Lemon Tartlets

Sloan's {1st} Birthday!

One of my best friends, Dana, has the sweetest little girl and she was turning O N E! We had to make it extra special. I am the annoying friend who loves to party plan as well as my other best woman, Steff. Our eyes lit up and our brain started feverishly planning the elaborate, unnecessary ways in which we would celebrate the lovely Sloan. 

 Her Mama is a "Green" Mom all the way. She makes her own cleaners, uses cloth diapers, uses essential oils and just does everything differently. She believes plastic contains harmful chemicals, so the lovely Sloan girl chews on wooden toys. That was the inspiration for the woodland theme! Plus, it didn't hurt that my recent wedding was a rustic, wood theme so we had plenty of resources to pull from. 

Steff would handle a lot of the decor, as I would handle the sweets portion of things. I will share our decor ideas in another blog;) I was slightly stumped at what to do, but I wanted it to reflect Dana and our theme. 

It came to me...I would do lemon tarts! I love the idea of using some sort of toasted marshmallow for a woodsy theme. It always makes me think of camping and being in the woods. As a girl who grew up in a desert like setting, woodsy represents a getaway to the woods that always included Smores.

To begin, I knew this recipe would require a Lemon Curd. Lemon curd is simply lemon, butter, sugar and egg yolks. It's like a Lemon Custard. I've researched the various recipes available and this is the one I like best because it features egg yolks as the base, as oppose to the other recipes that featured the whole egg. The yolk is what captures the richness and the decadence, and that is what I adore. 

Since this is a "Lemon" recipe, the type of lemons used are a vital part of the process. Most of the recipes called for Lemon. All lemons are not created equal. In my opinion, the best lemon for this job is the Meyer Lemon. It is hard to find at your local grocery store, but it is so worth it. A Meyer Lemon is a cross between a true lemon and a mandarin orange. That is what gives it it's subtle sweetness and lovely lemon flavor. I adore these lemons. Whenever I make something "lemony", I search high and low to find these and I use them in my recipe.

 They just have a lovely quality about them and they really enhance the "sweet" experience. 

Typically, I have to find these lovely little things at a farmer's market. We're blessed that in Orange County, there is a Farmer's Market somewhere, everyday of the week. These Meyer Lemons seem to always make their appearance there. So in a pinch, lemons could be used but Meyer Lemons are preferred. The Lemon Curd can be made early which helps lessen the work load of these labor intensive little tarts. I LOVE Martha Stewarts recipe for Lemon Curd. I have used it before for cake filling, so I knew I liked this one best. I doubled the recipe to make about 45 mini tartlets. I did the recipe two times, not doubled the recipe in one try. I wanted to control the quality, so I thought it was best to 

do two separate batches.

I have also used the same recipe for making an Orange Curd for my 

Orange Creamsicle cake!

Lemon Curd Recipe:

• 3 large egg yolks, strained
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

1. STEP 1

   Combine yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar in a small saucepan. Whisk to combine. Set over medium heat, and stir constantly with a wooden spoon whisk, making sure to stir sides and bottom of pan. Cook until mixture is thick enough to coat back of wooden spoon, 5 to 7 minutes. Watch this step carefully. You're building the flavor and the base for the rest of the recipe. I used a whisk instead of a wooden spoon. I'm not sure if Martha would approve, but I found it mixed well.

2. STEP 2

    Once it's the consistency  of pudding you will remove saucepan from heat. Add cold butter, one piece at a time, stirring with the wooden spoon whisk until consistency is smooth. This is is lovely step. It  really starts to come together here and you can smell it's loveliness. 

3. STEP 3

   Transfer mixture to a medium bowl. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap directly on the surface of the curd to avoid a skin from forming; wrap tightly. Let cool; refrigerate until firm and chilled, at least 1 hour. Yay! It's done!

  It's so easy I know you can do it! The best part about this recipe is that not only can you use this to make a tart, but you could serve this with scones for a brunch or tea party! 

Next we will need to make the crust. I think this was the most labor intensive part. While I watched TV, I cut gold foil cupcake holders down to a third of it's side. I thought it would ensure that I could get the crust out easily, and we could set the tarts on the wood stands without worry of food touching the stand. Next, I placed the cupcake holders into cupcake pans and got the dough ready for assembling.

 This was my first time making these, so it was all trial and error. When I began, I had rolled the dough out and used a cup to cut circles. They were too big and so I had to resize as placed them in. If I had the right size cutter, it would've cut my time down quite a bit. I recommend getting it if you can. By the time I was working on my 2nd batch of the crusts, I was taking pieces of dough and squishing it into place. 

Fun Fact:

This recipe caters to making a large tart which calls for beans to be placed in the middle as it bakes to keep the dough from rising as it cooks. 

I did not do that for mini tarts.

 That would've made it more labor intensive than I am comfortable with :)  

I will teach you the trick to what I did!

Tart Crust Recipe:

  12 tbsp. (11/2 Sticks) Unsalted Butter at room temperature

  1/2 c. Sugar

  1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

  1 3/4 All-purpose Flour

   Pinch of Salt

     Combine the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt in a mixer with paddle attachment. Once it's mixed, you want to take the sifted (mine wasn't) flour and add to the mixture on low. Once combined, you can put it on a floured surface to roll out to put into a large pan or for cutting out circles for our mini's. You will bake them at {350} for about 20 minutes or until browned on the top. Here's where my trickery is...

  Since I am not doing this method for a large tart...

Butter 1 side of a square of aluminum foil to fit inside the chilled tart and place it, buttered side down, on the pastry. Fill with beans or rice. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and beans, prick the tart all over with the tines of a fork, and bake again for 20 to 25 minutes more, or until lightly browned. Allow to cool to room temperature.

    . . . .I had to make due with another technique. At about 10 minutes, I took the pans out and took a tablespoon measurer and pushed a hollow space into the shell. It shouldn't stick as their is a lot of butter in this recipe, but you can dip it in flour if you're having trouble. I did this for every one of them and I did it immediately when I took them out when they were fully cooked. It created a lovely hollow space for our curd. Once cooled, I removed them from the pan with ease, thanks to my cupcake liners.

  Once it was cooled, I took my lemon curd out and used a cookie dough baller like this.

I scooped the lemon curd into each little crust and used a butter knife to smooth the surface. I put them into a fridge to let them set. 

Meringue:

This next step, I was excited to use my torch I got for my wedding. Sadly, I could not find, nor did I have the time to look, for the butane I needed to fill my torch with. So I had to improvise again, which I will teach you. 

Normally when my mom makes some sort of Meringue pie, she does the old school way of beating egg whites with sugar and cream of tartar. I wanted to attempt a different technique. When I make my Swiss Meringue Buttercream, I make a cooked meringue that I add butter to. This time though, I would make the meringue, and not add the butter and use it to top my tarts. I like shiny texture of it and it also seem to be more stable. The old meringue seemed so fragile and delicate, and my technique gives it some sturdiness.

Meringue Recipe:

2 c. Sugar

2 tsp. pure vanilla 

1 1/4 c. egg whites

  Simple, Right? First, you will take a saucepan filled half way with water and get it to a boil at medium-high heat. Once it's a nice boil, you will take your standing mixer bowl filled with the sugar and egg whites and place on the sauce pan. Once on, take a whisk and whisk constantly together. Initially, it will look like....snot, but slowly it will break down. You are cooking the egg whites while also melting the sugar. As you whisk it will get easier to whisk until it is ready to be taken off the heat. The true test is to stick your thumb and finger into the mixture, pull out and rub your fingers together. If you feel sugar, it's not ready. If it's smooth and there are no bumpy particles, it's ready to come off the heat. 

    Now you will take that mixture and put it under your standing mixer and put on medium for about 20-30 minutes. You can turn on high at about 10 minutes. You want to mix it until it becomes the texture of marshmallow fluff. Once it's super thick, I removed it and put it into pastry bags that had a star tip. I then piped a design of the cream onto the tartlets.

  The toasty part...Turn you broiler on. I put the oven shelf on the top shelf. I then placed the tartlets on a pan and put them in the oven. I only put them in for literally 

{a minute} or so. You have to watch them oh so carefully! It can burn so easily as I found out.

And Voila!! You are finished and ready to display. These were so tasty and light. It was a nice contrast to all the rich cupcakes on display. I will definitely make this recipe again! The tartlets were the most charming dessert at the party!

Horchata Cupcakes

"In December drinking Horchata..." - Vampire Weekend

As it is December, my senses begin to crave this tasty treat. I have made it for several occasions and it has been a real hit with everyone. The first time I made this, I was inspired by the family's mexican decent and thought it was appropriate (...or a stereotype). I brought a three tiered cake to a first birthday with three fabulous flavors. One being my "thoughtful" flavor of Horchata.

The funny thing is, none of them knew what Horchata was!
There I was...the gringo, trying to get them excited about the drink of their people...

I say all that to say, I do not know the cultural relevance of this tasty drink,
 but I can tell you that you can order it at 
"Alberto's-mexican food". 

Horchata is made with rice, milk, some kind of sugar, and cinnamon. It's sounds odd, but go with me on it. It's delicious and refreshing. It's like the mexican version of eggnog, but much lighter. I saw a show on the Food Network where one of the bakeries mentioned they had an Horchata cupcake. I was intrigued and slightly jealous that I hadn't thought of it! Being that I am a fan of this flavor, I knew I had to replicate it. I did not research any recipes, but simply went with my instincts and taste buds. 

I encourage you to do the same when you are inspired. 

My process...

Sometime's when I am inspired, I research several techniques and recipes to find the delicate balance that sounds good. In this instance, I wanted to have a unique experience and go with my gut. When it comes to a flavor profile I am excited about, I want to allow the creative process...
moment by moment and by each tantalizing taste.

Recipe...

    Cake
1 Box of Yellow cake mix

1 1/4c.  liquid Horchata (the best is "Ole"? I think it's what it's called. I don't like the one I used.)
4 eggs

1tsp. Cinnamon 

1/3 Vegetable oil or Butter (Yellow cake mixes have an option for either, your choice)

 
    Buttercream
1 lb of butter or 4 sticks

2 egg yolks

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2c. Brown Sugar
3tsp. Cinnamon
2c. Powdered Sugar

  ----->>> I know you may be surprised to find I use cake mix, but it's always modified.

 Do not lose faith in me:) I like the predictability of it as I tend to spend more of my time making the buttercream special and other ingredients, in addition to all the decor I tend to take on.

 That's my philosophy as a home baker. I scratch make everything else, except the cake... 

I hope this will give more accessibility for you the as the at home baker.<<<<----------

   To begin...

      Follow the instructions on the cake mix box, but substitute the "water" for Horchata. 

Side Note: I never use water. Always milk. Water is a ridiculous option. 

It's a cake not a plant I am watering...Are you with me?

I like the cake to really have that cinnamon, Horchata flavor so I add a bit more cinnamon, about 1 tsp. Cook like the instructions suggest. While the cupcakes are baking, we will get started with the fancy, flavor part. This is where things get tricky and yummy. When you want to concentrate flavor, what do you do? Reduce. Take that lovely Horchata and pour into a large sauce pan or pot to reduce.

 This may take 45 min. to an hour. You will cook this down on Medium to make a thick sauce. I like to make it a little bit more decadent, so after it's cooked for about {30} we will will do a fancy trick.

We're gonna temper that shiz...

At about {30} minutes, take {2} egg yolks and place them in a bowl with {2} tbsp. of sugar. Whisk these together until they become a more pale color. You will begin tempering the egg yolks. Take {1} tbsp. of the hot Horchata mixture and whisk in. Keep adding more and more tablespoons until it seems incorporated well.

We do this so that we don't make scrambled eggs. You want to warm the egg yolks to the hot liquid before just throwing it in the hot mixture.

Now throw it in and whisk together vigorously and continuously, off and on, for the next 15-20 min. or until the mixture becomes the texture of a luscious custard. Then, let it cool. Once cooled, we will be adding this lovely mixture to the buttercream to give that yummy buttercream it's Horchata flavor.

Buttercream from my dreams...

You will take a pound of butter. Yes, a pound. I am not following the cooking styles of the lovely Paula Deen, this is just how I make my buttercream. For this recipe, we will be making an "American Style Buttercream". First, whip the room temperature butter to a fluffy consistency. Once it looks light and fluffy, you will begin to add the cooled Horchata custard, vanilla and the powdered sugar. Once that is all incorporated, you add {3} tsp. of cinnamon and half a cup of brown sugar. 

Whip until it's absolutely lovely.

 

If you want to add more powdered sugar, I wouldn't judge you. My mom would add a whole other cup or more. It's your call my friend. Make this recipe your own and make it as sweet as your heart desires. You are the taste tester and will be sharing in it's glory. It's important that you're happy with it.

For this particular recipe, I made this for my brother-in-law's birthday and he requested the buttercream be Horchata "Chocolate". I took a half bag of Ghirardelli dark chocolate and melted it in the microwave for {2} minutes on half the power and after cooled, I added it. It was super yummy and I'd recommend trying it, after you try the original! 

Enjoy my friends!

--->Adventures in Buttercream<---

Do you know what I dream about? ...Buttercream.     

Do you know what I adore? ...Buttercream.        

 Do you know what makes my heart flutter more than my Husband sometimes? ...Buttercream. 

The last one may not be true OR it might be a slight exaggeration.

 I love buttercream. I love it's silky smoothness. It's ability to take on so many flavors. It's gross negligence towards health. It is my guilty pleasure and my cryptonite.

 I am guilty of, as a child, scooping the store bought funfetti canister, with my finger no less, and quickly putting it's luscious decadence in my mouth. Then quickly running away and never admitting my part in the consumption of frosting as a small snack. 

I think several us are guilty of this...As you are reading this, you are quickly remembering those stolen moments by the fridge....right? If not, you too can still have 
the opportunity to do so as an adult
 and to also make the buttercream of your dreams, which I have done.

I grew up, exposed to my mother's buttercream. She did what is known as an "American Style Buttercream". We're all familiar with this recipe.  The simplicity of it and all it's decadence. I have never been a fan of my mother's buttercream and funny enough, my mother is not a fan of my mine. Mine lacks the sweetness she desires from a buttercream. What that means is, 1:4 ratio with butter to powdered sugar. That's punch you in the mouth sweetness and a glass of milk to get it down securely. 

Grocery stores use a version of this recipe but use shortening instead. 

That's why you taste all sugar and it holds a little better than butter in heat. 

My life experience dictated my pursuit of the perfect buttercream. Once the search was on, I found a wide array of fantastic styles and techniques to achieve subtle greatness. 

My eyes were opened to a whole new world. 

The two buttercream styles I fell firmly grounded in, is a 

Swiss Meringue Buttercream

 &

 an updated version of an American Style Buttercream.

Swiss Meringue Buttercream:

     It's just like it sounds. It's a meringue that butter is added to. You make a sticky, thick, almost marshmallow cream and then add silky smooth butter.  This particular style is not for the inexperienced. It typically takes me about {30} minutes to make and it is necessary to have a standing Kitchen Aid mixer.

 I watched several youtube videos of this style to find the best technique for myself. 

***I will provide my recipe in a later blog and teach you the tricks to using it***

  

    I LOVE this buttercream. It tastes like butter. It's recipe features a whole pound of butter. It has a subtle sweetness that doesn't overpower you, but lightly dances on your tongue with a delightful touch. This is the type you will find on exquisite wedding cakes. It is extra work and not always predictable. In the summer time, in a hot house, the buttercream takes significantly longer to come together. 

My favorite moment with this buttercream is when you've fluffed up the cloud-like meringue and it's time to add the butter. You ferociously mix these ingredients together...and you wait...you wait for the moment when it curdles. Once it curdles, it miraculously turns into buttercream.

 It's my favorite moment. It's gets me all giddy inside <3 <3 <3

These roses were made with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

American Style Buttercream:

This one is user friendly, predictable, and it's hard to find anyone that doesn't like it. It's my husband's favorite. I will spend uber amounts of time making that beautiful Swiss Meringue Buttercream and my husband will say, "I like that other kind you make." He's talking about this one. This is the one your Mom and Grandma probably made. This one is what you expect most of the time when you bite into a slice of cake. Like I said before, my Mother and I are at odds with this. She loves it done her way and I love it my way.

My way...starts with a pound of butter that I whip into submission. I then add the powdered sugar, little by little until I have achieved "the right amount" of sweetness 

and then add some yummy vanilla. 

That's it. It's easy, right? That's why our busy mom's made this.

American Style Buttercream was used for these ruffles

 There are benefits to both. But all that really matters is, 

how does it taste? 

What is your favorite style of buttercream? 

Are you punch in the mouth sweet like my Mom? Or the American style that is my husband's favorite? 

Or do you love the subtle sweetness of a Swiss Meringue?

Earl Grey Truffles

Earl Grey Truffles

I recently was invited to a Baby Shower where I was also asked to make sweets. I always LOVE to find unique flavors that compliment the theme as well as the individual being celebrated. 

I knew that the mom-to-be loved tea, so I thought it would be fun to make truffles! I know what you're thinking, "Tea? In truffles? How interesting..."

But let me introduce to the mouth feel of them. As soon as you bite into them, they melt lightly into your mouth with all its decadence. The dark chocolate is rich, but the Earl Grey is floral and citrus. It adds a whole new dimension to the chocolate which is really fun. If you make these, you will surely impress your guests!

Something to consider when making these truffles...

I am providing you a wonderful "base recipe" for making truffles. Earl Grey is not a necessary part of the process, but a nice option. I urge you to think outside the box and add whatever strikes your fancy....

       ....Whether that be Grand Marnier(an orange liqueur), espresso, OR my next endeavor will involve this recipe, minus the Earl grey, and I will roll the truffles in crunched pretzels. That salty, sweet combo is always nice and I have to improvise as my husband was not a fan of these truffles:)

To Begin...

You will need: 

-Heavy Cream

-Butter

-Earl Grey tea

-Bittersweet Chocolate (I used Dark Chocolate)

&

-Cocoa Powder

Easy peezy, right??

Supplies...

 -sive(this is a necessary tool when using Earl Grey)

-small saucepan 

-small bowl

When making a recipe that involves limited ingredients, it is important to
 use high quality ingredients. 

I used TAZO Earl Grey tea. My personal favorite. For the chocolate, I had several people tell me Trader Joe's bars of chocolate are very good quality and are at a reasonable price. I was so happy with it! The recipe called for bittersweet chocolate, but I chose Dark chocolate as I prefer it's flavor. 

Recipe

  2/3 c.  Heavy Cream or Heavy Whipping Cream

2 tbsp.  Unsalted Butter cut into pieces

  2 tsp.  Loose Earl Grey Tea leaves or 3 bags 

   6 oz.  Chocolate chopped

     1 c.   Cocoa powder

 I did a double batch of this recipe and it made about {28} large gum-ball sized truffles. First, chop the chocolate in a food processor or you can chop with a knife into smaller pieces. Place the cream and butter into the sauce pan and heat to a boil. As soon as its bubbling, turn off and place the tea bags into the liquid mixture. 

As soon as I put the tea bags into the cream, they did not immediately seem to bleed into the mixture quite like I would like, so I ferociously squished the tea bags until they released their loveliness. This caused the bags to open, which then gave me "loose leaf tea" like the recipe called for:) It didn't matter as I sived the liquid mixture before I put into the chocolate. Once it had steeped for about 5 minutes, I sived the mixture over the chopped chocolate. It did not completely melt the chocolate, so I put it in the microwave for 2 minutes at 50 watt power.  

Once it's mixed, I placed in the fridge. The recipe says for 2 hours, I did it over night. The next day, I took it out and allowed it to come to room to temperature to make it easier to scrape it out and roll into truffles!

 You can use a melon baller or cookie dough scoop.

Another technique that may have made it easier, would have been to pipe it onto a cookie sheet with wax paper while it is at the liquid stage. It would be best to do that after the initial mixing of ingredients and then allow them to come to room temperature so that it is not runny. I could not use this technique as you would need room to allow to set and to become cold in the fridge. My fridge was a little full after the holiday!

  

This part gets a little messy! 

Once the mixture has been balled in whatever technique you find best, you roll them with your hands. Your hands will warm the chocolate. That's when you roll it in the cocoa powder. I mixed a tablespoon of powdered sugar with cocoa for a little sweetness. If you wanted a hard chocolate shell, you could melt chocolate and roll the cold, hardened chocolate into the melty chocolate. It's up to you!

Then...You are done! 

My truffles were not perfect. They definitely looked handmade, which I convinced myself made look them look special. 

They had different sizes and variations, but they were creamy and lovely. They were a hit at the party! 

I totally recommend them for a party and

 to get creative and booze them up if you like.