BAKED Sunday Morning: Rosemary Apricot Squares

One of the things I enjoy about participating in a bake-along like BAKED Sunday Mornings, is that I bake some desserts that if left to my own devices, I probably would not otherwise bake. Take for instance, this week's recipe. Rosemary and apricot are not flavors that I would have paired together, and frankly, the idea of them together didn't appeal to me.

When I read through the recipe, however, I realized that the rosemary was not mixed directly with the apricots, but was in the crust, so I thought it would probably give the crust a really nice flavor. It sure gave it a wonderful fragrance and when the dough was pressed in the pan, the rosemary made the crust look really pretty with the flecks of green throughout the dough.

When I made the filling, it actually took about 60 minutes on low for the syrup to almost evaporate. When I tasted it after pureeing the apricot mixture, I didn't think the filling was too sweet. The filling turned into a lovely rich, brown color and I could taste the honey and the brandy - neither of which overpowered the apricots.

The crumb mixture has brown sugar and pecans which is a perfect topping for these squares. These taste very good and, to me, are reminiscent of fig newtons - one of my favorite cookies. I think they are a perfect treat for Father's Day.

You can visit the rest of the group by following their links, and you can also find the recipe, over at BAKED Sunday Mornings.

French Friday with Dorie: Roasted Rhubarb and Tourteau de Chèvre

I have to confess that I really wasn't sure I was going to make this week's roasted rhubarb recipe, not because I don't like rhubarb, but because...well, it just didn't seem challenging enough, and, well not very French at all.

So I decided to make it more of a challenge by making the Tourteau de Chèvre as well and serving the roasted rhubarb as a topping. I was gone last month when the tourteau came up on the schedule and it was a recipe that I really wanted to try.

First, let's talk about the rhubarb. It couldn't have been simpler to make and it also couldn't have been tastier. I cut my rhubarb a little shorter than the inch and a half that Dorie suggested and since I didn't have oranges on hand and only one lemon I used the zest of the lemon and mixed it with the sugar and rhubarb before roasting. Even though Dorie also suggests using some honey if it isn't sweet enough after roasting, I didn't need the honey at all. The roasted rhubarb tasted delicious just with the sugar and lemon zest. The tang of the lemon mixed with the sweetness of the sugar was perfect.

Now, for the tourteau. I made the sweet tart dough and pressed it into an 8-inch springform pan. Egg whites that have been whipped to stiff peaks are gently folded into the goat cheese mixture to make a super light filling. When I topped my slice of tourteau with the roasted rhubarb, it was a perfect balance because the tourteau is not sweet at all. You get a little sweetness from the crust, but it is a subtle sweet. With the rhubarb it was just a perfect combination. John had his pieces-yes, pieces-plain and thought this was a really good cheesecake.

I am so glad that I made both of these recipes and will be making them again and again because they are both delicious. I can't wait to visit the other members of the group to see what they paired the roasted rhubarb with. I hope you will do the same by clicking on their links over at French Fridays with Dorie.

BAKED Sunday Morning: Orange Creamsicle Tart

As much as I am a chocolate lover, one cold treat I loved as a kid was Orange Creamsicles. The orange and cream mixture is a taste that I well remember and seemed to always cool me off on a hot summer day.

So, to say that I was excited to make this Sunday's Orange Creamsicle Tart is an understatement. I was intrigued that BAKED had recreated one of my favorite childhood treats in a tart. After buying and taste testing several different kinds of orange cream sodas, I decided to use Harvey Weinhard's orange cream soda because it was exactly the flavor I remember.

The tart dough also had some orange zest in it which I infused the sugar with, rubbing the zest in with my fingers. The recipe said that the dough was sticky, but mine wasn't sticky at all - it was soft and smooth, so I think infusing the sugar with the zest might have kept the dough from getting sticky. I loved the smell of the orange in the tart dough! Even though I carefully followed instructions for baking the tart shell I did have some shrinkage. I had enough dough left over from making the 9-inch tart shell that I made a rustic mini-tart with a 4-1/2 inch springform pan.

The filling took awhile to make, but it is important to follow the directions carefully. I did deviate a bit again by infusing the sugar in the filling with the orange and lemon zest before adding it to the saucepan. It takes a bit of patience to carefully sprinkle the gelatin over the lemon juice. I was so afraid that it would clump, but luckily it didn't. When I poured the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve unto the butter and then whisked I noticed that my filling was really thin and even though I whisked furiously as the directions indicated, I didn't notice the volume of the filling increasing. I covered the filling with plastic and put it in the refrigerator for 4 hours, but was really skeptical that it would thicken because I felt that most of the gelatin was left with the pulp in the sieve. As you can see from the pictures, however, I needn't have worried.

Since the tart dough and the filling had so much orange, I decided to make the Simple Whipped Cream that was suggested rather than the Orange Whipped Cream that came with the recipe. I really wanted the tart to recreate the taste of the creamsicle and I didn't remember the cream part of the popsicle having an orange flavor.

If you love orange creamsicles, you will love this tart! It was such a big hit with my family. I just loved this and couldn't stop eating the leftover orange filling. I really don't know how Matt and Renato did it and can only imagine how many times the recipe must have been tested and retested to get it just right. This is a perfect summer dessert. 

Visit BAKED Sunday Mornings to see other BAKED members' orange creamsicle tart creations. You can also find the recipe there.

Next BAKED Sunday Morning: Rosemary Apricot Squares - June 19

French Friday with Dorie: Warm-Weather Vegetable Pot-au-feu

For someone who doesn't eat a lot of eggs, I sure am liking this egg on a salad and now egg on a soup thing Dorie has going on. This week's French Friday with Dorie recipe is a warm-weather soup which actually ended up being a cool-weather soup as spring temperatures dipped back into the 60s this week. 

The recipe lists vegetables that could be used in this soup as a starting point, but Dorie encourages you to use seasonal vegetables that are available at the market. Since asparagus is at the peak of its season right now and available for 97 cents a pound I bought some and added them to the carrots that were simmering in the vegetable broth. I peeled them first because I really like them that way now that I made them in Dorie's Egg, Bacon, and Asparagus Salad. I also saw some English Sugar Peas while at the store and bought some and had a good time sitting out on the patio shelling them. I haven't shelled peas in a long time and it brought back memories of shelling peas, for it seemed like hours, on my grandma's porch during our summer visits to Pennsylvania. I had forgotten how much fun it is to see the perfect little peas emerge from their pods. They tasted so sweet and good raw that I had to stop myself from popping most of them into my mouth. 

I also added some baby shiitake mushrooms, and spinach and seasoned the soup with salt and white pepper and a bit of lemongrass from my garden. The stalk wasn't as big and pretty as the ones at the grocery store, but why pay $2.99 a stalk when I had some growing at home? The lemongrass added a subtle lemon flavor to the soup. I was a little heavy-handed with the white pepper, but it turned out okay since the baguette was perfect to sop up the broth and temper the pepper taste. 

By the time I finished making the soup it was getting a little late and I was also getting tired and frankly just wanted to photograph and be done with it, but that little nagging inner voice started to coax and push me to make the basil coulis and the poached egg. When I went to poach the egg and looked into the pantry, I remembered that I was out of white vinegar, so I grabbed the first vingear I could find which was red wine vinegar and it worked just fine. I am so glad that I made both the coulis and the poached egg because they made such a difference to the final taste of the soup. When I cut the egg with my soup spoon the egg yolk oozed out, making the broth turn even more golden. The yolk and egg white made the soup taste so rich and heightened the taste of the vegetables. The basil coulis elevated the soup to an even higher level, giving the soup fresh undertones of basil and olive oil.

You can find this recipe on pp. 378-79 in Dorie Greenspan's Around My French Table. 

Visit French Fridays with Dorie to see what the other FFwD members did with this soup.