Passion Fruit Tart

Happy New Year!  

For my first blog post of 2019 I wanted to showcase something tart and refreshing so I present to you a Passion Fruit Tart.  This past holiday season I definitely didn't pass up any opportunities to over indulge - four raclette dinners in the span of three weeks was evidence of that!  I made this tart for dessert at one of those dinners and it was the perfect ending to such a heavy meal.  Besides, I don't think passion fruit gets all the love it deserves.  I myself am a huge fan of the tropical fruit and try to use it in baking wherever I can.

  

While fresh fruit is always best I find the cost of passion fruit, at least here in San Francisco, can be quite prohibitive.  My local Asian market was selling the fruit for $4 each and when you normally need at least five for any given recipe that tends to be expensive.  I found a fantastic alternative though - frozen passion fruit pulp.  Head to your local Hispanic supermarket and nine times out of ten they'll carry this item.  Plus, it's so much cheaper than the fresh fruit.  The only downside being that that you forgo  colorful seeds but I'm ok with that.

 

  

  

To make this tart I started with Cook's Illustrated's classic lemon tart and simply substituted the lemon juice with passion fruit pulp.  Easy peasy!   What I particularly love about CI's recipe is that you make a curd first and then bake it in a warm sweet pastry crust.  This leads to a firm filling and a tart that's easier to slice and serve.  I encourage you to give this dessert a try - you won't regret it!

Raspberry Charlotte

Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, hesitate to make this Raspberry Charlotte for your loved ones this Valentine's Day.  I cannot begin to tell you how absolutely amazing it tastes and how straight forward the recipe is.  Can you tell how I'm excited I am about it???  It literally took me less than three hours to make, yet the finished cake looks like it came from a posh European tea salon.  Everyone will be impressed! 

Whenever the latest issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine is published online I immediately look to see if there's a dessert or baked good.   Ecstatic doesn't even begin to describe my reaction when I saw the recipe for this raspberry charlotte.  I've made charlottes before, but the kind using store bought lady fingers and some type of mousse.  This recipe blows all of those out of the water!  

Even for a novice the instructions are very easy to follow.  My advice for the best success is to read the recipe several times beforehand and have your equipment and mise en place ready to go.   After that it's smooth sailing.

The only diversion I made from the original recipe was in decorating the finished cake.  Instead of swirling the raspberry jam in a marble pattern on top, in honor of Valentine's Day I made little hearts.  Give this recipe a try...you won't regret it one bit.

Meyer Lemon & Raspberry Tartlets

 

Summer has finally come to the Bay Area, after months of rain and gray this spring.  Even today in San Francisco it was a hot one, in the low 80s, which is considered a scorcher for us.   This weather leaves me craving something refreshing.    

I stocked up on more meyer lemons from my brother's tree and was anxious to use them right away.   Normally I'd make lemon bars but today I wanted to do something a little bit different.  Instead of bars I made cute tartlets and topped them with a fresh raspberry.  They're the perfect bite-sized treat to beat the heat.