Treat yourself to this beautiful chocolate-almond-pear tart. You deserve it.
Who needs one last blowout, showstopping dessert for the year?
We all do.
I mean, it has been that kind of year, right?
But deep, dark chocolate combined with fresh, juicy, sweet pears will set just about anything right.
“Chocolate-Almond Pear Tart” is from Pastry Chef Kristen Hall of Bandit Patisserie in Birmingham, AL. The recipe was published in the Sept. 14, 2021 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.
Red Anjou pears are fanned over the top of this tart
With pear slices fanned out just so over the top, a rim of sliced almonds, and a light dusting of powdered sugar, it’s a beaut, isn’t it?
Freeze-dried raspberries get pulverized and mixed intothe flour for this dazzling takeon chocolate chunk cookies.
Recipe developer Jesse Szewczyk says these “Raspberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies” taste almost like a pint of Graeter’s black raspberry ice cream.
Me? Having not had the pleasure of trying that famed frozen treat, myself, I’ll just say these babies remind me of a splendid dark chocolate truffle with a jammy raspberry center.
Either way, these cookies definitely satisfy with plenty of bittersweet chocolate chunks playing off the sweet-tart surprise of dried raspberries completely pulverized into the batter.
The recipe is from “Cookies The New Classics” (Clarkson Potter), of which I received a review copy, by Szewczyk, a food writer and food stylist, who is also the cookie columnist at The Kitchn.
Freeze-dried raspberries give these cookies a fabulous sweet-tart berry taste.
He spotlights 100 recipes that take you beyond the same ‘ol, same ‘ol chocolate chip or oatmeal cookies with chapters divided into flavor attributes such as “Boozy,” “Smoky,” “Savory” and “Tart.”
Move over cranberry sauce. Make way for cranberry Linzer tart.
Anyone who knows me well knows that pumpkin pie just isn’t my jam on Thanksgiving Day.
But “Cranberry Linzer Tart,” which actually has a jam-like filling most certainly is.
Over the years, I’ve become partial to cranberry desserts for the big holiday. With their vivid color, the berries add an especially festive look. And after a groaning meal, their wonderful tartness refreshes and resets the palate like nothing else.
This recipe is from the archives of Bon Appetit magazine. It was created by food writer Claire Saffitz, author of the cookbook, “Dessert Person” (Clarkson Potter, 2020), and a former contributing editor at the magazine.
A toasty, nutty crumbly double-crust full of warm spices nestles a jammy filling.
As far as pies and tarts go, this one is fairly easy to do. Best yet, you can make not only the dough and filling ahead of time — always a plus when time is short during the holidays — but the entire tart can be baked the day before, then served at room temperature or reheated in the oven for serving.
Asian pear apples grown at Gold Ridge Farms. (Photo by Carolyn Jung)
Farmer Brooke Hazen knows every tree planted on his 88 acres in the rolling hills of Sebastopol. Not in the “Hi! How are you?” kind of way, he jokes. But in the truest sense of nurtured familiarity, having planted each and every one of them with the help of only one assistant.
He started his Gold Ridge Organic Farms in 2001 to create an edible wonderland. He’s more than succeeded, growing 13,000 olive trees of Spanish, Italian and French cultivars; 12,000 apple trees of 75 different varieties, including rare heirlooms; and a smattering of citrus, including Blood Oranges and Mandarin-Kumquats. All are grown organically, too.
You may very well know his apples already from his branded bags of Heirloom Apple Blend that are sold at Northern California Whole Foods. These treasure bags can contain such unusual antique varieties as Pitmaster Pineapple that actually tastes like pineapple, and Strawberry Parfait that — yes — tastes like strawberry. Indeed, Gold Ridge is one of the largest heirloom apple growers in California.
Farmer Brooke Hazen. (Photo by Dawn Heumann)
This month, you can get the opportunity to visit this wonderful farm for the first time.
Fall means sweater-weather, new TV programs to binge, leaves turning a kaleidoscope of colors, and all things absolutely apple.
Indeed, few things beat biting into a fresh, sweet-tart, crunchy-as-can-be apple.
But apple cake just might.
So when samples of just-picked Honeybear Honeycrisp arrived on my porch, I eagerly set some aside to bake into fragrant, moist “Apple Cake with Rosemary.”
I am all about crackling-crisp apples. The ones that give when pressed gently with a thumb? They have no place in my life — or kitchen. With Honeybear Honeycrisp, there’s never a worry with that. Whether eaten out of hand or baked into a sweet treat, these apples live up to their name. They are delightfully crisp through and through, hold their shape well when cooked, and have a subtle honey note.
Now’s the time to enjoy Honeybear Honeycrisp apples.
Grown in Northern Washington alongside the Columbia River, and in the Midwest along the Mississippi River, these large, dappled apples are at peak season now through December. Load up on them at Safeway and Albertsons stores.
