Lemon crumble tart - and Pinterest

I’d like to start this post by telling you that I adore Pinterest: it’s a great way to keep track of interesting things and I usually find my morning humor dose there. Some of you have written to me asking me not to block my photos from being posted on Pinterest, and I tell you: I haven’t done that, and wouldn’t do it. I see no problem in my recipes getting pinned by you, much to the contrary.

Ricotta and feta tart

Because Jamie Oliver’s delicious escarole and salami tart was a great dish for lunch both at my house and at the office I felt like baking another savory tart – this time I had no smoked ham in my fridge (as the original recipe called for) but a tart made entirely of cheese (there’s parmesan in the pastry!) did not sound like a bad thing. And, indeed, it was not; I just regretted not adding a

Vanilla-spiked plum galette

Plums are one of my favorite fruits and I usually eat them all in a very short period of time, before I can actually bake something with them. But this time the plums I’d bought were too tart – even for my citrusy taste – and they became this fabulous galette; the super flaky pastry is delicious and holds all the juices without getting soggy, and the plums, soft and perfectly sweet, get a boost

Escarole and salami tart

Something I’ve been trying to do more often is to bring lunch to work – eating out gets more expensive by the minute while the quality and flavor of the food get worse.

This tart might seem like a lot of work – making your own pastry! – but believe me, it’s not: you just need to plan ahead. Go wild with the filling: the original was a mix of spinach and ham, but I used what I had in my fridge.

Raspberry crumble tart – the easiest tart you’ll ever make + the greatest actor I have ever seen

I watched "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" last Saturday and the fantastic movie – what an amazing cast! – goes right into my list of reasons why Gary Oldman is one of the greatest actors out there – possibly the best I have seen acting so far (Robert De Niro lost that spot a long time ago). The movie is not everyone’s cup of tea, though – I saw some people leaving the theater long before the

Tomato tart

Some things instantly remind me of others (and sometimes they’re related): the first time I watched "The Cell" – I know it sounds crazy that someone would watch a movie with J. Lo more than once, but Vincent D’Onofrio and the director made that possible – I found that the red “uniform” she wears (while getting into someone else’s mind) looked a lot like the medieval war armor Gary Oldman wears

Strawberry and rose hazelnut tart, music and a baking bonus

When I was 10 years old I got the Arena album as a gift from a cousin I deeply love. I used to listen to it nonstop, 24/7. I still have the album but since I no longer have a record player I bought the CD a while ago – I love listening to it while I drive to/from work. So good.
The CD version has two bonus tracks, but unfortunately “Girls on Film” and “Rio” are songs I never cared about (and

Apple cranberry croustade with cornmeal crust and another childhood favorite

Because I’ve been on a nostalgic mood lately, I bought an insane amount of Granny Smith apples last week – they were my favorite apples growing up (actually, they’re still are), and would lose only to strawberries in a favorite fruit contest. My dad used to find it quite funny that I loved something that tart as a kid – maybe it was a sign of the sour future to come in terms of flavor

Summer blueberry tart and nice surprises

Isn’t it great to find good things unexpectedly? Surfing the net I accidentally discovered that Camera Obscura is the band responsible for a song I adore. Nice surprise. Like the one I had the other day while buying fruit at a supermarket near the office: fresh blueberries. They’re not easy to find near my house so I decided to buy a couple of punnets (despite their not-very-friendly price).

Marmalade and almond tart and being persistent

Some people say I'm stubborn – myself included, sometimes – but this time I’ll choose the term “persistent”. :)

Remember those silly pastry strips from the other day? The ones that almost ruined my Saturday morning? Here they are, in this beautiful – and delicious – tart. Or did you think I was going to give up on this recipe just like that? ;)

This tart is for marmalade fans – and I am

Chocolate orange ganache tart and all's well that ends well

I started writing this post with EBTG’s “When all’s well” playing in my mind; I explain: this tart is a result of some stressful moments, but it all worked out fine in the end.

The initial idea was baking this tart to finish up the marmalade jar I’d bought for Nigel Slater’s cake. I’d already thawed some really good pastry I had in the freezer and lined the tart pan with it; after that, I made

Caramel nut tart with brandy cream + my new Twitter account

Reading "Nigella Kitchen" the other day I could totally relate to her comment on the choc chip bread pudding (the one I made a while ago): it might seem odd to use cream, eggs and chocolate to save a piece of old bread – some people would just throw it away, I guess – but I really get her idea there; I did the same with this tart – all this caramel and nuts and pastry just to use up some heavy

Rustic plum tart

I once told you that I can be pretty lazy from time to time; therefore, today’s recipe is dedicated to the lazy – and lovely – people reading me right now. ;)

It’s a tart, indeed, but there is no chilling of the pastry nor blind baking involved; you won’t need to wait for the crust to cool down to fill it and you can even serve this tart warm; in fact, it tastes delicious this way, and I tried

Cherry and almond tartlets

I know, I know – another cherry tart in less than a week… But be honest with me: would you be able to resist such a beautiful dessert? I ran to the kitchen the moment the magazine arrived at my door. :D



Cherry and almond tartlets
slightly adapted from Australian Gourmet Traveller

Filling:
500g crème fraîche*
100ml pouring cream
20g pure icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
fresh

Bill’s cherry tart

I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas series!

I thought that this delicious tart would be perfect as my last post before Christmas: it’s pretty much a clafoutis with a crust – I am a crust kind of girl – and the recipe comes from one of my all time favorite cooks.

Happy Holidays!



Bill’s cherry tart
from Holiday

Pastry:
½ cup + 1 tablespoon (127g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1/3 cup

Tomato, arugula and grana padano tart and a Sunday miracle

A miracle happened in my house last Sunday – I said I was going to make this tart for lunch and Joao said he was going to eat it, too. :D
After lunch, he said the tart was delicious, which made me both surprised and happy – those of you with picky eaters at home know the feeling... :)

It’s a very simple recipe, with almost no cooking involved, but I had to share it with you.

Tomato, arugula

Rhubarb tarts

A dear friend of mine once blogged about “good envy” – is there such thing? I mean, can we associate envy with a positive adjective, even if it’s to show admiration for someone/something?

An example: during all these years into blogging I’ve been “envying” my lovely friends from Europe and USA for having lots of rhubarb around; now I could finally find it here in São Paulo (thank you, Ana!)

Lemon frangipane tart

There’ someone you all know that is so obsessed with lemons that when she’s not making lemon cookies or lemon cakes there’s a lemon tart coming out of her oven. :D

Maybe because I am crazy for lemons I did not think this tart was lemony enough, but a friend of mine loved it and felt the lemon flavor even though I did not tell her there was any in the dessert. Now it’s up to you: if you’re

Apple yeast sugar tart

I love discovering things, and equally like rediscovering them – I bet you all do, too.

After leaving this book unattended for a couple of years – I checked my Amazon account and saw that the book was purchased in June, 2006 – it has found a way lately into my kitchen; after making the soup with tiny omelettes, I went through the book again – 824 pages of it – and bookmarked many, many recipes

Fresh strawberry tart with lemon cream

I fear that you’ll probably start thinking of me as the lady whose tart crusts all go wrong – after the shrinking problem, I made another tart and this crust sounded very promising, with the combination of butter and cream cheese. It was easy to put together, I must admit it, but in terms of both flavor and texture I’ve had many, many better ones.

Before you reach for the red square with an “x