In addition to annoying me in general, the cold weather also makes me feel like Christmas is just around the corner. Yes, the Christmas Creep has hit our household. No... I haven't decorated or anything, but I am in full planning mode for my mother-in-law's dessert party. This weekend I was finally able to test my first recipe.
Last Christmas A gave me some miniature tart pans for Christmas so I plan to serve two different types of mini-tarts at the event. I am hoping the tarts will save me some time since many components, such as the crusts, can be prepared days, or even weeks ahead of time.
After scouring the Internet for recipes, I found a finally found a winner on Tartelette's blog - her recipe for her grandmother's apple tartelettes. I liked this recipe because it reminded me of apple pie with a twist. The tartelette featured a baked apple filling with pie spices like cardamom, but called for baked apples for the top instead of a lattice or second pie crust. The lemon sugar, vanilla bean, and crushed almonds added unexpected depth to the flavor.
Instead of baking them in medium tart pans as Tartelette did, I used my minis. A half recipe produced enough filling for 9 mini-pans which was great news. A single full recipe should do it for the party.
The prep work was quick and the flavors delicious. I presented them nervously to A, who wanted to know why I couldn't just make plain old apple pie (one of his favorite desserts). A single bite later, I was instructed that the recipe was a winner and apple pie would not be needed.
WOOHOO! One menu item down. Only 8 to go.
I still need to play with the crust for this recipe a little. In my first attempt, the crust stuck to the pans making it difficult to remove the tartelettes without damaging them. This is a problem that I will troubleshoot in the coming weeks.
And of course, this week's posting would not be complete without my weekly bread, a sourdough loaf. I will write about bread in future weeks.
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