dessert

Lemon Berry Tart à la Coconut Oil

February 26, 2014

Last weekend we had planned to host a dinner party for family friends, but unexpectedly had to postpone when one of our guests became bedridden with pneumonia. I was totally bummed we had to cancel…obviously because our family friend was sick…but also because I was really looking forward to making this tart. The lemony crème pâtissière topped with fresh berries is perfectly balanced: not too sweet or cloyingly acidic. I made it on a whim last year and it was one of the most memorable desserts I made in 2013. I was about to resign to the fact that I would have to write about it another time when I thought, why not make it anyways? Dinner party or no dinner party, everybody could use a sunny pep right now. We’re approaching the last bit of winter but spring could use a little beckoning with this zingy dessert.

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Chestnut Macarons

December 24, 2013

Until I moved to Paris, chestnuts didn’t hold any holiday significance to me. But two winters of seeing marrons glacés everywhere changed me for the better and now I can truly relate to the words of “chestnuts roasting on an open fire…” It’s Christmas Eve so I’ll keep this post short and sweet. These macarons make up the last third of my cookie list this year. The filling is by far the easiest thing, and although used for macarons here, I can imagine it going well with any sort of wafer, shortbread, or vanilla cake. It may not be the day to try making macarons for the first time, but if, by any chance, there is a can of crème de marron lying around, this is definitely something that can be made in a pinch. Oh, and there’s butter involved…but who DOESN’T have that lying around?

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Sparkly Double Chocolate Cookies

December 23, 2013

Sparkly Double Chocolate Cookies | Jessica's Dinner Party

My favorite cover of the now defunct Gourmet magazine is a red December issue featuring a variety of holiday cookies and sweets. I bought the issue at a time when buying magazines were still a big deal to me. It wasn’t that I didn’t have a few extra dollars to spare, but just that I valued the content of a monthly publication just as much as a cookbook worth ten times more. I’m not as frugal when it comes to purchasing food publications anymore. I probably buy cookbooks more often now than I bought magazines back then, but I do find that the books and periodicals I took a lot of time pondering over, sometimes for days and weeks at a time, are the ones I come back to most often. With all the content available online now, the value of holding onto one magazine issue isn’t as high as it used to be, but still every winter, right before Christmastime, I go back to this red December issue of Gourmet and find inspiration from it over and over again. This year, the second cookie from my cookie box is the double chocolate cookie featured beautifully as part of the cover spread. I’ve been tempted to make these for awhile now…more accurately since I first laid eyes on this issue, but not until this year that I muster my way around to it.

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Rosemary Shortbread this Christmas

December 22, 2013

It’s become a little tradition of mine to bake Christmas gifts for family and friends. I have to admit, homemade gifts are a lot of time and effort, but the joy I get from seeing someone enjoy something I’ve made pales in comparison to the sweat that goes into it! There are an endless amount of ideas as to what to give for the holidays, but this year I decided to be traditional and make cookies. During the few days left leading up to Christmas I’ll share with you the trio of cookies I made for my gift box. Here is this first, my favorite rosemary shortbread.

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My Very First (Strawberry Ginger) Pie

December 15, 2013

A big part of my job has to do with (re)searching. I’m constantly looking for new ideas, looking at other shops for inspiration, and checking a variety of sites to see what’s going on around the food-o-sphere… in other words I do a lot of web surfing. There are quite a few threads and trends going on right now, but one that has really come into full storm is pie, specifically pies by this shop. I had read a couple years ago that pies were going to be the next “it” thing and that time definitely feels like right now. Oddly enough, until this post I had never made a pie before. I know! Never made pie before. There have been tarts, cakes, and cookies, but never pie. I think subconsciously I was a bit scared about attempting this dish. Pie is so all-American, and I am so not. I’ve lived in the states for a good portion of my life, but I’ve never really felt like I was fully a part of that community. I kind of float around somewhere between American, or rather North American and Korean. Neither one defines me completely. Pie dough also seems way harder than making a tart shell. Tarts are more sable cookie-ish while pies are flaky and crisp, much more difficult to achieve! The list can go on, but as those two thoughts dominated the idea of pie in my head I randomly came across The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book. I’m a big believer in fate and “things happening for a reason,” so I took it as a sign. Subconscious pie fears must be conquered!

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dessert

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