In all the website shifting around, I didn’t want to lose K’s apron. This pattern reminds me so much of Ana Pascal in the movie Stranger than Fiction. That’s why I had to make this for K. – she reminds me so much Ana Pascal too.
This apron has a lined bodice, but the skirt isn’t lined so it doesn’t get too heavy. I love the super long ties.
So here we are another month has past and that means it’s Daring Bakers time.
The June Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosiaand Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800′s in England.
I made mine with lemon curd and strawberry jam. It’s a rather straight forward dessert, but I will add one bit of cautionary advice. Do not over fill it. If your tart looks like this when it goes into the oven…
You should be prepared for an eruption of frangipan. I have never felt so grateful for deciding to bake a tart on a cookie sheet.
Luckily, because it was in a tart pan, I could trim up the edge and slip off the ring and it was back to beautiful.
For the challenge, we were to make the sweet shortcrust pastry and frangipane, plus the homemade curd or jam of our choice.
The pasty and frangipane recipes along with the assembly instructions can be found at the Daring Kitchen. My lemon curd recipe can be found here. The strawberry jam is suger filled and was the perfect sweet compliment to the over the top tartness of the lemon curd. This tart was excellent when still warm from the oven. The next morning, the almond flavor was much more strong, but it still made for a great breakfast.
strawberry jam
In a flat bottomed saucepan, place 1 quart of hulled strawberries that have been cut in half.
Add one cup of sugar. Set over low heat, stirring gently and bring to a boil.
Boil for 3 minutes. Stirring occasionally.
Add one cup sugar.
Cook as before.
Add one cup sugar.
If too thin at this point, continue to cook for 5 more minutes. Spoon into jars. Makes 2 pints.
Thanks to Jasmine and Annemarie for hosting this month’s challenge. I liked this recipe and look forward to trying some different flavor combinations. I’m also looking forward to next month’s challenge.
So while I was away, using some not to be named fancy website software, I was discouraged to find it didn’t stand up to it’s promises. While it was easy to transfer my new domain name and they did have a drag and drop menu for blogging, each drag and drop took about a minute to land (hopefully in the right place or heaven help you if you needed to move it again) AND there was no spell check. How is that possible?
I have reconfigured my wordpress site and was even able to transfer my domain once again. It’s almost like I know what I’m doing.
If some of the older posts look a little funny, it’s because they were formatted in the old theme. Maybe some day I will go through and fix them. Right now, these need to be made into bags…
and these need to be made into aprons…
These things are going to be the death of me. They are not simply truffles, they are rich, smooth, dark, creamy bites of heaven. I have little interest in nibbling on a bar of plain chocolate. For me, chocolate is a carrier, a means of providing some contrast to peanut butter or marshmallow, or even lemon, not something to just sit and enjoy on it’s own, but these I could pop by the handful, one after the other, loving each silken bite.
I started with the perfect truffles recipe from Martha. Then I tweaked it just a bit to create something even more perfect.
I have been trying to find just the right thing to knit for my mom. When she mentioned the cute scarf in Living I was thrilled, but then had to find just the right yarn. I stumbled upon this merino wool fingerling weight from Hand Jive in the color “spring grass” in a sale basket at my favorite yarn shop. It is a mom shade for sure.
These are delicious and even a bit healthy with the oatmeal, right???
chocolate chip oaties
makes 2 dozen
1 stick softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 1/4 cup rolled oats
1 cup AP flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup chocolate chips (roughly chopped to make sure some chocolate melts right into the dough)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla. Beat in egg until just combined. Finish with wooden spoon, fold in oats. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and fold into mixture. When almost incorporated, add chocolate. Scoop into one inch balls and flatten slightly on prepared trays. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes and cool on rack.
(you could also add 1/2 cup toasted and chopped hazelnuts or pecans)
