I miss France.
I miss France so much.
My sister and aunt took me to see Julia & Julie this last week.
Everyday at work we play the Amelie soundtrack.
All my parents ever buy for me anymore is cheese.
The recipe can be found on Martha Stewart Living: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/baking-handbook-tarte-tatin?autonomy_kw=tarte%20tatin
My friend and I decided to participate in the exclusive world of fine-dining and attended the restaurant West this past weekend. West has a reputation for being the best restaurant in Vancouver, if not the whole world...
The atmosphere was very sophisticated and enjoyable, the only downside being that we were the youngest ones there! The food was delicious; we each had a starter, main course and dessert, each enhanced by a bottle of smooth red wine from the Rhone Valley in France. Unfortunately, the Nikon D60 did not fit in my purse so I had to settle for my sister's inferior Canon instead!
For the starter, I had an aged risotto with chanterelles, zucchini, and peas.
As a main course, I chose the smoked sablefish. It was served with tabais beans, sweet peppers, shaved radish and a yellow pepper puree.
Finally for dessert, I had a mascarpone espresso cake atop a brownie, served alongside a cinnamon meringue and coffee ice cream.
By the end of the night I felt as though my previously not-so-tight dress was going to pop a seam! (it was well worth it though!) For anyone interested in West, check out their website: http://www.westrestaurant.com/index.html
A slice of this cake is like a slice of heaven (seriously!). It's extremely easy to make and is best served in the spring and summer when the sun is out and smiles are abundant =)
Old-Fashioned Berry Layer Cake
(adapted from Martha Stewart Living)
Ingredients:
1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornstarch
6 large whole eggs, plus 4 large egg yolks
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla
¾ cup vegetable oil
4 cups heavy cream
½ cup icing sugar
Fruit (the recipe recommends to use strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries but you can use whatever you prefer)
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and butter two 9-inch round cake pans. In a large bowl, sift together flour and cornstarch.
2. Using an electric mixer, whisk whole eggs, egg yolks, granulated sugar, salt and one teaspoon of vanilla. Beat on high speed until thick and pale on surface (should hold ribbon-like trail on surface when whisk is raised), about 5 minutes.
3. Add flour mixture to egg mixture. With mixer on low speed, beat until combined. Add oil in a steady stream, mixing until just combined. Remove bowl from mixer and fold mixture several times using the whisk.
4. Divide batter between pans and smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until cakes are springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 30 minutes.
5. Immediately invert cakes onto a wire rack, then reinvert cakes and let them cool completely, top sides up.
6. Using an electric mixer, whisk cream, icing sugar and remaining vanilla (one teaspoon). Start on low speed and gradually increase to medium-high, whip until stiff peaks from, about 2 minutes.
7. Using a serrated knife, trim the tops of the cakes to make level. Slice each cake in half horizontally into two layers. Place one on bottom layers on a serving plate. Spread a quarter of whipped cream over the layer; arrange a quarter of the fruit on top. Repeat with remaining cake layers, cream and fruit. Serve immediately.
I got this recipe from my ex-boyfriend's mother and it is by far the BEST cheesecake I have ever tasted in my whole life. In fact, I never used to even like cheesecake until I tried this recipe! I topped it with a homemade blackberry sauce and it was de-li-cious!
Here is the original recipe:
CHEESECAKE
Crust:
1 package digestive cookies
¼ cup butter (melted)
2 TBS sugar
Filling
2 – 8oz. packages cream cheese (room temperature)
½ cup sugar
2 TBS flour
¼ tsp. Salt
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs separated
1 cup 18% cream
Crush 12 digestive cookies into crumbs and add melted butter and sugar and mix.
Pat into bottom of 10" spring-form pan. Whip egg whites until stiff.
Beat cream cheese with electric beater until light and fluffy. Add sugar and continue beating. Then add flour, salt, vanilla and egg yolks, and continue beating. Beat in cream.
Fold in egg whites until mixture is smooth. Pour over crust.
Bake at 350F for one hour. Open door and cool in oven.
All I want to do is...
But instead I have to...
After seeing this recipe come up over and over again on TasteSpotting, I decided to try it out myself. The tart turned out wonderfully; the crust tasted like buttery shortbread and paired perfectly with the sweet pears and smooth almond cream filling. I served it warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.... yummmmm~
For the original recipe and more photos go to the site:
