- When you picture a summery fruit tart, you probably think of a tart topped with bright kiwi slices, strawberries, blueberries and maybe even bananas or oranges. Fresh from the Oven went a slightly different route and made a Summer Mango Tart with heaps of sunny, sweet mango slices. The base of the tart is a pastry cream. I think that Mandy put it best when she said “Unless you absolutely loathe mango, otherwise, how could anyone resist this?”
- I’ve been using up my lemons in lemonade and strawberry lemonade bars lately. Kitchen Wench put her lemons to use in some Luscious Lemon Slices. The lemon custard forms a thick layer on top of the shortbread base and gives the bars a perfect ratio for lemon fans to enjoy.
- Puff pastry is something that everyone should keep on hand in the freezer because there are so many uses for it. In Dessert First‘s case, it serves as the base for some simple Apricot Tarts. Apricots are sliced and topped with cinnamon sugar before topping the pastry and baking into beautiful tarts. It’s easier than pie, although with a little bit of extra effort you can also make an almond frangipane to add richness and another layer of flavor to the tart.
- I have to say that the Yip Yap Organic Banana Snaps with Chocolate Chips, Raisins, & Nuts that Foodie Farmgirl made the other day are one of the silliest sounding cookies I’ve encountered recently. They also sound delicious. The cookies are drop cookies, with a dough rich with mashed banana, whole wheat flour, spices, dried fruit and nuts. A homey cookie at its best.
- Large, flat focaccia breads are fun to make, not just because it’s a stress reliever to press dimples all over the top of a loaf, but because they’re very versatile and can be topped with almost anything. Two Fat Als used fresh blueberries for a sweet Blueberry Focaccia. It’s a good brunch dish and also an afternoon snack, and while it’s not exactly savory, I’m sure no one woudl complain if it ended up as a side dish at dinner, either.
- Any donut fans out there will definitely be interested in checking out Taste and Tell‘s version of Vita’s Ricotta Donuts, which come from Gale Gand’s lovely cookbook Chocolate and Vanilla. The cake donuts have a lot of rich ricotta cheese blended into the dough (in place of butter or oil) and, when they’re fried, come out as tender, light and fluffy as you could hope for – especially for a non-yeasted donut.
What do you think?