Why I Like to Bake...

There is something so fulfilling for me about baking. The precision of measuring the ingredients, the tactile nature of dough that is often rolled or pinched or shaped, and the beauty of the presentation. I think I love baking because I like to create beautiful things. There is almost a formality of in baking- which I also enjoy. Below is my homage to Martha. I love her work and aspire to be a mini-Martha. Note the cookbook that my friend, Brandy got for me. She had it signed by Martha herself.

What's A Must in Your Crust?

Since I have started on this pie mission, I have had to make a decision about the kind of fat I use in my crust: butter? Crisco? lard? oil? Now pie crust is both a science and an art. I could go into the different fat properties like melting point etc but I've decided that I prefer butter for my crust. In fact, I use the Martha Stewart Pate Brisee recipe. I think you could argue that lard or Crisco are much easier to work with because they are more solid than butter at room temperature. I have good friends that swear by an oil crust as the flakiest. The main reason I use butter is that I think it simply tastes the best - as a plain ingredient and in the crust. I like the taste of butter and it just seems like a clean and pure ingredient. What is a must in your crust? Do you have a treasured recipe with butter or lard or oil or Crisco?

The Queen of Hearts, she made some tarts...

...all on a summer's day. Ah, I wanted to make a simple but beautiful summer dessert for two dear friends who came for dinner. I chose the raspberry tarts from my pies and tarts book and they were lovely. The crust was quite soft and easy to make. First, I had to mess up and add twice the amount of butter...so I promptly doubled the recipe. I used my tart pans and baked the shells fully. Then I put a layer of raspberry jam and a layer of chocolate and butter followed by topping them with fresh raspberries. I think nothing is more elegant and simple than fresh fruit on a tart. Not only were they easy to make and beautiful to look at but they tasted delicious! I think I will be making a lot of tarts in the future!

The girl and the figs...

The pie mission I am not only includes pies but also tarts and seeing these beautiful fresh figs, I could not resist the chance to make a fig galette. This recipe has a pate brisee crust - baked and folded in a rustic tart manner. The base is a ricotta with cardamom and orange and honey. The crust was baked, topped with the ricotta mixture and baked again. Finally fresh figs were added and drizzled with honey. The result was spectacular to see and to taste! Ah the beauty of ripe, fresh fruit. This was a complete success from start to finish.