Figs are such a delicious fruit when fresh or dried, but I often delegate them into a healthy role as a snack in between meals. I hadn’t thought about pairing them with chocolate until Mike came home with some Ficoco spread that he bought while in Florida. It’s a delicious and more healthy alternative to Nutella. It’s also fat-free, but not when spread on these butter-laden but sinfully chewy yet slightly sandy cookies.
This recipe is good for any summer fruit that’s juicy, ripe, and begging to get baked. I know it’s just past labor day, but it still feels bright and sunny and there’s a wide selection of local produce here in Seattle.
Personally, I just baked this *three* times in the past month using slices from 2 ripe peaches, and I think it’s even better than the plum version!
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup organic sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup flavorless oil, such as canola or safflower
Grated zest of 1 orange or 2 lemons
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Fruit topping options:
1) 8 purple or red plums, halved & pitted , OR
2) 2 sliced ripe peaches
Directions:
Preheat over to 350°F. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan (I used a 9 x 13 rectangular pan), then dust bottom and sides of pan lightly with flour.
Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
Working with a mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until it’s soft and creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar and beat for another 3 minutes, then add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for a minute after each egg goes in. Still working on medium speed, beat in the oil, zest and vanilla; the batter will look smooth and creamy, almost satiny. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated.
Scoop the batter into the floured and buttered pan. Arrange the fruit slices evenly on top of the batter, and press each piece of fruit into the batter about halfway.
Bake 30 minutes, then check on the cake. Keep baking, if needed (maybe 5-10 more minutes) until the top is a golden brown.
I really, really love this tart. It’s easy and absolutely delicious.
I can’t explain how wonderful it is to have a dessert that is perfectly sweet, lusciously fruity, and slightly macaroon-like. It gets more delicious after a night of sitting on the table. My husband took a slice to work two days in a row to have with his coffee – and he works right next to some great pastry shops!
Adapted from The Organic Seasonal Cookbook
Crust:
One pre-made pie crust, put into tart shell. (My fav pie crust recipe coming soon!)
Filling:
1 orange or 3 clementines (work with what you have! :)
1 star anise
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup almond meal
Preheat oven to 350.
Put your citrus fruit in a pot and fill with water until covering the fruit. Add the star anise to the water. Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook about 1/2 hour. Remove cooked and softened fruit, and cut open to remove the seeds.
Add citrus fruit, almond meal, beaten eggs, butter, and sugar in a food processor. The butter will melt because of the warm fruit. Process until all ingredients are pureed.
Spoon puree into tart shell. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until top is golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool at least 30 minutes.
Excellent the next day!
When did dairy get so expensive?
I aimed to make a panna cotta last night and went to the grocery store to pick up some heavy cream. I try very hard to buy organic dairy, and I happened to look at this chart of dairy ratings yesterday. It amazed me when I realized that a pint of Organic Valley cream costs a dollar more than an entire panna cotta dessert from Trader Joe’s. Well, of course my portion is for four people, but it put things into perspective. Trader Joe’s is notoriously secretive about their business practices anyway, so it’s hard to figure out how they can price things so cheaply.
Sugar melting in cream
My latest experiment was with lemongrass. Lemongrass panna cotta, to be exact. I thought it would be neat to try lemongrass in a dessert instead of in Thai food, which is the only way I’ve had it. I based this off of the recipe from the splendid table, which adjustments for a much smaller portion.
1/3 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp cold water
1/2 tsp unflavored gelatin
2 stalks lemongrass, cut into 1/2 inch pieces, and put in cheesecloth bag
Mix water with gelatin in small bowl and set aside for 5 minutes.
Warm cream, sugar, and lemongrass on stove until sugar dissolves and cream is steaming, but not boiling. Add gelatin mixture and dissolve. Take off heat and let cool 5 minutes. Fish out the lemongrass bag.
Place sour cream in medium bowl. Slowly whip cream into sour cream and stir until smooth.
Pour into 4 ramekins and refrigerate at least 2 hours, or until quite firm. To serve, drizzle with fruit syrup of your choice!
The rose. Or should I capitalize, Rose? The queen of all flowers, its petals gracing the ground before royals from Cleopatra to Prince Hakeem.* Its symbolism for true love and beauty is a backdrop for its use in perfumery and desserts. The rose family also consists of a substantial number of edible fruits. Apples, pears, cherries, peaches, and strawberries are just some of the fruits related to the lovely rose. You can often tell they’re related to the rose just by looking at the flowers of these fruits: 5 petals, stamens clustered in the middle, sweet smelling – like a wild rose.
My first taste of rose-flavored ice cream in New Hope, PA felt exotic. Hey, I was 16 at the time. Soon in my college years I tasted rose in the sticky sweet syrup of baklava as well as gulab jamun. But up until yesterday, it hadn’t occurred to me to use rose in anything I made myself. I wanted something simple, delicious, and sweet. So I decided on Indian-style rose pudding.
Pudding isn’t very photogenic.
I struggled for about 10 minutes trying to get this concoction in a martini glass to work with me. There were repeated shots, angles from every direction, burgundy photo album backdrops, “casual” shots of the pudding next to Mike’s sunglasses and wallet, a formal shot with a cherry on top, even a desperate attempt to tease some sort of character from the rice and milk on top of a footstool.
I was inspired by this recipe, as well as this one, but used them for reference rather than directions. 40 minutes? 2 hours? Yikes, I had 30 minutes before bath and bedtime for the baby. The way I prepared the pudding was much easier and quicker, in my opinion. Also, a quick caveat: I can’t spend $20 just for one dessert. So I got the rose water, but figured that for the sake of economy I’d substitute cinnamon for the cardamom. I absolutely adore cardamom, but I just can’t justify buying both cardamom pods and the ground stuff for infrequent, possibly once every 3 or 4 month’s use.
I have a rice cooker, which I highly recommend. Add rice to water, and cook about 15 minutes until steam is coming out of the cooker. At this point, add milk to pot along with some sprinkles of cinnamon and nutmeg and bring to a boil. Add rice from cooker. If you don’t have enough milk, just add more until rice is covered. Stir rice and milk mixture until slightly thickened, about 5 min (you can also add fruit at this point if desired). Add almonds, rose water and sugar to taste. Cook 5 more min, until milk is thickened. Take off heat and eat!
* Prince Hakeem is Eddie Murphy’s character from the movie Coming to America. There’s an ongoing gag throughout the movie involving rose petals tossed on the ground by three lovely maidens.
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