Baked Sunday Mornings: Mom's Olive Oil Orange Bundt

This week's assignment for Baked Sunday Mornings, Mom's Olive Oil Orange Bundt Cake, isn't completely new to me -- I made this cake a few months ago.  Last time I made the cake, it was good, but not great; I thought the orange flavor was a little lacking.  I was happy to give it another try to see if I could achieve a better result.

Before, I used an extra virgin oil from Occhipinti to make this cake.  While it's a great oil, I thought I would switch it up a little this time.  I recently discovered a little gem of a store in Frederick, MD, the Lebherz Oil and Vinegar Emporium.  Tom and I came across the store entirely by accident, once when we were killing some time after arriving early for our reservation at Volt, just a few doors up the street (it's a 40-mile drive to Frederick from Washington, so it's a little tricky trying to arrive precisely on time at the restaurant).  At Lebherz, you can try any of the 40+ varieties of olive oils and vinegars they carry before buying.  I am completely addicted to the ripe peach white balsamic vinegar, which makes a fantastic salad dressing. 

I decided to bake the cake with some Lebherz fused eureka lemon extra virgin olive oil, which is made by pressing whole lemons together with the olives.  Lebherz also sells a fused blood orange extra virgin olive oil, but I didn't like it as much as the lemon version when I tried it in the store.  The lemon oil is so bright and flavorful, and I thought that the lemon would reinforce the citrus flavor from the orange zest in the cake. 

In addition, last time I made this cake, I didn't make the optional glaze and simply sprinkled the cake with powdered sugar.  I decided to try the glaze this time, which is simply powdered sugar mixed with freshly squeezed orange juice.  

The final change I made this time was to bake the cake for five minutes less (only 45 minutes instead of 50), because the outer crust was a little dark last time.  So with the shorter baking time, the orange glaze, and the lemon olive oil, this cake was noticably improved from my previous effort, and quite fantastic.  The lemon oil made the citrus flavor of this cake really pop.  The cake was also incredibly fragrant -- I could catch the citrus aroma wafting towards me from several feet away.  The lovely lemon-orange flavor of the cake lingered on my tongue in the most delightful way. 

The texture of the cake was still quite dense, like a pound cake, but I think that baking it for 5 minutes less resulted in a slightly more moist cake.  The glaze provided a nice bit of sweetness that was not overpowering.  Just delicious. 

Recipe: "Mom's Olive Oil Orange Bundt," from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.

Previous Posts:

• "A Cake with Zest: Mom's Olive Oil Orange Bundt," April 8, 2011.
• "A Baking Leap of Faith: Orange-Glazed Olive Oil Cake with Fleur de Sel," July 9, 2010.

Brownie Tasteoff, Round 2: SuperFudgy Brownies

After easing people into the brownie tasteoff with "Classic Brownies" in the first round, I decided to go to the extreme of "SuperFudgy Brownies" for round two.  Here's a picture of the superfudgy lineup:

Like last time, I asked tasters to try all four brownies and fill out of a ballot ranking them in order of preference and also giving each brownie a numerical score from 1-10.

Brownie A was the Really, REALLY Fudgy Brownie from In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley.  The cookbook warns: "Very dense, very rich, very chocolately, these brownies are not for the faint of heart."  This is a straight chocolate fudge brownie, with no chips or other mix-ins.  Several tasters commented favorably on its chocolate flavor and fudginess, although others felt that that it was too plain compared to the other brownies in this group.  One taster noted, "Brownie A was just really good. It was a no-frills brownie that said to me, 'I am what I am. Love me for it.' So I did."  Another wrote, "For me this is the essence –  one might even say the Platonic form, assuming that you can eat Platonic forms – of a brownie: somewhat crumbly but with enough chewiness so as to hold together until it’s in your month, and an admirable chocolate taste."

Brownie B was the Recchiuti Fudgy Brownie, from Recchiuti Chocolatier in San Francisco.  I have made this brownie countless times over the years since it was featured in the Los Angeles Times Culinary SOS column in 2004.  This is a very fudgy brownie that also contains semisweet chocolate chunks.  I was a little surprised that a significant number of tasters said they liked the fact that this brownie had a slightly salty taste; I have never thought of this brownie as being salty.  Others commented, "just pure, unadulterated chocolate," "this brownie just had it all going on," "almost like eating a chocolate bar but it is soooo much better because of the baked good consistency," and " it had a character in addition to fudginess, which I absolutely loved."

Brownie C was the Midnight Brownie that Lisa Yockelson contributed to The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle.  (This brownie is cut into thirds because I forgot to save a regular-sized slice for the picture; for the tasteoff, I've been cutting the brownies into extra-small slices so that tasters won't get brownie overload.)  This superfudgy brownie contains chunks of Milky Way Midnight Bars.  Several tasters commented that the base brownie seemed to have the least amount of flavor in this group.  Many complained about the small amount of Milky Way in their sample, although I think this might be a particular hazard that results from serving very small slices.

Brownie D was Lisa Yockelson's Cappuccino Cream Cheese Fudge Cake from Baking by Flavor.  Although Yockelson calls this a "cake," it's way fudgier than any other cake I've ever tasted, and so I always pass it off as a "brownie."  And a superfudgy one at that!  This "cake" is essentially an espresso-cinnamon brownie with a cream cheese-chocolate chip swirl.  While some tasters thought that the cream cheese swirl was an asset, others thought it was a liability. Comments ranged from, "cream cheese is an interesting idea, but subtracts from overall brownie-ness," to " too much going on for my taste," to "It has coffee.  It has cheese.  That’s all anyone really wants in life."

And this superfudgy winner is... Brownie B, the Recchiuti Fudgy Brownie.  This brownie will advance to the finals of the tasteoff.  Half of the tasters choose it as their favorite, and it earned an average score of 8.14 out of 10.  It was followed by the Cappuccino Cream Cheese Fudge Cake (average score 7.22), the Really, REALLY Fudgy Brownie (average score 7.10) and the Midnight Brownie (average score 6.75).

Recipes:

• "Really, REALLY Fudgy Brownies" from In the Sweet Kitchen by Regan Daley.
• "Recchiuti Fudgy Brownies," from the September 29, 2004 Los Angeles Times.
• "Midnight Brownies" from The Good Cookie by Tish Boyle.
• "Cappuccino Cream Cheese Fudge Cake," from Baking by Flavor by Lisa Yockelson.

Previous Posts:

• "Brownie Tasteoff, Round 1: Classic Brownies," July 6, 2011.
• "A Fudgy Favorite: Recchiuti Brownies," May 25, 1
• "Rediscovering a Long Lost Friend: Midnight Brownies," May 6, 2009.
• "Weekend Baking Recap: A Mixed Bag," July 27, 2008.

Sweets from Sweetie Pies: Orange-Currant Scones

As a big fan of the Culinary SOS feature in the Los Angeles Times, I couldn't wait to try the orange-currant scone recipe from Sweetie Pies that was published in the column earlier this month.  I love scones, and I've never tried any with this particular flavor combination before.

The scones were easy enough to put together: you just combine the dry ingredients (all-purpose flour, cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt), mix in cubed chilled butter, add currants and orange zest, and then incorporate the wet ingredients (egg, half-and-half, and orange juice).  You form the dough into scones, and freeze the scones or chill them overnight.  Just before baking, you brush them with cream and sprinkle on some coarse sugar.  After the scones are baked and cooled, you drizzle on a glaze made from butter, powdered sugar, orange juice, and milk. 

The scones were quite pretty and definitely kept their shape well during baking (I froze mine for two hours before putting them in the oven).  I had a small problem with the glaze; it didn't have a smooth texture and also did not set completely firm -- I think I probably should have let my butter soften a bit more before mixing it with the powdered sugar.  Nonetheless, these scones were fabulous.  They have the ideal tender and crumbly texture, a bright orange flavor, and a wonderfully chewy texture from the currants.  While the scone itself it is not very sweet, it pairs very well with the sweet glaze.  These scones are full of flavor and are a real delight!

Recipe: "Orange Breakfast Scones" from Sweetie Pies in Napa, CA, recipe printed in the July 7, 2011 Los Angeles Times.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Peaches and Dream Pie

I was a little weary of this week's Baked Sunday Mornings assignment, the Peaches and Dream Pie.  To begin with, I almost never make pies, so I don't have a lot of experience in this area.  But especially after a disappointing experience with the Baked Explorations blackberry pie two weeks ago, I was concerned.   My anxiety was exacerbated by the fact that I have never tasted or even heard of a sour cream and peach pie, so I had no idea what the peaches and cream pie was supposed to look like or taste like. 

The crust for this pie is the "classic pie dough" (also used in the blackberry pie and buttermilk pie) that is very easy to roll out and handle.  After you crimp the crust and chill it, you put the peaches into the pie shell (I used diced ripe white peaches; I am a fruit racist and buy only white peaches, not yellow), and pour over a mixture of eggs, sour cream, honey, salt, dark brown sugar, and flour. Then you sprinkle on a layer of topping (cold butter cut into dark brown sugar and flour), and bake.  The recipe instructs you to bake the pie for 45 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly.  After 45 minutes, the top was bubbly, but since I've been burned twice by undercooked pies from Baked Explorations, I left the pie in the oven for an extra 10 minutes out of an abundance of caution.

Even though I had no idea what the pie was supposed to look like, I was very surprised at the way it looked when I pulled it out of the oven.  Before baking, the pie topping was a mixture of sandy crumbs, and so I was expecting the crumbs to stay intact during baking.  Instead, the entire topping layer was melted together.  It looked nothing like a fruit pie.  I also had no idea what the interior of the pie was supposed to look like, so I was eager to cut it open after it cooled (the recipe instructs you to let the pie cool overnight, which seems slightly excessive).

Due to the fact that I used white peaches, the interior had a pasty-looking monochromatic color scheme.  The sour cream mixture baked up to look something like the granular ricotta layer in the middle of a lasagna.  I regret using white peaches instead of yellow (or even canned ones, for that matter), because not only would yellow peaches have provided more color contrast, but I think they would have given the pie a better overall flavor profile.  The mildness of the white peaches was completely overshadowed by the strong brown sugar flavor in the cream layer and the topping.  In fact, it was difficult to tell that this was actually a peach pie at all.  In addition, my bottom pie crust was completely undercooked.

I didn't enjoy this pie at all.  While the topping layer was tasty and the sour cream component was interesting enough, the lack of peach flavor was a real disappointment, and the soggy crust was just the last straw.  The Baked Explorations classic pie dough might be incredibly easy to handle, but now that I've had three pies in a row come out with a undercooked bottom crust, I'm over it.

I'm just thankful there aren't any more pies on the Baked Sunday Mornings schedule!

Recipe: "Peaches and Dream Pie," from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito, recipe available here at Baked Sunday Mornings.


Previous Posts:

• "Just Half a Slice Please... The Top Half!: Buttermilk Pie," July 12, 2011.
• "Baked Sunday Mornings: Blackberry Pie," July 3, 2011.

Just Half a Slice Please... The Top Half!: Buttermilk Pie

The next recipe on the Baked Sunday Mornings schedule is the "Peaches and Dream Pie" (post forthcoming this weekend), and it uses the same "Classic Pie Dough" recipe from Baked Explorations as the blackberry pie I recently baked.  The only hiccup is that the pie dough recipe yields enough dough for either one double-crust pie or two single-crust pies.  Since the peaches and dream pie is a single-crust pie, I was going to have to some dough left over... So I decided to make another pie from the cookbook.  There were only two other single-crust choices: "Buttermilk Pie (with a hint of maple syrup)" and "Sawdust Pie."  I decided to try the buttermilk pie.

I had never ever heard of a buttermilk pie before; the cookbook explains that it is essentially a custard thrown into a pie shell and supposedly of Texas origin.  This recipe includes maple syrup and is a sort of hybrid between a traditional buttermilk pie and a Canadian maple pie.  It is very easy to make.  After rolling out the pie crust, crimping it, and stashing the crust in the freezer until it's firm, all you have to do it pour in a filling made from eggs, flour, sugar, dark brown sugar, melted butter, buttermilk, and maple syrup.  You are supposed to sprinkle a half teaspoon of flour into the pie crust before pouring in the filling, but I accidentally forgot this step.  You are also supposed to sprinkle another half teaspoon of flour onto the top of the custard before baking.  I did this, but the flour ended up in little clumps.  You bake the pie for an hour, until the custard is set. 

I thought this pie looked pretty good when I took it out of the oven, especially because I had low expectations.  The cookbook says, "I should warn you ahead of time that this pie, with its pale dough and brownish filling, would not win any beauty pageants."  The only problem I saw was some uncooked clumps of flour (remnants from my pre-bake sprinkle) on top of the custard, but I simply waited for the pie to cool and then dusted them off with a pastry brush.  

The pie turned out to be significantly undercooked.  When I took it out of the oven, I inserted a knife to test the doneness of the custard, and it appeared to be completely set.  But as you can see in the picture above, the bottom layer of custard was not entirely set (that slightly yellow layer right above the bottom crust is undercooked custard).  Also, the bottom crust was completely undercooked.  However, I did enjoy the top half of the pie that had nicely set custard and a properly cooked crust.  To me, the flavor of the custard filling was very reminiscent of flan -- eggy and milky, with the maple syrup giving a touch of intense sweetness and flavor much like the caramel component of flan.  The maple also gives this pie a definite autumn/winter feel -- not a particularly apt choice for D.C. in the middle of summer.  If not for the undercooked bottom crust and custard problem, this would have been a very nice pie.  But I'm not sure if I liked it enough to give it another try.

Recipe: "Buttermilk Pie (with a hint of maple syrup)," from Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

This Cookie Dough Really Stinks: Vanilla Dreams

A few days ago, Louise left a comment on my recent post about my Biscoff v. Speculaas tasteoff, mentioning that baker's ammonia might be the secret to getting the supercrisp texture of a real Biscoff.  I have previously noticed that King Arthur Flour offers baker's ammonia as a leavener to make "extra-crisp cookies or crackers," but I have never tried using it before.  As it happens, King Arthur had baker's ammonia on sale and eligible for free shipping earlier this week, so I ordered some.  When it arrived, I decided to make a recipe from King Arthur recommended by Louise -- Vanilla Dreams. 

The folks at King Arthur describe this cookie as having an "ultra-tender, extra-crunchy texture" that is "unlike anything you can get using baking powder or baking soda."  The dough is a snap to make (you can see step-by-step photos on the King Arthur Bakers' Banter Blog, here).  The first step is to mix the baker's ammonia (ammonium carbonate powder that has a strong ammonia smell; the ammonia odor is imparted to the raw batter but not detectable in the final baked product) and salt together with vanilla to dissolve the ammonia.  After that, you just mix the vanilla mixture with butter and sugar, and then incorporate flour.  You can use the dough immediately -- just scoop it out, flatten, and bake.  

I used a #40 scoop (if you read through all of the comments on the Bakers' Banter Blog, PJ Hamel at King Arthur says this is the size she used), and got 20 cookies from one batch of dough.  The dough spread quite a bit in the oven to create large cookies about 3.5 inches in diameter.  My baked cookies were perfectly round, very pale, and quite boring looking -- I didn't have anything to use to imprint a spiral or other design, so they were completely plain.  I decided that I had to take the extra steps of adding a chocolate coating and nuts to make them a bit more presentable.  I used pistachios, since I thought the green color would be pretty, and because I'm still working my way through my pistachio backlog. 

I was very pleased with the way the finished cookies looked; I served them pistachio-side up.  The texture truly is unlike anything I've ever baked before, very crisp and airy.  My first reaction was that these cookies taste like something from Pepperidge Farm, and given that I find Milano and Brussels cookies completely addictive, that is high praise.  While these cookies were fine plain, I liked them much better with the chocolate and nuts added.  Delicious!

I'm a believer.  Baker's ammonia is some pretty amazing stuff -- it makes your raw cookie dough smell like window cleaner, but it gives them such an amazing texture.  I'm looking forward to see what other wonders I can bake up with this magic leavener!

Recipe: "Vanilla Dreams" from King Arthur Flour.

Brownie Tasteoff, Round 1: Classic Brownies

A few months ago, a colleague of mine at work mentioned that his teenage daughter is looking for the best brownie recipe.  I have a lot of great brownie recipes, but it's difficult to say which one is the "best," since it's hard to rank different foods if you don't taste them side by side.  I thought that trying to identify the best brownie would be a great summer project, and the idea for the brownie tasteoff was born.

I tossed around a lot of options for how to organize the tasteoff.  How many brownies should compete?  How many brownies should people taste at a time?  What scoring system should I use?  Should it be single elimination?  I also had to take into account practical considerations -- I didn't want the tasteoff to drag on for months on end, and I wanted to avoid both brownie-tasting and brownie-baking exhaustion.  In the end, I limited the tasteoff to 16 different brownie recipes.  I decided to have four preliminary rounds, each of which will have four brownies to be tasted head-to-head.  The winner of of each preliminary round will advance to the final.  Having one tasteoff round every other week means I can give everyone (including myself) a break from brownies during off weeks, but I should be able to complete the tasteoff in only nine weeks.

I decided to group like brownies into categories so that they would be easier for tasters to compare.  The first round of the tasteoff was "Classic Brownies," comprised of moderately fudgy brownies with only basic mix-ins (nothing more elaborate than chocolate or nuts).  The entire lineup is pictured above.  I cut the brownies into taste-size slices, and asked my pool of tasters to try all four and fill out a brownie ballot.  The ballot asked for a ranking of the brownies from 1 to 4, as well as a numerical score for each brownie between 1 and 10.  I also asked for comments explaining the rankings and scores. 

Brownie A was Andrew's Brownie from epicurious.com.  I have been making this as my standard classic brownie for years, and it makes a great brownie sundae. I usually make this brownie without nuts, but for purposes of the tasteoff, I decided that I should make each brownie recipe exactly as written, so I included the walnuts.  Tasters who favored this brownie were few and far between.  It was commonly described as "basic," "light," or generally lacking chocolate flavor and intensity ("unremarkable," "pretty good, but I wanted more").  Others complained about the walnuts or commented that it was the most cakey of the four choices.  I think the light color also made it seem less appealing.  This is the only of the four "classic" brownies that doesn't contain any cocoa powder, and the double-dutch dark cocoa I use from King Arthur Flour gave the other brownies a rich dark color.

Brownie B was the King Arthur Flour Fudge Brownie.  The folks at King Arthur claim that this is "the absolute fudgiest, tastiest, best brownie[] in the world."  Many tasters commented favorably on the chocolate chips in this brownie ("you had me at chocolate chips!," "fudge and chocolate chips make any dessert the best") and several said it was the richest and most chocolately overall.  Others complained that it was a little on the sweet side and was actually too rich or too fudgy. 

Brownie C was Alice Medrich's Cocoa Brownie with Browned Butter and Walnuts.  This recipe was featured on the cover of the February 2011 issue of Bon Appetit with the sensational tagline, "BEST-EVER BROWNIES... WARNING: YOU WILL EAT THE ENTIRE TRAY."  This brownie won over several tasters who generally dislike nuts in their brownies ("I thought this was delicious and I don’t normally like nuts in a brownie," " I am generally not a fan of nuts in my brownies, but this one has something special to it -- I assume the browned butter -- that made it sooo good").  Tasters liked this brownie's smooth texture, its level of sweetness, and its depth of flavor. 

Brownie D is "the Baked Brownie" from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking.  Oprah has declared this brownie to be one of her favorite things.  Many tasters specifically liked the fact that the brownie had no chips or nuts (although others opined it would be better with the addition of chocolate chips); many praised it as being the quintessential "classic" brownie.  Several commented that it had a nice touch of salt, and many liked its fudgy, creamy texture.  In addition, some tasters who preferred this brownie commented that the flavor was something special ("had some kind of extra oomph"). 

After all of the ballots (over 50!) were counted, the clear winner was... Brownie D, the Baked Brownie.  More than half of the tasters ranked the Baked Brownie as their favorite among the four, and it received an average score of 8.01 out of 10.  The Cocoa Brownie with Browned Butter and Walnuts came in second (average score 7.80), followed by the King Arthur Fudge Brownie (average score 7.25), with Andrew's Brownies coming in last (average score 6.52).

I am really enjoying the tasteoff so far.  I think that the diversity of opinions and strength of convictions among tasters is truly remarkable.  And I can't wait to see which brownies are winners in upcoming weeks!

Recipes:

• "Andrew's Brownies" by Andrew Solveson, available on epicurious.com.
• "Fudge Brownies" from King Arthur Flour.
• "Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts" by Alice Medrich, available on epicurious.com.
• "The Baked Brownie" from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. 

Previous Posts:

•  "Every Day is Sundae," July 1, 2008.
• "A Brownie Double Dog Dare," February 20, 2009.
• "What's With All the Hype?: Cocoa Brownies with Browned Butter and Walnuts," February 2, 2011.
• "Quick Bites: Swedish Visiting Cake and the Baked Brownie," January 14, 2009.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Blackberry Pie

I would never make a blackberry pie if it wasn't on the schedule for Baked Sunday Mornings.  I don't like blackberries, I almost never make pies, and I'm pretty sure that I've never made a two-crust fruit pie before in my entire life (I don't think that these mini-pies count).  But one of the best things about joining a bakealong is that I get to make recipes that I would otherwise never try.

I really like the "Classic Pie Dough" recipe that is used for this pie.  It's an all-butter crust (flour, sugar, salt, butter, and ice water) made in the food processor.  I chilled my dough for a full day before rolling it out, and I've never had such a great experience with pie crust dough -- no sticking, no tearing, no fighting, no muss, no fuss.  Absolutely trouble free.  The pie filling is blackberries mixed with lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, brown sugar, flour, and salt, topped with dots of butter.  The filling was mounded quite high in my 9-inch pie pan, but I didn't have any problems putting on the top crust.  I was quite pleased with how nice the pie looked before I put it in the oven, after I had crimped the edges, cut vents, brushed on an egg wash, and sprinkled sugar on top. 

The recipe instructs you to bake the pie "until the filling bubbles and the crust is golden, about 1 hour."  I left my pie in the oven for 70 minutes, until the top was a deep golden brown and juice was bubbling out of several vents onto the sheet tray I had placed beneath the pie pan.  The pie looked perfect.

I let the pie cool for several hours before cutting it open in front of dinner guests, only to discover that there was a huge pool of blackberry soup at the bottom of the pie.  I don't mean thickened pie filling, but runny, thin, blackberry juice.  I cut and scooped out pieces of pie as best I could, but besides the soupy mess in the pie pan, I had to deal with the top crust collapsing a bit.  I was quite distressed to be faced with this ugly scene after I had served most of the pie.

I quickly got over the disappointment of how bad the interior of the pie looked after I took a bite.  The crust and the filling were absolutely delicious, especially when served with vanilla ice cream.  I don't like blackberries because I find the hard seeds unpleasant and I think they're too tart, but the pie had the perfect amount of sweetness and the blackberries had a nice soft texture while still holding their shape well.  The bottom crust was severely undercooked, but the top crust was buttery and quite good.   

I'm not sure if the problem was underbaking, not enough flour/thickening agent (the filling recipe uses only 1/3 cup of flour for 7 cups of blackberries), or a combination of the two, but this pie was definitely a disaster from a technical standpoint.  That said, everyone who ate this pie enjoyed it and no one complained.  Despite the fact that it tasted good, I had enough problems with this pie that I don't think I'll make it again -- but this pie has definitely changed my mind about how delicious blackberries can be!

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

Canned Pears Go High Class: Whiskey Pear Tart

I recently made the blackberry pie from Baked Explorations (a post on the pie is forthcoming this weekend for Baked Sunday Mornings), and I couldn't help noticing the photo of the recipe immediately following the pie in the cookbook, a gorgeous "Whiskey Pear Tart." This tart has three separate whiskey components: an almond cream filling with whiskey, pears soaked overnight in whiskey, and a whiskey-pear glaze.  I decided to make the tart for an office party this earlier week. 

The recipe claims to yield either an 14-inch by 4-inch rectangular tart, or an 11-inch round tart.  I decided to go the rectangular route (the one pictured in the cookbook that caught my eye is rectangular), because I didn't think there would be enough crust or filling for the round tart.  I don't see how this recipe can be written for two such disparate pan sizes.  The rectangular tart only has an area of 56 square inches, but an 11-inch round tart has an area of 95 square inches.  No way are these equivalents.

Making this tart is a two-day process.  On day one, you need to make the tart dough (sugar, flour, salt, butter, and egg, pulsed together in the food processor) and mix together strained canned pear halves (reserving the heavy syrup from the can) with lemon juice, whiskey, sugar, and vanilla.  The tart dough and the pears need to be refrigerated overnight. 

On day two, you roll out the tart dough, put it in the tart pan, and blind bake the tart shell.  After it's cool, you fill the shell with an almond-whiskey cream (butter, almond paste, egg, cornstarch, and whiskey), put the pears on top, and bake the tart until the cream puffs up.  The tart is finished with a whiskey glaze made by reducing a mixture of the the reserved heavy syrup from the canned pears and the whiskey-lemon juice liquid used to soak the pears overnight, thickening the mixture with cornstarch, and adding in more whiskey at the end. 

The almond-whiskey cream puffed up beautifully in the oven and also came out a dark golden brown.  After brushing on the translucent brown glaze, the surface of the tart was positively gleaming.  This tart makes a really lovely presentation. 

The only problem with making a 14-inch by 4-inch rectangular tart is that you don't get a lot of servings!  I divided mine into 13 small slices (the photo above shows a 3-inch section before I cut it into smaller servings), and they went fast at the party, so I didn't actually get to try the tart!  But the enthusiastic raves I received from people who did get to have a piece have convinced me that this tart is a winner!  

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