery the second time around. 

More importantly, I didn't like the actual cake.  The lemon flavor in the cake and glaze was nice, but the cake was dry and not buttery.  The texture was pretty much the opposite of what I would have expected of something promised to be "feathery" or "irresistibly buoyant."  In my book, dry cake is just unacceptable, so I won't be making these again.

The numerous typographical errors in this cookbook are frustrating, and many of the reviews on Amazon criticize the editing problems.  Only after I made these cakes did I notice that it appears Bill Yosses himself has submitted an Amazon review addressing many of the errors identified by other Amazon reviewers (including the ones in this recipe).   I'm not going to claim that I'm not prone to making typos myself, but then again, I don't have an editor and I'm not trying to sell people a book of recipes where conveying the recipe and directions accurately is kind of the whole point.  On the other hand, I have had positive experiences with several other recipes from this cookbook (including the Orange-Glazed Olive Oil Cake with Fleur de Sel and the Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Nutella), so I'm going to continue using it.  Let's just hope that Yosses and his editors get their act together and make some corrections for subsequent editions. 

Recipe: "Feathery Jam-Filled Butter Cakes," from The Perfect Finish: Special Desserts for Any Occasion, by Bill Yosses and Melissa Clark.

Sunshine on a Plate: Lemon Drop Cake

Last weekend I was looking for a showy and summery dessert to bring to a casual outdoor dinner party, and I decided on the "Lemon Drop Cake" from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.  This cake is described as being "like summer sunshine on a plate" -- a lemon layer cake filled with lemon curd and covered in lemon frosting. 

The procedure for making lemon cake batter is similar to that for many of the other cake recipes from the Baked boys -- you beat together butter and shortening, add in sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest, add an egg, and then add the sifted dry ingredients (cake flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt) alternately with ice water.  Finally, you fold in egg whites that have been beaten with cream of tartar, divide the batter between three 8-inch pans, and bake.

The lemon curd is made from lemon juice, lemon zest, eggs and egg yolks, sugar, and butter.  One nice thing about this recipe is that you don't have to make the curd ahead of time or chill it; you can use it immediately.  You make the frosting by combining sugar, flour, milk, and cream, and cooking them on the stove until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens.  You put the resulting pudding-like mixture in a stand mixer and beat it until it's cool.  Then you incorporate butter, vanilla extract, and some of the freshly-made lemon curd.  My frosting was the perfect consistency to use right away, although the recipe gives you some options if your frosting is too soft (put it in the refrigerator) or too firm (place it over a pot of simmering water and beat it with a wooden spoon). 

To assemble the cake, I leveled the cake layers, spread lemon curd in between the layers, and frosted the sides and top.  The recipe says that you should spread a whole cup of curd between each of the layers.  My total yield from the recipe was only a little over 1.5 cups of lemon curd, so after putting one-half cup in the frosting, I had only about one-half cup to put between each of the layers.  However, I didn't think the amount of filling was lacking in any way.  This recipe definitely makes plenty of frosting; I had quite a bit left over.

The cake itself was nice and moist, but not otherwise remarkable.  The curd added a bright burst of lemon flavor.  But I think the star of this cake is the frosting.  It's insanely good.  It's completely smooth and light, yet lusciously decadent.  It's lemony, buttery silk.

I was very happy with the way this cake turned out.  While it is fairly similar in concept to Ann Amernick's Lemon Buttercream Torte, I like this cake so much better.  The Lemon Drop Cake is less fussy to make, and the entire recipe only requires 10 eggs (as opposed to 26 eggs for the Lemon Buttercream Torte).  And oh, the frosting!  This cake really is a burst of sunshine that would brighten any day.

Recipe: "Lemon Drop Cake," from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. 

Previous Post: "Liam Turns One: Lemon Buttercream Torte," August 8, 2010.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Orange Creamsicle Tart

I probably never would have tried the Orange Creamsicle Tart recipe from Baked Explorations if it wasn't on the Baked Sunday Mornings schedule; I really do not like orange cream soda (or cream soda or any variety, for that matter), which is a major ingredient.  But, happy to expand my horizons for the bakealong, I picked up a four-pack of Virgil's orange cream soda and decided to make this tart for a friend's Memorial Day barbeque.

This tart requires some of advance planning, because there is a lot of chilling and waiting time.  The way the filling came out took me totally by surprise.  I was expecting that it would essentially be orange curd.  I was wrong, because the finished filling has a completely different consistency than fruit curd.  I should have realized that the use of gelatin and the procedure for making the filling (cooking, chilling, whipping, and chilling again) was going to produce something different than a curd.

While I stirred the filling on the stove and waited for it to thicken and reach 180 degrees, I became a little concerned.  The mixture did thicken, but it wasn't creamy and translucent the way I was expecting it to look.  Also, the mixture began to boil when it reached 165 degrees, so I took it off the stove before it reached 180.  After I took the filling off the heat, incorporated the gelatin and lemon juice, and pressed the mixture through a sieve onto a stick of butter, it looked like a opaque pale yellow pudding.  I whisked the filling furiously as directed for several minutes, but saw no discernible increase in volume.

The tart dough was quick to mix together and easy to roll out and press into the pan, despite the recipe's warning that it would be sticky.  Before rolling, I chilled the dough for about 90 minutes, instead of just the 30 minutes specified in the recipe, but I'm not sure if that's the reason my dough wasn't difficult to handle.  The tart shell baked up beautifully, although it did shrink a little.

After the filling had chilled for four hours, I took it out of the fridge and it was gelled into a solid block.  After five minutes of whipping in the stand mixer with the whisk attachment, it significantly increased in volume and became creamy and smooth.  There was the perfect amount of filling to fill the baked and cooled tart shell.

After the filled tart had chilled for about an hour, I made the orange whipped topping, which is just whipping cream, sugar, and orange cream soda.  I was unable to taste any orange flavor in the finished topping.  I used a pastry bag with a closed star tip to pipe the whipped cream onto the tart.  I hadn't really planned to make any particular pattern, but in the end, the mound of overlapping rosettes and stars reminded me of swirling ocean foam.

The filling set firm and the tart was easy to cut cleanly.  D.C. was experiencing a major heat wave on Memorial Day, and the temperature was in the 90s when this tart was served.  The creamsicle tart was the perfect dessert for a hot and muggy day -- even though the filling was set, it was extremely light and airy, like a mousse.  The citrus flavor of the tart was very refreshing and the whipped cream went beautifully with it.  The crust stayed crisp and was not soggy at all (and I did not brush on any melted white chocolate as was suggested in the recipe).  This tart does in fact taste just like a light and airy citrus cream soda.  Everyone really liked it.  And I have to admit: while I can't stomach orange cream soda in liquid form, in this tart, it's refreshingly delicious!

Recipe: "Orange Creamsicle Tart," from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at BAKED Sunday Mornings.

Biscotti Revisited: Hazelnut Cinnamon Chip Biscotti

Having just made the pistachio cherry biscotti variation in Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, I couldn't resist trying the cookbook's original recipe for hazelnut cinnamon chip biscotti.  The two varieties have the same base dough; the only difference is that one contains hazelnuts, cinnamon, and chocolate chips, and the other includes cherries and pistachios. 

The hazelnut biscotti dough was slightly darker than the pistachio dough due to the cinnamon in the batter.  I thought that the hazelnut biscotti were as pretty as the pistachio ones; I was particularly fond of the cross section of hazelnuts visible in each slice.  I accidentally kept these in the oven a little too long during the second bake, so they turned out more crunchy and toasted than the pistachio biscotti.

Personally, I definitely preferred the hazelnut biscotti over yesterday's pistachio biscotti, as did Tom.  In some ways, it doesn't seem like a fair fight between the two varieties, because I think that chocolate generally has a huge flavor advantage over non-chocolate ingredients.  But I thought that the hazelnut biscotti had a richer, more well-rounded flavor, and I especially loved the texture and flavor of the toasted hazelnuts. 

I also took an unscientific poll at my office.  Some tasters professed an inability to decide between the two types of biscotti and claimed to like both equally.  Others expressed that the biscotti were hard to compare, and that their preference would depend on the circumstances (e.g. whether the biscotti were eaten alone or with a specific beverage, such as coffee, tea, or milk).  However, of those who expressed a preference, tasters generally liked the pistachio biscotti better than the hazelnut. 

It's good to know that both variations are well worth making!

Recipe: "Hazelnut Cinnamon Chip Biscotti," from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

Previous Post: "Time to Raid the Pistachio Stash: Pistachio Cherry Biscotti," June 1, 2011.

Time to Raid the Pistachio Stash: Pistachio Cherry Biscotti

Last night, I searched for a recipe that I could use to start making a dent in my supply of pistachios.  My cousin Cindy recently turned 30, and I was supposed to cater her birthday party, until I was called away for a last-minute emergency.  Since Cindy had specifically requested a pistachio dessert, I had purchased a lot of pistachios ahead of time (anticipating that some recipe testing would be required) -- such that I currently have five pounds of pistachios in the refrigerator. 

Several of my cookbooks contain recipes for pistachio cherry biscotti, which seemed like a good option, since I always have dried tart cherries on hand.  I decided to go with a recipe from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.  The recipe in the book is actually one for hazelnut cinnamon chip biscotti, but pistachio cherry biscotti is presented as a possible variation.  It only takes a few minutes to mix the batter for the biscotti.  You stir together sugar, baking powder, and salt, beat in eggs, add vanilla, incorporate flour, and then mix in pistachios and dried cherries.  Then you follow the standard procedure for making biscotti: forming the dough into logs, baking, brushing with egg white, slicing, and baking again.

The finished biscotti were beautiful.  The recipe contemplates that they will be generously sized, and I got 20 large (over six and a half inches long) biscotti from one batch of dough, plus a few smaller biscotti from the ends (I slice my biscotti on the diagonal, so there are always some shorter pieces on the ends of the logs). 

The cookies had a very nice crunchy texture, without being tough or dry.  Not surprisingly, the pistachio and cherries were just lovely together, and I especially loved the crunch of the pistachios alongside the chewiness of the cherries.  While the biscotti were very well received by others, I couldn't help thinking that they were missing just a little something.  I'm guessing that a half teaspoon of almond extract would have greatly enhanced the overall flavor and made these truly outstanding -- I plan on making these biscotti again and I'll definitely try that next time!   

Recipe: "Pistachio Cherry Biscotti" (variation of Hazelnut Cinnamon Chip Biscotti) from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

Previous Posts:

• "Munchy Crunchy My Dear Snackers: Savory Cheddar Biscotti," October 2, 2010.
• "A Bit of Holiday Sparkle: The Gingerbread Whoopie Pie," December 1, 2009.
• "The Problem With the Girl Scouts," March 2, 2009.