Fresh Fruit Tarts

Summer's berry season has long been over, it's starting to get cold outside, and Pastiche, the local dessert store, isn't selling their famous fresh fruit tarts until early next year.

So I decided to make one myself. 

I bought half a dozen medium sized tart pans on Amazon, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, kiwis, navel oranges, a lot of eggs, and started from scratch.

Isn't it amazing how globally dependent we are? True, the strawberries aren't super sweet this time of the year, and mangoes don't really taste as good as those from Thailand but it's still readily available in the big chain grocery stores.

Right now, I'm just plain thankful I've got everything I need for my fruit tarts.

I can't believe it's been years since the last time I made these, and it feels extremely good to create these beautiful looking little fresh bundles of joy.

By the way, as much as I want to make them as visually attractive as possible, a little part inside of me wanted mine covered with slices of golden kiwi...

That didn't happen, but I promise you, it won't be long before I make my own golden kiwi tarts!

Earl Grey Macaroons

Hi there. I've finally made more macaroons since I last remembered. It's true that to be good at something, you'd have to practice over and over again.

However, practice is one thing. Knowing where you've made mistakes is another. 

Please disregard those who claim that French Macaroons are a thing of the past. Last month, I had Bouchon Bakery's Peanut Butter and Jelly Macaroons and I went back in line to get another one right after finishing the one I've devoured!

Macaroons is like ice cream, there's still so many more flavors to experiment on!

So far I've got lemon, chocolate, cappuccino, strawberry, orange, and green tea down. Now here's my attempt on Earl Grey!

By the way, earl grey is my sister's favorite macaroon flavor and it's "slowly becoming" my favorite ice cream flavor.

This particular macaroon had a subtle tea flavor, not overly strong - because I didn't use strong earl grey loose leaf tea in the first place.

A few of my friends commented on my Facebook page that chocolate ganache was the way to go for the filling.

At first I was worried that the chocolate might overpower the delicate flavor of the tea but to my surprise, it came out alright. :)