Bake or Break

Hazelnut Brownie Tart

Brownies are one of my favorite things to bake. Honestly, I like eating them just as much, too. They’re simple to make and they’re packed with chocolate. What more could you want?

It’s easy to dress up a brownie by making it into a tart. While it is still a brownie, somehow it’s just a little fancier. This goes a step further in the dressing up department by adding one of my favorite chocolate companions – hazelnuts.

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Chewy Chess Tart

Several weeks ago, I went to my very first pop-up shop since moving to New York. Martha Stewart opened up a weekend pie and tart shop to celebrate the release of her new cookbook, Martha Stewart’s Pies & Tarts.

Sadly, there was a one-pie-per-person limit. There was a lot of pressure in making just the right choice. After no small amount of deliberation, I chose this Chewy Chess Tart.

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Peanut Butter Pie with Cookie Crust

Peanut butter and chocolate go together about as well as anything else I can think of in the food world. I’ve had a long-time love affair with that combination. There’s nothing fancy about it, but it’s just plain delicious. This pie is no exception.

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Fresh Berry Tart

I do not like summer. Really, what’s all the fuss? It’s just hot, and I don’t like being hot. Of course, if I lived somewhere other than the South, I might feel differently. Here, our summer seems to last half of the year.

I don’t mean to be start out being so negative, but all of my summer-related whining does have a point. There are a couple of things that I like about summer. Well, now that I think about it, there may just be one: fresh berries.

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Classic Apple Pie

Jennifer had her hands full this Thanksgiving as she had taken on the majority of the cooking for 16 people. I was able to take off Wednesday to lend a hand as needed with her numerous concoctions and to work on three of my own. Of course, given my favorite baker’s aversion to raw meat, the turkey was all mine (this year, anyway, as I was not struck down by some wretched little bug). I also made a focaccia seasoned to compliment the dressing Jennifer made (which, unfortunately, never made it in front of a camera). My third contribution was an apple pie. I’ve been itching to make a pie since watching Alton Brown’s pie episode, Crust Never Sleeps, so I based my pie on his method. The crust preparation was discussed at length in another post, so I’ll move right on to the filling.

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Alton Brown’s Pie Crust

Jennifer and I have a strong personal attachment to pies. Sure, it’s more the mathematical π variety, but I’m certainly not one to turn down a pretty piece of pie. Considering that the crust is literally and figuratively the foundation of a good pie, when I was tasked with making an apple pie for our Thanksgiving festivities, I naturally turned to our chief food engineer, Alton Brown. Actually, I’d seen his episode Crust Never Sleeps ages ago and have been yearning to try out his techniques ever since.

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