Happy Valentine’s Day! For this faux holiday, I decided to make one of my “heart inside cakes”, even though I have made many of them over the last couple of years. This time, however, I actually photographed all the steps so that you would have a sense of what is involved (you actually have to make two cakes). After having done this so many times, it seems self explanatory to me, but if you have any questions, shoot me a note. Enjoy!
The winter here in Boston is starting to get to me. I mean, really starting to get to me. Just too much snow (most records for snowfall totals have been smashed) and there is more snow on the way. This led to me thinking “Wouldn’t summer be nice right about now!” and thus summer treats such as Rice Krispies Treats (though I guess that is a quintessentially American year-round treat) and S’Mores. So I made both. Together.
Sometimes you just need a quick and easy dessert. These little (4 inch) tartlets might just be the thing. Here they are dressed up for valentines day, but no reason that you couldn’t put stars in the middle for the 4th of July or a flower in the spring. They’re quick to put together — start to finish, including baking time is just about an hour (depending on how long you let your dough rest — at minimum 20 minutes which is just enough time to make the filling). The recipe easily makes 4 tartlets; if you really stretch it, you can get 6 out of this (depends on how deep the tartlets pans are). Now, where is the a la mode?
These are Lemon Bars. Well, to be more precise, they are Olive Oil Sea Salt Meyer Lemon Bars with Rosemary. In my infinite search to “do something different” (I think that they call that “intensify the depth of flavor” in the recipe development biz), I decided to add some fruity and bright olive oil to the curd, finely chop some fresh rosemary and put it in the shortbread and then add just a touch of sea salt to the sprinkle on top (with the powdered sugar). Result: the most intense and flavorful lemon bars you’ll ever taste. Seriously.