I’m back from San Francisco, where I got to see a lot of really neat things like artichokes growing on Alcatraz and pistachios growing on a pistachio farm.
I spent a lot of the trip searching for ingredients and equipment that is a tad difficult to find in Toronto, and I am happy to report that I found many great gadgets that I will share with you in the next few weeks.
A couple of days ago I flew from Toronto to San Francisco! My brother promised to take me to Chile once I had graduated high school (this was a promise he made six years ago), but I recently decided to switch destinations to the land of sourdough bread.
Before I left, I made these amazing Ispahan croissants, which were inspired by Pierre Hermé’s croissants of the same name. Inside these croissants is homemade rose-scented almond paste and a delightful raspberry-lychee gelée. These are also glazed with rose icing and crunchy freeze-dried raspberries. The Ispahan croissants are totally amazing and surprisingly not much more difficult to make than regular croissants!
Fruit tarts and pies make for great desserts. They can be stunning and elegant, yet simple and relatively quick to prepare. You can use your favourite fruits, playing with multiple complementary colours and flavours. Alternatively, you could choose one fruit and let it shine, like I did here with this strawberry-white chocolate tart.
The key to elevating your tart or pie from okay to delectable is a perfect crust. A shortcrust pastry that is lightly sweetened and falls apart in your mouth. Choosing a great recipe is easier said than done, however, since they all seem to be so different. Why are there so many variations for pie and tart dough?
