I’ve been cooking a lot lately and I’ve been really enjoying it more than I ever have before. Its totally fun. My grandfather’s birthday was last weekend and David and I made this Lemon Curd Mousse Cake from Martha Stewart Living for the dessert. David is an excellent crepe maker and I really like using crepes as a “cake” – so many little layers! Makes it look harder than it actually is. :)
The cake was great and I liked the light, lemon flavor. We made the candided Meyer lemons for the top and then have had the happy by-product of Meyer lemon-infused simple syrup for our ice tea this week. Excellent!
My grandmother is famous for her chess tarts so when I saw this recipe in Martha Stewart, I had to make it. A chess tart is all the good parts of a pecan pie without those pesky pecans getting in the way. Sugary, gooey, goodness. (This paragraph also serves as a plea to any member of my considerable cooking family that has the recipe for Meme’s chess tarts to send me a copy.) Meme always made little individual tarts, but this was a pie-sized tart. I also changed the crust to be a crushed Moravian cookie crumb crust (Christmas cookie leftovers frozen in my freezer) which added a great spicy flavor to this tart. It wasn’t one of Meme’s tarts for sure, but it was good and I’d make it again.
Bad picture but it does have a cute baby in it….
I’ve been fiddling with a granola bar recipe that Mary sent me from this site. They are delicious but I haven’t gotten them to stick together well enough to qualify as a “bar” yet. They’re good enough though to keep trying.
Mary also sent me the recipe for these wonderful-chocolate-mint-goodies-from-heaven from the same site. They’re flourless chocolate souffles with a mint cream. I’ve made the cream several times since to add to other things and its really lovely. Basically, you melt white chocolate into cream, add the peppermint extract, let it all chill and then whip it to add to things. So. Good.
And don’t worry, I make things acceptable to eat for dinner too, they’re just not as fun to write about. For example, Bittman’s Pinto Bean Tart with a Quinoa Crust convinced me to grown pinto beans this year – that sounds nice, healthy and grown-up doesn’t it? And it gives us something to eat in between planning what the next dessert will be. :)
I’ve got the chess tart recipe at home. I’ll try to remember to type it up for you tonight, but if I don’t get it to you in the next couple days, send me an email to bug me. :-)
That meyer lemon crepe cake looks lovely! I have a friend with a usually prolific meyer lemon tree, but haven’t had a delivery yet this year. I’ll have to check with her and see if there are finally any ready – sounds like a great Easter dessert!
PS I made the granola bars again last weekend and tried to cut the granulated sugar back a bit, and they were still tasty but way more crumbly than last time, so I think that might be key. I think I also used slightly less dried fruit the time they fell apart. Next time I’m going to try adding a beaten egg to hold them together a bit better, so I’ll let you know if that works.
Wow are you making me hungry!!! Everything looks delicious and so beautiful too. Please do send the lemon cake recipe to Mary so we can all enjoy for Easter!!! I have Meme’s tart recipe too so if Mary doesn’t come through, let me know. Sweet kisses to everyone.
Hey Mary – I am so jealous that you live somewhere that they can grow Meyer lemons on trees. Wow. I originally couldn’t find the link on the Martha Stewart site for the crepe cake but now I found it! Its updated in the post above but here’s the link too: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/meyer-lemon-crepe-cake
Let me know how the granola bars turn out!!
The candied Meyer lemons, which Martha Stewart says are “optional” are not, in fact optional. They are critical! Such a yummy dessert.