The Favorite Lemon Tart

It's been called a lemon tart and a lemon pie, it is by far the most requested recipe or the most requested dessert that I get. 
I've made this version of lemon tart for over ten years.  I've made it into a large 10 inch tart. I've made it into small bite size tarts.  I've made it into a 4 inch individual tart.  I've topped it with blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and raspberries or combinations.  

The base of the tart is basically a sugar cookie crust.  Again, I've tried it with different crusts and I always come back to the sugar cookie crust or as the French would call it pate sucree.  The sweet and sandy texture counters nicely the smooth tart curd.

Now the pastry arts are my passion but I am not a fan of making tart/pie dough.  I find my desire and obsession to perfect it even before baking causes a lot of stress and mental anxiety.  I've really had some melt downs making the crust.  I admit it.  :-) Don't even get me started about blind baking.  Well, this year, I've found the perfect, easiest recipe and technique for making this sugar crust dough.  It comes from Alice Medrich's Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts cookbook.  Thank you Alice!  Here it is. 

Tart Crust
5 oz or 10 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup of granulated sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 1/4 cup of flour
1/4 teaspoon of baking powder

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Combine butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl.  
Mix the flour and baking powder together thoroughly, add the butter mixture , and mix just until well blended.  
If the dough seems too soft and gooey, let it stand for a few minutes to firm up.
Using a 9" tart pan with a removable bottom or four 4 inch smaller tart pans, press the dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the tart pans to make a thin, even layer.
Put the pan on a baking sheet. 
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the crust is fully golden brown all over.  The dough will puff up.
Take it out of the oven and using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, press down on the dough firmly to remove the puffins and shape the tart back to it's original form.  Let it cool completely. It will be much easier to handle cooled.

It always amazes me that this luscious curd is basically, lemons, butter, egg, and sugar.  

This is Ina Garten's ratio of the ingredients, but I've tweaked and simplified the recipe.  You don't need fancy equipment, and you only need one pot.  I find that when you use a food processor, unless you have a very fine mesh, the lemon peel  falls through and adds a undesired texture to the curd.

It's also easy to remember this recipe because there are a lot of four or 4s.

Lemon Curd
4 organic lemons
1.5 cup of sugar
4 oz or 1 stick of butter soften and cut into dice pieces
4 organic eggs
1/4 tsp of salt

Using a vegetable peeler, peel all the lemon zest into strips.  Cut the strips into quarter inch pieces. 
Cut the lemons in half and squeeze all the juice to make about 1/2 cup of lemon juice.  Strain out all the seeds and pulp.  Set aside.
In a 2 quart sauce plan, place the sugar and the lemon zest.  Using a wood spoon, pound the lemon zest into the sugar, stir and keep blending the lemon zest into the sugar.  You are trying to release the lemon oils and flavor into the sugar.  The sugar will be a bit dingy yellow and lemony fragrant.
Add the butter pieces into the sugar mixture and cream until fully combined.
Add one egg at a time until fully incorporated, repeat the next egg until all 4 are fully mixed in.
Stir in the lemon juice.
Put the sauce plan over medium heat for about 10 min and cook the mixture until thick or until it reaches 175 degrees. Stir continuously so that the egg does cook to the side or bottom of the pan.  
Immediately poor over a strainer and set side until cooled.
Spoon the lemon curd into the tart crust until it's slightly less than the tart's rim.  
Top it with your favorite berries.  Serve immediately or place covered in the refrigerator.  

This tart is for lemon lovers! Definitely!

Cambozola & Apples

I am loving this recipe.  I've made this recently with brie and peaches.  With the changing of the season and great apples out there, this is a good one for an early afternoon happy hour.  It is so easy to make!  

Today, I served this for some friends for what I called High Tea.  We had sweets, little finger foods, and this cheese plate that I served with crackers.

1 wedge of Cambozola cheese
1 apple (I used Jonagold) cored, peeled, and cut in small pieces
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 tsp of fresh thyme, plus a sprig to garnish
1 tablespoon of honey (I used this peach flavored one that I picked up in Colorado.  It's adding that salmon color on the plate.)

Heat over to 300 degrees
Put the cheese on a baking sheet and bake for about 5 minutes until soft but not melting and runny.
Put olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat.
When hot, toss in the thyme and it will pop and fry.
Toss in apple pieces and let apples cook and caramelize.  Don't stir too much, let the apples get brown nicely.
Put warm cheese on a serving platter.
Top the cheese with the honey and spread evenly until cheese covered.
Spoon and top the cheese with the cooked apples.
Place a sprig of thyme on top and serve.

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

I'm my best when I am baking.  My soul has been a little sad these days.  Perhaps it's just the crazy busyness, perhaps it's the fall creeping up on us, the loss of light...I don't know but there is a little blue.

I didn't realize it so much but it's reflected in my baking.  I don't know why but I realized it looking at this coffee cake.  This is my favorite coffee cake of all time.  I can make it anytime since the recipe calls for canned pumpkin but I love to make it in the fall.

I had a little brunch get together this past weekend and it's there I served it.  Please enjoy.

This recipe comes Bakerella.com blog.  I tweaked it a little bit by adding cardamon and a tip from America's Best Kitchen.  They recommend when using canned pumpkin, to cook it a bit with the spices of the recipe.  It suppose to get rid of the slight metallic taste.  Not sure if I noticed the difference but the cake was good.

Streusel
1/3 cup of all purpose flour
1/2 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
6 tbsp of cold unsalted butter cut into dice size
1 cup of toasted pecans salted

In a bowl combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt.  Toss in the butter and using a pastry cutter, cut it into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like course crumbs.  Stir in pecans. Set aside.

Glaze
1/2 cup of confectioner's sugar sifted
1 tsp of whole milk
1 tsp of pure vanilla extract

In a small bowl, whisk together the confectioners' sugar, milk, and vanilla.  Add drops of more milk if too thick.  Let it sit covered while making the cake.

Batter
1/2 cup of pumpkin puree
2 tsp of cinnamon
1 tsp of cardamon
1 tsp of ginger
1/4 tsp of nutmeg

1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour

2 tsp of baking powder

1/2 tsp of baking soda

1/2 tsp of kosher salt
1/2 cup or 1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup of sour cream

Heat oven to 350 degree and position the rack in the middle of the oven.  
Butter and flour a 9 inch cake pan with 3-inch sides or a bundt pan with straight sides.
In a small sauce pan over low heat, place the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, cardamon, ginger, and nutmeg and cook over medium heat until it thickens and most of the moisture is cooked away, about 10 min.  Set aside.
In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  
In a different bowl or your stand mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar on medium-high speed until well combined.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Add the pumpkin mixture and the sour cream with a spatula. Stir in the flour mixture.  The batter will be thick.
Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle half of the streusel over the batter.  Dollop the remaining batter over the streusel and even out the batter.  Top with remaining streusel.  Put in oven and bake for about 50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.  
Cool about 15 minutes and remove from pan. 
Using a spoon, drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake. 

Must eat with hot coffee or tea!