Lemon Mascarpone Brulee with Cherry Compote

What does $700 mean to you? It could be rent, it could be a stinking nice car payment, or maybe it's what you spend on dining a month.  Now....if your landlord called out of the blue and said "hey, I haven't raised the rent in three years, I was thinking of raising it $700 a month." that $700 would mean choking, crying, and sudden onset depression. A 30% rent hike? Wow.

My landlord did this. Yesterday.

I love my house. You've seen the pictures when I've thrown parties. I am more than happy that he hasn't raised the rent on us in the three years and considered that a fair trade for the sake that he never fixes anything either.....this rent hike however puts me into some deep future plans re-evaluation.

My current life plan was that my life would stay exactly as it is for another two years. Then, with my "buoyed" savings account, I would relocate to the southern city of my choosing, live on my savings for a few months while I looked for work and blogged and baked my heart out......

Now my plan is to just figure out what on earth to do if we can't talk the landlord into a reasonable rent hike. Stay in DC? Try to find housing that isn't more than half my pay? Leave DC MUCH sooner than I planned? Start a new career in a new city? Which city? Should I move into my mother's cabin in the mountains for a few months and allow myself to fully indulge in this unforseen breakdown? Yes, that is how much I love my house. I can't imagine living in DC without it.

I used to live in a HOLE of an apartment in Foggy Bottom that I paid way too much money for, was near nothing, and thus made me spend as much time out of it as possible. That's my option. If you have to find housing in 30 or 90 days in DC it ain't going to be pretty or you're going to pay out your ears. I hear rumors of cheap places around $1000 a month with parking four blocks from work. I also hear five year old girls say unicorns exist.

So, I'm in the market for life plans, and in lieu of them I'm baking comfort food. This is a two to three day dessert. Day one make some mascarpone, day two make the filling and the shells, day three combine everything else.  In some ways, this is great. Less work per day, quick and easy. On the other hand, it takes forethought, but it's worth it...good things take time, find good places to live takes significantly more. Oh, life, you tricky devil.

Enjoy!

Lemon Mascarpone Brulee with Cherry Compote

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 tspn lemon juice

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 stick unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
3 whole large eggs
3 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
3/4 cup of your freshly made mascarpone
6 tablespoons heavy cream

1 1/2 cups fresh or thawed frozen cherries
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup superfine granulated sugar

To make Mascarpone:
Heat cream in saucepan until small bubble form at edge (do not boil!), add lemon juice and leave on the heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature. If the cream hasn't thickened return to heat and add more lemon juice.

Place a sieve over a bowl, line the sieve with cheesecloth. Pour the mix into the sieve. Place in fridge and allow to drain overnight.

To make Tart Shells: 

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in flour, kosher salt, cream and vanilla, until mixture is moist and crumbly.

Press dough into four 4-inch tart pans (or one 9 or 10 inch tart pan) and press it up the sides, making sure the layer on the bottom is even.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until crust is set and firm at the edges. Cool, and store in an airtight container until use. 

Make filling:
In a heavy saucepan combine butter, 3/4 cup sugar, and lemon juice over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally until butter is melted. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring, and remove pan from heat. In a bowl whisk together whole eggs, yolks, and remaining 3/4 cup sugar until thick and pale. Add hot butter mixture in a stream, whisking constantly, and transfer to pan. Cook mixture over moderate heat, stirring constantly, until thick and just beginning to boil. Pour mixture through a fine sieve into a heatproof bowl and stir in zest. Cool lemon mixture completely, its surface covered with buttered wax paper, and chill at least 8 hours and up to 1 day.

In another bowl with an electric mixer beat together mascarpone and cream until thick and smooth. Fold in 1 1/2 cups lemon mixture, reserving remainder for another use, until combined well.

Divide filling among shells, smoothing tops. Chill tarts, loosely covered, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Make sauce:
Throw all sauce ingredients into a sauce pan. Cook until desired constancy is reached.

Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon superfine sugar evenly over each tart and caramelize with a blowtorch, moving flame evenly back and forth over sugar until melted and caramelized, about 30 seconds.

Serve tarts with cherry sauce.

Swiss Onion Sage Tart

Every once in a while you have a genius idea. Mine this weekend was brown butter pie crust. Now, the idea is genius. imagine a warm, buttery, nutty rich flavored pie crust that's so deeply savory you just can't imagine anything else. Well....

A picture is worth a thousand words right? That picture screams mmm yummy bbq, and ugh, worst execution ever in the same breath. The crust is flaky to the point of being crumbly, which for a bbq pie like the one you see above would be awesome....if you can get it out of the pan in one piece. Even if you can't, the broken pies still taste absolutely delicious. Next time I'll be using my mini cheesecake pans and popping my cup pies out from underneath. Problem solved!  

Brown butter pie crust works well in some ways, and worked horribly in others. For instance, it did not make good pop tarts, unlike the buttermilk crust for my Cider Five Spice Pop Tarts. It made wonderful tart crusts for my savory onion, sage, and swiss cheese tart pictured above, but not a decent empty tart shell. All I can say is this version of browned butter pie crust deffinately meant for specific uses. 

The idea for this tart came from Butchie's brunch choice at a little bistro in Bethesda, Maryland. The problem is, I made only one tart.....so my filling recipe is for one, and my dough recipe is for at least six. Thanks to the wonders of mathematics this shouldn't be much of a problem, but if you do end up with more or less filling than dough I'll beg your pardon now. 

Swiss Onion Sage Tart

3 white onions

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup milk

3 large egg yolks

6 tablespoons of swiss or gruyere cheese, separated

1 recipe brown butter pie crust

Preheat oven to 350.

Saute onions and sugar in olive oil. Until clear and transparent. Add salt and balsamic vinegar and continue to cook until onions have turned a golden brown. Allow to cool slightly.

Roll pie crust out and fit to six small tart pans.

Stir sage, black pepper, egg yolks and milk into the onion mixture. Divide the mixture between the six tart pans. Top each tart with a tablespoon of shredded cheese.

Bake the tarts in the upper third of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before unmolding and serving.

Brown Butter Pie Crust

1 cup chilled unsalted butter, diced

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice water

In a medium saucepan simmer and cook the butter until it turns brown and takes on a nutty scent.  Pour into suitable container and allow to solidify in the fridge for at least four hours.

Combine flour, sugar and salt in large bowl. Add butter. Cut in using hands or pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water and stir with fork until moist clumps form.

Press together to form dough. Divide dough in half. Gather dough into balls; flatten into disks. Wrap separately and chill 1 hour.

Meyer Lemon Tartlets

These Meyer Lemon Tartlets are one of Butchie's favorite recipes. Adapted from Baking Bites, these tartlets are irresistibly luscious.

I have succeeded in luring Butchie back again. Secret weapon? Lemons. Butchie has a few key favorites that will keep her loyal to spending time with me: cherries (last week's cherry "ripe-off" bars), lemon or lime, and bacon. I've been deploying these skillfully, but for next week's big holiday, I think it's a losing battle. Even bacon cannot trump Valentine's Day with her man. [Sorry, dear. --B.] Do you think if I create a recipe for cherry-bacon pie with lemon meringue topping she will spend the evening with me? [No. Also, that sounds gross. --B.]

I've been trying to come up with my equivalent favorites, the three things I cannot say no to. I. Have. No. Clue. I go through phases where I love combinations, but three flavors alone? Hmmm. I think I have commitment issues. I can tell you what I DISLIKE: capers, rhubarb, and usually, lemon.

But Butchie campaigned for these tartlets. She brought me a pre-made tiny tartlet for me try and see if I liked it. Amazingly, I do. [The thing with meyer lemons is that they're much less bitter than regular lemons. They're cross-bred with mandarin oranges, so you get all the citrus in a much milder form. Since it's the bitterness that has turned J. off lemon & lime, I had my fingers crossed for this one. Success! --B.]

Plus, curd is so easy to make that you could vary this tart's color and flavor by subbing in blood orange juice, pomegranate, maybe even dark elderflower! I definitely need to try that last one...

Point is, Butchie loves these little tartlets, and now I will admit that I do too. We hope you love them just as much!

Sugar Cookie Tartlet Crust

Adapted from Baking Bites

1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Beat in flour, kosher salt, cream and vanilla, until mixture is moist and crumbly.

Press dough into four 4-inch tart pans (or one 9 or 10 inch tart pan) and press it up the sides, making sure the layer on the bottom is even.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until crust is set and firm at the edges. Cool, then fill with desired filling and bake as that recipe directs.

Meyer Lemon Curd Tart Filling

Adapted from Baking Bites

1 cup sugar
2/3 cup Meyer lemon juice, freshly squeezed and strained
1 tablespoon lemon zest
3 large eggs
2 egg yolks
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into half inch pieces

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and lemon juice and bring to a boil. Stir occasionally.

In a large bowl, whisk together zest, eggs and egg yolks. When sugar mixture comes to a boil, pour very small amounts down the side of the bowl into the egg mixture while whisking continuously to temper the mixture. Continue to add only a few tablespoons at a time until all has been incorporated.

Transfer egg mixture back to sauce pan and return to stove. Cook on medium heat until thickened, about 8 minutes, whisking frequently.

Remove custard from stove and whisk in butter, adding in one piece at a time.

When all butter has been added, cool curd for 15 minutes before pouring into prepared tart crusts.

Refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours before serving.

For powdered sugar stripes:

Immediately before serving cut strips of paper out, and gently lay over top of tart, touching curd as minimally as possible. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Carefully remove strips of paper, tilting so that excess sugar slides onto the sugar stripes, keeping clean lines. If curd sticks to paper forming small peeks, wet the tips of your finger and gently press back down.

Apple Cider Curd Crostata

Apple Cider is reduced down to make a lovely curd is baked into a tart for a unique, flavorful, and perfect for a holiday treat. 

Sadly the vacation is over. Time to go home after 8 glorious days in the UK. Such lovely days of freedom...I am not in the least bit excited to go back to work tomorrow morning....mostly because it means waking up, and that is not an exciting prospect. In just a little while Brandon and I will be heading to the airport to fly back state side. As if we weren't sick of each other after 8 days solid....now we get to sit next to each other for 8 hours solid. Lovely. I ran out of things to talk about five days ago! This should be interesting. 

Here is another one of my daring bakers tarts I made! I'm madly in love with apple cider curd. It's rather lovely and has such a beautiful texture. Mmmm. I miss it. I think I'll make some more when I get home....after a nap. 

Cheers!

Pasta Frolla

scant 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 and 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

a pinch of salt

½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 T. vanilla sugar

1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

Put sugar, flour, salt, and lemon zest in a stand mixer and stir a few times to mix. Add butter and beat using a wisk attachment until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.

Switch to using the dough hook attachment and continue to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients. Continue lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.

Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours or overnight.

While the dough is chilling make the apple cider curd.

Apple Cider Curd Recipe:

3 large eggs

2 cups cup apple cider

3/4 cup light brown sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a sauce pan, boil apple cider until it has reduced to a half cup of liquid.

In a stand mixer beat together eggs and brown sugar. While continuing to mix, very slowly pour the reduced apple cider down the side of the bowl.

Return the mixture to the sauce pan. Cook stirring constantly until the mixture becomes thick. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove lumps.

Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Cover immediately and refrigerate.

To Assemble and Bake:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Roll out a batch of the pasta frolla, reserving one fourth of the dough to make the lattice topping and cover the base of the tart pan.

Spread the prepared apple cider curd to fill the crostata

Roll out the reserved dough and cut into long strips creating a design, or cut using cookie cutters into shapes.

Bake for 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Enjoy!  

Apple Rosette Crostata

A tart shell filled with apple cider curd and topped with lovely slices of apples glazed with apple jelly. A beautiful treat that is surprisingly easy to assemble. 

The 2010 November Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi’s Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well, and what a lovely challenge it was! 


I have been wanting to make a "flower tart" for about six months now. That just shows you how long my baking wants list is. Ice Cream year has gotten me a bit behind on making anything that is not ice cream. I promise next year is going to go much much better. 


I actually had to make these last Saturday, as today I am enjoying one of my last days in London. We just got back from Edinburgh this morning, and are heading over to Borough Market, a little foodie heaven. I've never been so excited for market day! I hear Jamie Oliver shoots there! It would be just a little too perfect to get to see him after the lovely culinary trip I've had....but more on that later when I'm home and have all the time in the world to tell you about my trip. 


Until then enjoy this lovely tart. If you have a mandolin this apple adornment won't take you any more than five minutes. It's absolutely easy and looks so beautiful it's hard to believe it was so easy! 


Enjoy! 

Pasta Frolla

scant 3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 and 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

a pinch of salt

½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 T. vanilla sugar

1 large egg and 1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten in a small bowl

Put sugar, flour, salt, and lemon zest in a stand mixer and stir a few times to mix. Add butter and beat using a wisk attachment until the mixture has the consistency of coarse meal.

Switch to using the dough hook attachment and continue to incorporate the liquid into the solid ingredients. Continue lightly just until the dough comes together into a ball.

Shape the dough into a flat disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator and chill for at least two hours or overnight.

While the dough is chilling make the apple cider curd.

Apple Cider Curd Recipe:

3 large eggs

2 cups cup apple cider

3/4 cup light brown sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a sauce pan, boil apple cider until it has reduced to a half cup of liquid.

In a stand mixer beat together eggs and brown sugar. While continuing to mix, very slowly pour the reduced apple cider down the side of the bowl.

Return the mixture to the sauce pan. Cook stirring constantly until the mixture becomes thick. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove lumps.

Cut the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted. Cover immediately and refrigerate. Allow to chill in the refrigerator until the crust is baked.

To Bake the Crostata Crust:

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

Roll out a batch of the pasta frolla and cover the base of the tart pan.

Cut a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil large enough to cover the bottom of the crust and extend out a bit over the edges of the pan. Fill with pie weights or dry beans

Place the crostata shell in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

Remove the weights and parchment paper and continue baking the crostata shell until the border is light golden, about 5 minutes (watch carefully to avoid over-baking, which results in a hard shell). In the absence of weight, the crust may rise in the middle: if that occurs, gently push it back down with the back of a spoon.

Remove from the oven and let the crostata shell cool completely before proceeding.

Spread the prepared apple cider curd over the cooled shell.

To make the apple rosette topping:

1 apple

Lemon juice

¼ cup apple jelly

Using a mandolin slicer (or a knife) cut apples crosswise into the thinnest slices possible. Sprinkle with lemon juice to keep from browning. Cut slices in half and arrange, staggered and in circles, working your way inward until the entire crostata is covered.

Melt the apple jelly on the stove or in the microwave. Using a pastry brush, gently glaze the apples.

Refrigerate until ready to eat!

Enjoy!