TWD #79: Practically Perfect Party Cake in every way

In my head I can hear Mary Poppins singing her “practically perfect in every way” song. That’s how I feel about this cake.

Even though I’ve made this cake before with the Daring Bakers more than a year ago (Wowsers, where does the time go?), I didn’t think twice about making it again. I love the lemon cake, berry preserve filling and swiss meringue buttercream frosting. (You are totally drooling right?) I was thinking this time around I’d change it up by making cupcakes but while searching for my cupcake pan… I found my Wilton Giant Cupcake pan and knew this would be the perfect recipe to christen my pan.

Thanks to Carol of Mix Mix Stir Stir for hosting this week. You can find the complete recipe on her blog or my cupcake blog. Also check out the TWD Baker Blogroll to see how everyone else did on their Perfect Party Cake. You are bound to be amazed!

BTW Tuesdays with Dorie has BIG news! We have a new logo:

Congratulations to Lisa of Surviving Oz for designing the winning logo! She gets to pick next week’s recipe as her prize. I think it’s quite clever with the eiffel tower as an “i” in Dorie, don’t you? But I have to admit I am kinda partial to the old logo so I’ll probably switch off between the two depending on my mood.

What I learned this week:
What’s better than a cupcake? A GIANT CUPCAKE!

Perfect Party [Cup]Cake
Recipe adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan

There’s nothing like rubbing sugar and lemon zest between your fingertips. I love the way it makes my hands smell. Am I weird?

To make cake: Combine with butter, flour mixture and milk+egg white mixture.

The perfect party cake batter filled the cupcake pan pretty well. It didn’t rise as much as other batters which actually worked out better IMO. Since I read various reviews that the “bottom” baked slower than the “top”, I filled the bottom part about 2/3 full and baked for 15 minutes, then filled the top about 2/3 full and bake both batters for another 30 minutes.

To make buttercream: Combine egg whites and sugar over a pan of simmering water until sugar is dissolved.

Whip with a whisk attachment until looks like a shiny marshmallow creme. Add softened butter a little at a time. Dorie says to switch to flat beater before adding butter but I just used my whisk and it worked great.

Don’t be scurred if your frosting starts to look curdled. IT’S A GOOD THING! Just keep beating and beating and beating until your frosting comes together smooth and silky. It’s like magic!

To assemble cake: Use serrated knife and cut off tops of “bottom” and “top” of cupcake so they are level. Cut the “bottom” into 4 pieces.

Using a Wilton 12A round tip, pipe a barrier and fill with strawberry preserves. Then top with a layer of buttercream. Repeat for other 3 layers.

Using an offset spatula create a crumb coat.

Let crumb coat set and then apply a second layer. Immediately after the second layer I pressed coconut all over. Then gently put the “top” on the “bottom”. I used Ateco fuschia gel coloring to tint the rest of the buttercream pink. Using an offset spatula I applied a thin coat of buttercream to the “top”.

Then I switched to a Wilton 1M piping tip and made rosettes following the natural curve of the “top”. For a little bling I added white dragees randomly all over and topped with a strawberry.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
He’s a red velvet man but I’d say that the Perfect Party Cake is a close second. He loves the meringue buttercream (but not as much as cream cheese frosting).

Wifey rating: A+
It’s not “perfect” for nothing. Love this cake. So moist and yummy esp with the preserves. I’m a big SMBC lover too!

Other rating: A+
I made this cake for a bbq. Friends raved about the cupcake cuteness factor and loved the flavors of the cake. Definitely a hit. I wish I could have gotten a picture of my godson’s face when he saw the “Giant Cupcake”. Priceless.

Next week: Tribute to Katherine Hepburn Brownies, pages 96-97

Bunday Monday

I know I’ve already posted this picture of OpieBun but I’ve been thinking about her a lot lately and this is my favorite picture of her. I guess I deal with death differently than most people. It’s not like I tried to forget her, I just kept myself busy so I wouldn’t think about her but lately I’ve been missing her and trying to remember all our good times together. There were so many.

Miss you OpieBun.

(Sorry readers. I tend to ramble when I don’t know how to express myself.)

A-Ten-Hut! Recruiting some Baking Gals! You interested?

Helloooo out there? *echo echo*

I know. I know. Lately I’ve been quite the slacker on my little food blog. It seems like my blog’s been a placeholder for Tuesday with Dorie recipes and inconsistent Bunday Monday posts. Blame new my job, lack of time, Hubs losing his socks/belt/hat/wallet and asking me to drop everything to help him find “it”, summer writer’s block, whatever… but I’m back to talk to you (my readers) about something important.

So listen up!

<— Remember this logo? Let me refresh your memory.

The idea for Operation Baking GALS (Give A Little Support) has grown since my first participation almost a year ago (Wow! Time flies!) when Steph of Steph Chows was team leader for her cousin Eric. I was so inspired by what Steph’s team did that I also sent my husband’s friend (also serving in Iraq at the time) a care package too. He emailed later to tell me “… there’s nothing like getting a little piece of home to remind you why you’re here.” I’ll never forget his words. I regret to say it’s been a while since I participated though but I’m backkkkkkk…

Operation Baking Gals is up to Round 10 now and since my fabulous friend April of Wine Lover’s Cooking Diary is team leader this time around, I knew I wanted to support her and her brother, who is currently serving in Iraq with the Indiana National Guard.

(Her brother is 3rd from the left… and he’s single ladies! *cat calls*)

If you would like to join April’s team (and for more info), please email her:

mrsabybabyATgmailDOTcom

(If you email her, tell her Clara sent ya. I get friend brownie points!)

Deadline: June 28th July 11th

Baked goods need to be sent out between July 1-11th

I’m sure she’d love to have you! (Me too!)

PS. Any suggestions for favorite cookie recipes? Right now I’m thinking Dorie Greenspan’s World Peace Cookies. Mmmm…

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TWD #69: Honey, I made Peach Ice Cream!

On Sunday, my little brother came over and watched the Lakers vs Magic’s last game with me and the Hubs. He specifically requested that I cook dinner instead of ordering pizza (I think he’s anticipating eating alot of pizza in his upcoming college dorm days) and I decided that honey-peach ice cream would be a yummy refreshing dessert to make with our meal. There’s nothing like yelling at the TV with ice cream dribbling down your chin. Ah good times. See LA? You don’t have to riot and set cars on fire to celebrate! Come on now. Cuckoo. Cuckoo.

Special thanks to this week’s hostess, Tommi of Brown Interior for choosing this recipe. (You can find the full recipe on her blog.) I can honestly say that it’s in my Top 5 and I am not sure I would have made it without her choosing it for all us, Tuesdays With Dorie bakers. Now I am not one to do things the easy way so I made sugar cookie ice cream sandwiches per Dorie’s playing around suggestions. You can find the sugar cookie recipe here. Can you say sugar cookie ice cream sandwich crack? I promise you’ll get addicted after one bite.

What I learned this week:
I wasn’t sure I’d be a big fan of a fruit based ice cream. I usually go for the vanilla, chocolate, caramel ice cream combos but all I can say is… don’t knock the fruit until you try it!

Honey-Peach Ice Cream [Sandwiches]
Recipe from Baking: From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan

My bandaged finger tips weren’t happy after peeling and pitting peaches. (Say that 10x fast!) Next time I will take the advice of Nancy and do the “blanch in boiling water+shock in ice water” method instead.

I am not a chunky ice cream fan so I pureed all the peaches and honey instead of saving half peaches to add later.

I mixed in my KAM ice cream attachment for about 20 minutes. It’s still soft serve consistency after you take out of KAM but after freezing for 4+ hours, it became firmer.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
He’s a chocolate and peanut butter ice cream eater but he had multiple bowls of this ice cream and mentioned that chocolate-peanut butter has some competition now. Huzzah!

Wifey rating: A+
My husband loves ice cream. Me? I’m a cake girl. I’ll choose Funfetti over Coldstone any day. With one exception. Dorie Greenspan’s Honey Peach Ice Cream. It’s THAT good. I wanted to add some peach schnapps but Hubs vetoed that idea. He’s not a lush like me but next time I’m gonna add 1-2 tsp and not tell him. I know. I’m evil.

Other rating: A+
I think my little brother had reservations about the peach-honey combination but after one bite of the ice cream sandwich, he was smitten and raved. Seconds and thirds immediately followed. *fist pump*

Next week: Coconut-Roasted Pineapple Dacquoise pages 293-295

Bunday Monday

Who needs the Snuggie when you can snuggle up against your favorite bunny friend?

(You can really see the size difference between Cinnabun and OpieBun in this picture, no?)

Happy Monday readers. (Is that an oxymoron?)

TWD #68: As French as Apple Tartlet

Doesn’t quite have the same ring to it like… “As American As Apple Pie” huh?

Well I tried. These days witty subject lines aren’t coming as quickly. I think my brain has officially decided that summer is here. Are there any readers out there experiencing the dreaded “blogger’s block” like me? I swear it’s taking me hours, days, weeks to finish one blog post. I feel like I can’t find the right words to get me started or I start and then get sidetracked.

Ooohh a rainbow.

{Five hours later.}

See what I mean?

Funny thing is, maybe the problem isn’t all blogger’s block. I’ve also got a case of the “I-don’t-wanna-bake” right now too. Thankfully I follow some awesome Tuesdays With Dorie bakers via Twitter and their tweets motivate me to get my bum into the kitchen and bake! Isn’t that why I joined this group? To challenge myself and bake things that I wouldn’t have chosen myself? HELL.YEAH.IT.IS! Speaking of twitter. There’s something truly awesome about a fellow baker chastising you in <140 characters. Case in point. Bridget of The Way The Cookie Crumbles broke it down for me.

Dang! She told me huh? (Nothing but love for you Bridget!)

Thanks to our hostess this week, Jessica of My Baking Heart. (You can find the complete recipe on her blog.) I almost didn’t make this one but I am SO glad I did. Seriously. Awesome pick. Minimal prep time but maximum deliciousness. What more could you ask for? Maybe with ice cream. Mmmm…

What I learned this week:
I love brown sugar. More than white sugar… and yes. My husband knows. HA!

Parisian Apple Tartlet
Recipe from Baking: From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan

I used Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry and mini granny apples instead of Fuji like Dorie’s recipe suggested.

I may or may not have used more than 1-2 tsp of brown sugar. But you’ll never get me to confess! I baked my tartlets for about 30 minutes.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
He loves anything reminiscent of apple pie but I think he got won over by the puff pastry and raved the whole time. Definitely on his top 5 list.

Wifey rating: A+
I served mine drizzled with caramel ice cream topping and vanilla bean ice cream. HOLY YUM BATMAN! I will definitely be keeping this recipe as a quick elegant dessert for next dinner party. Maybe I should send the idea to the Red Team from Food Network Star. Did anyone else watch that hideous angel food cake jam contraption that they served the to judges+esteemed FN guests? For shame.

Next week: Honey-Peach Ice Cream page 437

Bunday Monday {raincheck}

Sorry Bunday Monday fans.

I don’t have a picture for you today but it’s for a REALLY good reason. I just bought myself an iMac (w00t!) and my laptop (along with ALL my bunny pictures) are being held hostage at the Apple store while they transfer all my files to the new iMac.

BTW if you are in the market for a Mac product, now’s a good time to buy! If you are a current/incoming college student or a faculty/staff member at any grade level and you buy a new Mac, you can get a free iPod touch. That’s exactly what I did! I get the iMac *swoon* and T gets the iPod. It’s win-win!

But hopefully Bunday will be back on Wednesday or Thursday.

To be continued…

TWD #66: Cooknie or Brownkie?

Um. I cheated.

I’ll just get that off my chest right now.

Ok here goes. *deep breath*

I only made the brownie part of the recipe and used frozen cookie dough from my freezer for the “chipster” part.

I know. I know. I’m a bad person. {hangs head in shame}

Does it help if I pinky-swear-promise that the next time I bake these (b/c there WILL be a next time) I’ll bake the cookie part too?

The thing is. I couldn’t bail on this week b/c my good friend, Beth of Supplicious is this week’s Tuesdays With Dorie hostess with the mostess. You can find the complete recipe on her blog. I’ve met her in real life and she’s just as sweet as she comes across from her blog. Me and Beth go way back. What’s it been, Beth? Like 2-3 years now? Remember when we were clueless brides. And now we’re equally clueless wives? HA! Wow. Time flies when you’re having fun…

What I learned this week:
I want need another KA mixer bowl. If I had another bowl I couldn’t use dirty dishes as an excuse to take shortcuts on multiple recipe desserts. (That’s almost believeable, eh? Do you think that would work on my husband?)

Chipster Topped Brownie [Cups]
Recipe adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan

I used bittersweet and semisweet chocolate instead.

I halved the brownie recipe, weighed each frozen cookie dough about 0.5oz and got about 12 chipster cups. Baked for about 20 minutes.

When they first came out of the oven they looked so cute, like a cookie topped brownie, but as they cooled they kinda sunk. Boo!

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
Nothing but raves for every bite! But he did suggest the next time I make them to substitute peanut butter chips for the chocolate chips in the cookie part.

Wifey rating: A+
Cookie good. Brownie great. Chipster AH-MAZING! I’m thinking butterscotch chips next time. Yum!

Next week: Cinnamon Squares pages 210-211

Taste&Create: A Frugal Foodie’s Smoothie

Talk about waiting until the last minute. But better last minute than late, right?

I’m just not one of them early types. Early bird gets the worm never applies to me. I’m wormless. No matter how hard I try I am always fashionably late. Hmm… what’s considered fashionably late before you’re rudely late? These are things I ponder when I am running late. Because if I know where the line is I can at least to tip toe around it.

Obviously from the logo, I am talking about my second participation in Taste&Create event. My partner for this round is Alisa from One Frugal Foodie. I have to admit when I first browsed her blog I wasn’t sure how this would work. Let’s just say. I’m cupcakes and she’s health and fitness foodie living. Can you say opposites? But the first thing that popped out at my from her blog was a smoothie. A strawberry smoothie.

Now I’m a Californian. We’re all about Jamba Juice and Smoothies here.

Thanks for inspiring me this month, Alisa!

Strawberry “Julius” Smoothie
Recipe adapted from One Frugal Foodie

INGREDIENTS

2 Cups Strawberry Halves
1/2 Cup Water
3 Tbsp Honey or Agave Nectar or 1/4 Cup White Sugar (I used honey)
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Pinch Salt (optional)
2 Cups Ice
1-1/2 Tbsp Egg Protein Powder (or about 16-18g of favorite protein powder) (I substituted with half-and-half)

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine the strawberries, water, honey, vanilla, ice, and salt (if using) in your blender and blend it to a nice smoothie consistency. Add more water or ice as you see fit. Add in the protein powder and just give it a few quick pulses to blend it in.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: N/A

Wifey rating: A-
I think if you aren’t a sugar addict like me, you’ll enjoy the refreshing strawberry flavor with a hint of sweetness from the honey but for me I wanted to add more sugar. But that still didn’t stop me from drinking the whole thing.

Bunday Monday

(image source: Cute Overload)
Click image to enlarge

My favorite picture is on the first row, 5th picture from the left. That little white bunny is getting some major hang time! So cute!

What’s your favorite?

Happy Monday readers. ♥

Fiberlicious Pancakes in 3 minutes!

I’ve been sitting at my desk for the past 30 minutes trying to remember if I’ve ever made pancakes before. To be honest. I don’t think so! Usually if I crave pancakes I’ll go to IHOP or MickeyDs. (Hey don’t knock MickeyDs! I’m a sucker for their sausage egg mcmuffins while Hubs is a Mcgriddle man.) I don’t think it ever occurred to me to make my own. I think it’s because I am not a good “flipper”.

Have you see those chefs on Food Network that flip veggies in their sauteed pan? Yeah. Um. I can’t do that. {hangs head in shame} I try but I end up getting the veggies on the floor, stove, hair… Don’t ask me how it gets in my hair. Long story. Vegetable suicide and all that. It’s not a happy ending.

I love breakfast foods. Eggs, bagels, pancakes, waffles, omelets, bacon, sausage… But I don’t crave breakfast at the normal breakfast times from 6-9am. I usually find myself eating breakfast for dinner. Weird I know!

But after staring at a package of Fiber One pancake mix on my kitchen counter for the past several days (weeks?) that Hubs got as a free sample on one of his emergency “OMG I don’t have any more butter can get it for me pretty please honey??” grocery store runs for me, I decided it was time to make pancakes for breakfast at a normal breakfast eating time.

A little info about Fiber One pancakes. Packaging claims that pancakes are (1) 20% daily value of fiber (2) at least 10g whole grain per serving (3) excellent source of calcium (4) 0g trans fat…

BUT I have a feeling all that good healthy stuff gets cancelled out by the massive amounts of syrup that I add to my pancakes huh?

Oops.

{wiping Aunt Jemima syrup dribbling down my chin}

Recipe from Fiber One Pancake Mix

Makes about 4-6 pancakes

INGREDIENTS

Fiber One pancake mix
1 cup water (I used 3/4 cup for thicker pancakes)

INSTRUCTIONS

Spray skillet or griddle with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine pancake mix and water until well blended. Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into greased skillet over medium-high heat. Cook until tops are bubbly and edges are dry. Flip and cook until bottoms are golden brown.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A-/B+
I didn’t tell him that they were Fiber One until after he mentioned that he liked the pancakes but it had a interesting aftertaste.

Wifey rating: A-
I liked them! They are a good alternative to get some fiber but obviously not as delicious as the Paula Deen-esque caloric versions out there.

Black & White Marbled Cheesecake

Alright already! I get it.

I made a mistake. I misquoted. Whatever you wanna call it.

I made this cheesecake (slight caramel variation) back in December for my baking group, Tuesdays with Dorie, and mentioned that my favorite cheesecake was actually from TGIFridays. If you don’t remember, let me jog your memory mkay? But what I didn’t know and what many readers since then have emailed me is that TGIFridays gets their cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. {smacks head}

Thanks TGIFridays. You just made me look like schmuck in front of my readers. Thanks for that. So I’m going on record now to say… my favorite cheesecake is from The Cheesecake Factory b/c TGIFridays is just the middle man.

Happy?

Whew! I’m glad to get that off my chest.

Now I can move on with my life.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve made Dorie Greenspan’s cheesecake. Of all the recipes I’ve made from her book this is the one that gets requested over and over and over again. I am sure I’ll eventually try every variation in her book. I’ve been drooling over the orange version. Baker friends tell me it tastes like a creamsicle. Holy yum batman!

But for this one I decided to go classic chocolate and vanilla. I made this it for Mother’s Day. (Yeah yeah it’s been almost a week so sue me!) And I find it highly amusing that T’s mom requested a cake and T gave me this long convoluted explanation that a cheesecake has “cake” in the name so therefore I should make cheesecake for his mom’s request of “cake”. Basically the man is a sucker for this cheesecake.

I know you will be too.

Recipe from Baking: From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan

Makes about 16 servings (or 8 PHAT slices!)

INGREDIENTS

For the crust
1-3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake
2 pounds (four 8-ounce boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
1-1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1-1/3 cups sour cream or heavy cream, or a combination of the two
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled

INSTRUCTIONS

To make the crust—
Butter a 9-inch springform pan—choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter leftover)—and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil; put the pan on a baking sheet.

Combine the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Add graham cracker crumb mixture into buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.

Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

To make the cheesecake—
Put a kettle of water on to boil.

Working in a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition—you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.

Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in the roaster pan.

Add 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled to 1/3 of the batter in a separate bowl. Pour all of the vanilla batter into the springform pan, dollop the top of the batter with the chocolate batter and use a table knife to swirl the chocolate batter with the vanilla batter.

I think I was suppose to dollop little amounts of chocolate all over but I was a little overzealous pouring it out and created one big blob! Oops! HAHA

Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven’s heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.

After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster and remove the foil. (Be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil.) Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.

When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and chill the cake for at least 4 hours, although overnight would be better.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
He absolutely loves this cheesecake recipe and requests it for any and every occasion. He raved about the mix of chocolate and vanilla batters.

Wifey rating: A/A+
I love this cheesecake recipe. It’s my go-to recipe. I am a cheesecake purist though so I like pure vanilla cheesecake more than the marbled variation.

Other rating: A+
Nothing but raves from family and friends. Everyone loved the chocolate swirls!

TWD #64: Not to be confused with a Pop Tart

I use to love Pop Tarts when I was a little girl.

Looking back at it now I have a feeling it wasn’t the most balanced breakfast. Pastry dough, filled with chemically enhanced fruit jam filling and frosting that didn’t quite go to the edge of the rectangle. Might come with or without sprinkles. (But really who buys it sans sprinkles?)

I remember my mom use to cut off the edges that didn’t have frosting and eat those parts for me since I wouldn’t eat any bite that didn’t have frosting on it. Maybe that’s where my frosting neurosis comes from when I eat cake and cupcakes now, eh?

Isn’t it crazy how word association can bring up random memories? I’m suppose to be talking about a different type of tart but here I am reminiscing about Pop Tarts. Alright. Let’s get back on track.

This week’s Tuesday with Dorie bakers’ assignment was a tart. Not just any tart. The Tartest Lemon Tart chosen by Babette of Babette Feasts. You can find the full recipe on her blog. I decided to half the sweet tart dough recipe and make 4 mini tarts. I am a sucker for mini desserts. Who wouldn’t be?

What I learned this week:
You *can* eat the whole lemon (minus seeds). I know that sounds like a strange proclamation but I honestly didn’t realize my bias until I made this tart.

[Creme Bruleed] Tartest Lemon Tart
Recipe adapted from Baking: From My Home To Yours, Dorie Greenspan

I read the recipe more than once to make sure I wasn’t suppose to juice or zest or peel the lemon. I was skeptical but trusted Dorie so I cut the lemon up and threw everything (minus seeds) in the food processor and crossed my fingers.

Add 1 egg+2 yolks and cornstarch

… heavy cream and melted butter. (Can you feel your arteries clogging?) Pureed until smooth.

See all the bubbles? I scared the beejesus out of my husband when I rapped the pitcher against the counter per Dorie’s instructions to get rid of the bubbles. Over and over again. Ooops. Next time I have to give warning.

I may have filled it a little too much b/c it bubbled over the side a bit. Oh well… I call it rustic. HA! I baked my mini tarts for about 25 minutes.

I decided to use the sweet tart dough minus the nuts b/c I had some dough in my freezer already. High five for lazy baking! I also skipped out on the creme fraiche b/c I didn’t want anything to interfere with lemon flavor. But of course when Dorie mentioned in her “Playing Around” section to add some sugar and brulee, I knew I’d be doing that too!

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A-
He liked it. Not his favorite but he ate his mini tart with no complaints. Ok maybe one. It was a little “too” tart for him.

Wifey rating: A
I love lemon anything. It was tart but I still loved it esp with the burned sugar on top! YUM!

Other rating: A
I brought the mini tarts over to my Mom’s house for Mother’s Day. I think I get my lemon love from her b/c she totally loved the tart too. My little brother also shared his raves as well.

Next week: Fresh Mango Bread page 45

Bunday Monday

{What the heck? Post publish FAIL. Thanks B for letting me know!}

This is Opie’s (RIP) first picture.

I adopted her Nov. 24, 2002 at 4 months old. She weighed about 8 lbs. That doesn’t sound small but she looks so tiny in this picture to me!