Tuesdays With Dorie 39: Tartest Lemon Tart

I'm so glad that we have a break from chocolate this week, and what better to have a break with than lemon? Not just any lemon either, it's a very tart lemon tart. You can find the recipe at Babette's blog, Babette Feasts.

This lemon tart is made from an entire lemon: rind, pith, pulp and juice. What? Yes, I too was afraid at first. I was extremely skeptical about including the pith, so naughtily, I omitted this. I simply zested my lemons, sliced the lemons into quarters, and cut away the pith and removed the seeds. So I know I didn't use the entire lemon, but honestly, I thought it was tart enough without it. Dorie recommends that you blitz the lemon into a smooth puree with a blender, but I randomly forgot I had one and attempted to do it with my food processor. It was clear that this simply wouldn't do, so I used my small blender attachment I usually use for spices. Even with this, I wasn't able to get the lemon really smooth, which ultimately affected my end results. I found the lemon to be quite stringy. It still tasted really delicious, but next time I'll know to keep on blitzing, blitzing, blitzing...

The Perfect Chocolate Mousse

The dessert that I most commonly crave is by far chocolate mousse. Oh it is just so perfect and delicious and chocolately and rich and inviting. I could eat chocolate mousse for the rest of my life. While I would probably devour any type you put in front of me, this is my favourite recipe of all time. Thanks Gordon Ramsay!

Well, the best things in life certainly aren't free... or easy in this case. This mousse is time consuming but very worth it. You start by making a pate a bomb, to which you add some of your favourite melted chocolate (Valrhona Caraibe for me thanks). This is followed by folding in some Italian Meringue, and then finally you gently fold in whipped cream. The texture of this mousse is amazing and it is incredibly stable, meaning you can make it well in advance. I dolloped on a pile of vanilla cream and added some Valrhona crunchy pearls for texture. Delicious.

You can find the recipe in Gordon Ramsay's book Just Desserts.

Tuesdays With Dorie 38: Tiramisu Cake

Strangely enough, I am pretty sure I have never had Tiramisu! How can that be? I am not entirely sure but I can only assume it is for the following reasons; 1) Coffee and me are certainly friends, but nothing more, and 2) I can't remember ever seeing it on a menu. I think this might be because it's more of a classic dessert that has been superseded by all these new fangled things. So thank you to Megan of My Baking Adventures for choosing this recipe.

When I think about it, what is there to be afraid of with Tiramisu? Tender cake soaked with a coffee flavoured simple syrup, billowing with luscious layers of coffee infused mascarpone and cream... I have more than once declared my love for creamy delicious desserts and this Tiramisu cake was perfect! It is incredibly dreamy and I am eagerly looking forward to devouring the rest of it after dinner. Dorie suggests a few different alcohols for the cake, but I went with Kahlua which was perfect.