Source: Jennifer Bartoli; By Elaine Song

Source: Anita Chu; By Elaine Song

This lovely tart combines several of my favourite things: tart crust, frangipane, and fruit. When I first started baking, one of my goals was to master French tarts. It was this desire that led me to attend pastry school and conquer my fear of tart crust. I made this tart to celebrate my graduation from pastry school. The shortcrust in this recipe is everything I dream of for crust: buttery, tender, and crumbly. It's a perfect container for the frangipane, a heavenly almond-scented pastry cream. Almost any fruit would work on top of this tart, but for the fall season I love the subtle sweetness of pears. Every time I make this tart, I'm reminded of why I got into pastry.

Ingredients

Pate Sablee

• 1-1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 9 tablespoon butter, very cold, cut into small pieces
• 1 egg yolk

Poached Pears

• 3 ripe medium pears (I used Anjou) – you only need 2 pears but I suggest having an extra one just in case you mess up a pear
• 3 cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Frangipane

• 6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup ground blanched almonds
• 2 teaspoons flour
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 large egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons almond extract

Directions

For the pears

1 Combine the water, sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon stick, vanilla, and salt in a saucepan large enough to hold all the pears and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.

2 Meanwhile, cut the pears in half, remove the seed core and fibrous cores at either end, then peel the pears.

3 Add the pear halves to the simmering syrup and reduce heat to low. Cover, and let pears poach for about 10 minutes, turning them halfway. The pears will become slightly translucent, very tender, and easily pierced with a knife or skewer. Let the pears cool in the liquid until room temperature before using. Or, you can store them in their liquid in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

For the tart shell

1 Put the flour, confectioner’s sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.

2 Add the pieces of cold butter and pulse until the butter is cut into pea-sized pieces.

3 Add the egg yolk and combine in several pulses until the dough starts to turn from dry to clumpy. Do not let the dough form one giant ball or it will be be overworked – just keep checking after every pulse and when the dough pieces looks like they will stick when you press them together, stop.

4 Butter a 9-inch tart tin with removable bottom.

5 Turn the dough out into the tin and press into the bottom and up the sides with your fingers. You probably will not need all the dough – save the extra for patching the shell after you bake it. Do not press the dough too hard or it will become tough – just enough for it to form to the tin.

6 Freeze the tart shell for at least 30 minutes. When you are ready to bake it, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. To partially bake the tart shell, take a piece of foil and butter the shiny side, then press the buttered side tightly to the shell. You do not need pie weights.

7 Place the tart shell on a baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes, until the shell is dry and lightly colored. If any places have cracked, repair with the extra dough.

8 Let cool on a rack until room temperature.

For the frangipane

1 Combine the butter and sugar in the food processor and combine until smooth.

2 Add the ground almonds and blend together.

3 Add the flour and cornstarch, and then the egg and egg white.

4 Process the mixture until it is very smooth. Add in the vanilla and almond extracts just to blend.

5 The frangipane can be used immediately or you can store it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. If it becomes too firm in the fridge, let it sit at room temperature for a while to soften before using.

To finish the tart

1 Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2 Spread the frangipane evenly into the cooled tart shell (It should be liquid enough to smooth out on its own so you don’t need to work to much on it).

3 Take the poached pears out of their liquid and drain them on paper towels. You don’t want too much excess liquid or they will make the frangipane soggy.

4 Cut each pear half crosswise into 3/8 in thick slices. Do not separate the pear half yet. Slide a spatula or other flat utensil underneath the pear so you can transfer the entire half onto the tart.

5 Press on the pear to fan the slices toward the top narrow end of the pear. Slide the pear half onto the frangipane carefully – you can move the pear after you place it, but not much.

6 Repeat with three other pear halves until there are four halves on the tart, evenly spaced. Place the tart on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 45-50 minutes, until the frangipane is puffed, golden brown, and firm to the touch.

7 Cool the tart on a wire rack. Before serving, you can brush the pears with some warmed apple jelly to glaze, or dust confectioner’s sugar over the tart.

Makes one 9-inch tart

(Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours.)

Anita Chu, also known as pastrygirl, is the creator of Dessert First, an award-winning blog dedicated to all things sweet. Anita is also the author of sweet cookbooks, Field Guide to Cookies and Field Guide to Candy.

Keep It Sweet Desserts: Cranberry chocolate chunk brown butter cookies

Source: Lauren Lilling, Keep It Sweet Desserts

These cookies are a new holiday favourite of mine. They combine the fresh cranberries, the perfect tart (and pretty!) bite with the comforting familiarity of brown butter and chocolate. They are great for a cookie exchange, holiday parties and as a treat for Santa. I will definitely be making this cookie for the holidays for years to come.

Ingredients

• 4 ounces (1/2 cup / 1 stick) unsalted butter softened
• 1-7/8 ounces (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
• 5 1/2 ounces (2/3 cup) packed light brown sugar
• 1 extra-large egg at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 7 ounces (1-1/2 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 ounces (1 cup) dark chocolate chunks
• 3 ounces (3/4 cup) fresh cranberries, washed and dried

Directions

1 Brown the butter: Heat butter in a small heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, when butter turns to an amber/light brown colour, remove from heat immediately (You should be able to smell the deeper more caramel flavour of the butter)

2 Pour browned butter immediately into a small bowl and set aside to cool.

3 Once butter has cooled, place in the large bowl of an electric mixer with sugars; beat on high speed until well combined.

4 Add egg and vanilla, mix on medium speed until well mixed.

5 In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; slowly add to wet ingredients with mixer on low speed; do not over mix.

6 Slowly stir in chocolate chunks and cranberries.

7 Chill dough for 24 hours for best results (minimum of 2 hours) before baking.

8 When ready to bake, pre-heat oven to 325 degrees; line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside?.

9 Scoop cookie dough with large (4 tablespoons) cookie dough scoop on to prepared baking sheets (note it is normal for cookie dough to be very hard, you can let it rest at room temperature for a few minutes prior to scooping).

10 Bake cookies until firm: 17-19 minutes or until edges are golden brown and cranberries have popped.

11 Allow to cool before serving.

Makes 15 large cookies

Lauren Lilling is the owner and baker behind Keep It Sweet Desserts, an online bakery specializing in delectable cookies and special event catering. It has been noted for its exceptional desserts by The TODAY Show, Fox and Friends, Star Magazine, and more.

Buttered Side Up: Homemade eggnog

Source: Erica Kastner; By Elaine Song

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite holiday treats was eggnog. Mom would pour a tiny amount into little glasses for us to savour. Now I can make it from scratch without all the funky ingredients in most store-bought varieties. My husband says I can make it year-round.

Ingredients

• 12 large eggs
• 1-½ cup pure maple syrup (or granulated dugar)
• ½ teaspoons salt
• 2 quarts (8 cups) whole milk
• 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg + more for garnish
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream + more for garnish

Directions

1 In a heavy 4 quart saucepan, with the heat off, whisk the eggs, maple syrup, and salt until well blended. Gradually stir in half of the milk.

2 Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 25 minutes. (Mixture should be about 170 – 175 degrees F). Do not boil.

3 Pour custard into a large bowl. Stir in vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg and the remaining milk. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, about 3 hours.

4 Just before serving, in a medium bowl, beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. With wire whisk, gently fold whipped cream into custard mixture.

5 Serve with extra whipped cream on top and a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg.

Tip: Store in the refrigerator up to 3 days 

Erica is a wife and new-mom-in-training with a desire to cook delicious food for her husband Reuben (AKA. Love of her life). She loves to experiment and adapt recipes to be a tad healthier and shares her culinary successes on her blog, Buttered Side Up.

Koko’s Kitchen: Roasted garlic mashed yams

Source: Koko Brill; By Elaine Song

 

Ingredients

• 4 medium-sized yams, skin removed
• 2 heads garlic
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme
• Sea salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup olive oil

 

Directions

1 Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2 Cut the top off of each head of garlic. Place in a large ramekin and drizzle with a tablespoon of olive oil.

3 Cover dish with foil. Pierce yams several times with a knife. Place yams on baking tray and roast for one hour.

4 After 15-20 minutes, turn heat down to 400 degrees and add the garlic for the remaining amount of time.

5 Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Add yams, garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper to a food processor.

6 Add ¼ cup olive oil or butter. Process until smooth, or consistency you desire.

7 You can prepare this dish ahead of time and reheat it in the oven just before serving.

Koko Brill blogs from Koko's Kitchen where she loves to prepare healthy food. She is currently starting a company called Koko Raw selling raw granola and fresh pressed juices. She enjoys travelling, music, fashion and fitness.