Black Fruit Tart: Figs, Grapes, and Blackberries

Years ago, there was one particular tree in my Berkeley neighborhood that dripped with Black Mission figs all throughout the summer. Its proximate sidewalk was littered with sweet, rotting fruit—this was prior to the agricultural foraging maps that are all up on the internet now—and every walk or bike ride braked for a figgy snack. It was cherished excess.

When I finally moved out east, I was sorely disappointed to learn that figs are somewhat of a rarity ‘round these parts, and good figs are even more of a wonder. But a few weeks ago, our oyster shucker and resident knower of things was explaining an island off the coast of Maryland where an acquaintance is growing a whole orchard of four heritage fig breeds. This mythical person infrequently gives cuttings to compelling Baltimore folks, apparently. And a few days ago, our barista brought in a bucket of the most beautiful, tiny, yellow and purple figs foraged from my neighborhood (BUT WHERE?!). So maybe the figs aren’t so plenteous as be sidewalk litter, but they’re here.

Originally plotted to be a breezy peach and blueberry pie, this tart happened when my market proffered black seedless grapes, blackberries, and Celeste figs all on the same table. So rich that it’s almost savory, this is a bitter chocolate and red wine tart, or a sitting outside at 3:00 a.m. talking with your roommate and not missing California tart. A west coast dessert with a dark and jammy east coast edge. The rich fruit combination won’t be for everyone, but the fruit + jam technique will work to showcase whatever your summer has on hand, be it nectarines and blueberries, plums and currants, peaches and more peaches, or your long-lost favorite fruit. The method, inspired by Kim Boyce, is also here with an apricot blackberry tart, and here, with an apricot sugar plum tart.

Black Fruit Tart

Makes two

1 full recipe pastry dough (below)

24 to 30 figs, stemmed and halved if small, quartered if large

1 cup blackberries

1 cup black seedless grapes, whole

1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons black currant jam

4 tablespoons sugar

pinch salt

1 egg + milk + large-grain sugar for finishing

1. Divide your pastry in two, and work with one piece at a time. Roll out your dough to two 15-inch circles; trim rough edges. Slide onto the back of two parchment-lined sheet trays and chill while you prepare your filling.

2. Add your washed and cut fruit to a large bowl, and toss with two tablespoons of jam, your sugar, and salt.

3. Smear a quarter-cup of jam across each pastry round, one at a time, and evenly divide and arrange the fruit in a circle, leaving a two- to three-inch border of crust. It’s okay to freewheel it here: the piled look is just fine. Fold the edges of your crust up, pleating as you go, then freeze for about a half-hour to rechill your dough.

4.  Meanwhile preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Whisk your egg with a splash of milk until no streaks remain, and brush the top of your crust with it. Toss your large-grain sugar generously and evenly over the tart crust and center. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until crust is deep golden brown and filling is bubbling. Can serve hot out of the oven or cooled to room temperature!

Pastry Dough

From Apt. 2B Baking Co. and I Made That!

12 ounces pastry flour

1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

8 ounces (two sticks) very cold butter

4 to 6 ounces ice water

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

1.  On a clean counter, dump your flour and salt; mix it around with a bench scraper. Chop one stick of butter into quarters, and cut it into the flour with your bench scraper. When butter is about the size of lima beans, cut in the second stick, pulling, folding, and tossing with the bench scraper as you go, until the butter is about the size of quarters. Add the vinegar to the ice water.

2. Using your fingers, flick the water onto the butter-flour mixture, gently folding with the bench scraper all the while. You have added enough water once the mixture holds together when squeezed; it should still be very shaggy.

3. Next, push the butter into the flour. Using the heel of your palm, push a small section of the dough down and away from you; this creates long layers of butter in your dough, which translates to long flaky layers in your crust. Use your bench scraper to scrape up the smear, and put it a bowl. Repeat until all the dough has been smeared and you have a bowlful of long, buttery layers. Push these into one mass, divide in half, wrap each in plastic, flatten into disks, and chill at least two hours, or better yet overnight.

Stone Fruit Hazelnut Tart with Corn Flour Crust

Time really is a luxury these days. It’s rich to even notice when I’m too busy and to be able to contrast it with my more free-wheeling moments, but damned if I ain’t truly swamped. When my folks came out to visit a few weeks ago, my dad set about installing a set of gorgeous shelves in our sweet little kitchen. I thought I’d fill them up right quick with kitchen paraphernalia, but they’re stocked with nary a thing as I’ve hardly stepped foot in that bad boy since moving to Baltimore. Well, unless you count traversing the kitchen on the way to the back porch for too many 4:00 a.m.-beers and Spray Tan cocktails.*

This tart, then, is sort of a time suck miracle, borne primarily of the guilt of buying way too damn much produce at the farmers market that I found en route to Woodberry. These yellow egg plums—firm, fleshy, and sweet—sat sad on the counter next to a few wilting white peaches before I eventually mustered the stomach to be in My Kitchen on a rare day off from The Kitchen. And so I took a page from Yossy’s book, and cobbled the thing together as quickly as possible—press-in shortbread crust, no macerating, no chilling, a few ground hazelnuts because they’re the best—and there you have it. A surprisingly quick, easy, and downright good summer dessert: the barely sweetened fruit sings above the hazelnuts, and the corn flour tart shell is like one big salty-sweet cookie. Get busy or don’t, but definitely make this when you’re looking for an easy way to showcase that summer stone fruit.

*Ahem: coined by my sister in honor of my fantastic roommate, the Spray Tan is tequila, lime, and pompelmo, usually accompanied by a watermelon snack. Get it.

Stone Fruit Tart
Adapted from Apt. 2B Baking Co.

For the crust

4 ounces corn flour (or very fine cornmeal)

4 ounces all purpose flour

1.75 ounces sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 ounces butter, melted and cooled

1 egg yolk

1. In a medium bowl, stir the flours, sugar, salt and lime zest. Make a well in the center of the mixture and add in the olive oil, butter and egg yolk. Stir gently to combine.

2. Turn the dough out into a 10-inch removable bottom tart pan and pat it evenly on the bottom and up the sides. Pop into the fridge while you prepare the filling.

For the Filling

2.5 pounds plums or stone fruit of your choosing

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Scant 1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts

1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons demerara sugar, divided

1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast hazelnuts on a baking sheet for eight to ten minutes until the skins are darkened. Wrap them with a clean kitchen towel, let steam for a couple of minutes, then rub together to remove the skins.  Add the nuts and 1/4-cup sugar to your food processor, and pulse until nuts are very finely ground. Set aside.

2.   Turn oven up to 450 degrees F, and quarter your pit fruit while you wait for the oven to heat. Spread the ground nuts evenly over the bottom of your corn flour crust, and arrange plums and peaches evenly on top, in three, tight rings. Top the fruit with remaining two tablespoons of sugar and dot with the butter. Slide tart onto a cookie sheet, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until crust is deep golden and fruit is baked and bubbling. This tart is best if eaten within a day or two.

Gérard's Mustard Tart with Olive Oil Crust

Ever since my sister and I nearly killed our dad with butter five years ago, I try to lay off the baked goods around my folks. Turns out that creamy Brussels sprouts, cake, pie, and steak do not a healthy ticker make, so we do our best to leave the bad (aherm, good) shit at home when hanging with mom and dad. We need to work on roughage ‘round these parts, and if that means slapping some vegetables into a barely eggy, cheeseless tart, then so be it.
 
Dorie Greenspan, of whom I didn’t realize a full-fledged admiration until recently, shared this tart over on Bon Appétit and in Around My French Table a few years ago. She winds a fancy-free yarn about its French provenance and mentions that it’s an autumn take on a summer tart made with tomatoes (definitely making that one come July). Fancy-free, but not butter-free, so we made this with a dad-safe olive oil press-in crust instead; it’s probably not actually healthier, but it felt mighty fine to eat. In the end, the whole she-bang tasted, for some reason, like chicken noodle soup, and in this blustery San Diego weather (har har), that makes it just the roughage ticket.

 
Gérard's Mustard Tart
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan, by way of Bon Appétempt

This easy olive oil press-in crust ended up tasting like a delicious cracker, which suited this tart just great. Add some chopped herbs or cracked pepper if you're looking for an extra kick! Another added benefit of this crust is that it cuts the make time down by a couple hours: just mix the dough and go. As for the filling, I really liked it, but would have loved it had I caramelized or browned the veggies over the stove instead of steaming. I've included browning instructions below for those who suspect they'd prefer it that way too.

For olive oil press-in crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose or pastry flour
Heaping 1/2 teaspoon flaky sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 cup olive oil
3 to 4 tablespoons cold milk or water

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Pour olive oil and first three tablespoons of milk in, and whisk with a fork until mixture is evenly blended and somewhat moist. If need be, add an extra tablespoon or two of milk to get moist, crumbly consistency.

2.  Press dough crumbles into a 9-inch tart pan, using a metal measuring cup to ensure even edges that are flat against the bottom and sides. Pop into the fridge while you prepare the filling.

For filling
3 thin carrots, trimmed and peeled
3 thin leeks, white and light green parts only, cut lengthwise in half and washed
2 rosemary or thyme sprigs
3 large eggs
6 tablespoons crème fraîche or heavy cream (I used light sour cream)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, or to taste
2 tablespoons grainy mustard, preferably French, or to taste
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, optional
Sea salt and white pepper, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

1.  Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper.

2.  Cut the carrots and leeks into slender bâtons or sticks: First cut the carrots lengthwise in half, then place the halves cut side down on the cutting board and cut crosswise in half or cut into chunks about three inches long. Cut the pieces into 1/ 8- to 1/4-inch-thick matchsticks. Cut the leeks in the same way. (Make sure that they’re really only about three inches long, otherwise the veggies are difficult to spoke.)

3.  Fit a steamer basket into a saucepan. Pour in enough water to come almost up to the steamer, cover, and bring to a boil. Drop the carrots, leeks, and one rosemary or thyme sprig into the basket, cover, and steam until the vegetables are tender enough to be pierced easily with the tip of a knife, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain the vegetables and pat them dry; discard the rosemary sprig.

Alternately: Saute the carrots and leeks over medium-high heat in a large pan coated with olive oil. If you go this route, do your best to keep the leek layers together; cook the vegetables until they start to brown, about 12 minutes; and add the chopped herb sprig to the filling instead of the steamer basket. I’ll cook it this way next time.

4.  In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs together with the crème fraîche or heavy cream. Add the mustards, season with salt and white pepper, and cayenne if you’re using—mustard has a tendency to be salty, so proceed accordingly—and whisk to blend. Taste and see if you want to add a little more of one or the other mustards.

5.  Put the tart pan on the lined baking sheet and pour the filling into the unbaked crust. Arrange the vegetables in and over the filling, pushing them down into the filling as needed; I used all my carrots but had extra leeks, even though I really crammed ‘em in there. Top with the remaining rosemary or thyme sprig, and give the vegetables a sprinkling of salt and a couple cracks of black pepper.

6.  Bake the tart for about 30 minutes, or until it is uniformly puffed and lightly browned here and there, and a knife inserted into the center of the custard comes out clean. I ran mine under the broiler for about 30 seconds at the end, just to give it a bit deeper of a browning. Transfer the tart to a cooling rack and let it rest for five minutes before removing the sides of the pan. Serve hot, warm, or at room temperature. Will keep for three to four days, covered in the fridge.

Super Tangy Lemon Tart

Plans, plans, plans! My life is awash with plans! The transition from farmy cheesemaker to benevolent loafer and serial planner has been tough, but there are at least a few very wonderful things I'm anticipating for the year ahead. Among them is an impending, long-overdue trip home to California where I will commence immediate and sustained burrito annihilation and get some welding and woodworking lessons from my pops; Bridge lessons have been threatened by Mom. There's a sewing boot camp that I'll be attending, along with a handful of bakeshop classes, but more than anything I'm just looking forward to spending some quality time with my folks after what has been years of full-time-job-determined, one-week visits. That's the very great upside of my willing unemployment, or rather, freelancing.  

The other, more relevant-to-you upside is the abundance of time during which I can experiment with baking. This seriously tangy lemon tart, for instance, was failed, fixed, redone, redone again, and tested one last time before arriving here in all its supremely puckering glory. No cream, no meringue, plenty of zest; my sister said it made her sweat. It was also the first thing I ate the morning after New Year's, and I daresay it was a mighty fine, mouth-punching way to kick off another year. Onward!
 

Super Tangy Lemon Tart
Crust adapted from Alice Medrich, filling cobbled together from various sources

This is my very favorite tart crust these days. It doesn't shrink an iota, doesn't need to be refrigerated or rolled out, and the whole thing tastes like a vanilla cookie. What's not to love? 

For the crust
8 tablespoons (one stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour

For the filling
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons, preferably organic
3/4 cup lemon juice, from about 6 lemons
1/2 cup granulated sugar (increase by 2 tablespoons if you don’t adore tanginess)
8 tablespoons (one stick) unsalted butter, cut into small bits
3 large egg yolks
3 large whole eggs
Lemon peel and powdered sugar for garnish, if desired

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk melted butter, sugar salt, and vanilla into a cohesive paste. Add flour and whisk until fully combined. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of an eight-inch tart tin. Be patient, and there is only just enough crust to cover the tin. Pop into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until crust is deep golden brown.

2.  Meanwhile, combine lemon zest, juice, sugar, and butter into a medium saucepan. On the side, whisk egg yolks and egg into a medium heat-safe bowl. Over medium heat, bring the lemon mixture a simmer, then slowly pour the mixture into the egg and egg yolks, whisking all the while. Return the mixture to the pan and continue cooking until filling is thickened, about six minutes; be sure to whisk the whole time! Set a fine-mesh strainer over the heat-safe bowl you were already using, and press filling through to catch any egg solids that might have formed. Be sure to scrape any filling off the bottom of the strainer.

3.  By this time your crust should be finished baking. Pour the hot filling into the crust, smooth the top with a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon, and bake for five minutes just to set the filling. Allow to cool to room temperature for at least an hour or two, then pop into the fridge or serve at room temperature. Tart will keep for three or four days, covered in the fridge.

Malted Crisp Tart with Peanut Butter Maltballs

Dudes, this right here is last-meal type material. It's sort of involved—several bowls and pans and such—but it's this kind of methodical, delicious madness that makes the last day on earth worth living, right? Right! Say it with me: PEANUT BUTTER MALTBALLS. We're spending our end time wrapping presents and plotting Christmas brunch, but that's because we already survived our apocalyptic gauntlet when my aggressively jet-lagged family collided into a small rental house in DC last night. There were eyerolls, barks, threats, and meatloaf, but I sustained my sanity on memories of a just-finished road trip and this tart, enjoyed a few days prior in North Carolina with Joey's equally vibrant yet much more polite family. And that trip to North Carolina, along with our visits to Brooklyn, Philadelphia, DC, Richmond, and all the attendant pie shops, is really worth a few words, but my family is in town and we've got nerves to step on and cards to play. If you're hunkered down somewhere with your family, do yourselves the service of making this tart; it's involved and incredible and definitely worth it. Happy end times!

Malted Crisp Tart
Adapted from Baked Explorations, one of my very favorites 
Everyone online raved about this malted brown sugar crust, but it did not turn out for me which is totally my fault. I made the crust by hand and almost certainly overworked the butter, so it pooled in a sticky mess in my tart pan; I ended up using an easy press-in shortbread crust at the last minute since this tart was on a timeline! You’ll likely have no problem, but in the event that you do, this quick shortbread crust does the trick.  

For the crust
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt salt
1 tablespoon malted milk powder (Carnation brand is pretty easy to find at major grocery outlets)
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into half-inch pieces
1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

For the caramelized crispies
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups crispy rice cereal

For the ganache
8 ounces good-quality milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons malted milk powder

For the malted pastry cream
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar
One large egg yolk
One large egg
1 tablespoon + 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons malted milk powder
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
5 ounces heavy cream 
In addition: 1 cup crushed malt balls, along with any number of malt balls for decorating the top. I used peanut butter malt balls!

1. Make the crust: spray or butter a 9-inch tart pan. Pulse all of the crust ingredients in your food processor until you get a crumbly mixture, then press the crumbs into your tart pan; use a metal dry measure cup to press the bottom and sides to ensure even thickness. Put the tart crust into the freezer for at least 20 minutes. Or, wrap the unbaked crust and keep it in the freeze for up to a few days if you’re looking to make this ahead.

2.  Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove tart pan from the freezer, put it on a baking sheet, and bake it in the oven until golden brown, between 20 and 30 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

3. Make the caramelized crispies: line a cookie sheet with a Silpat or aluminum foil sprayed with vegetable oil. In a small saucepan, add the water and sugar, and bring to a boil over low heat; allow to boil for one minute. Add the rice cereal and stir with a rubber spatula until cereal is dry. Continue to cook, stirring all the while, until wisps of smoke rise and sugar turns deep amber. Stir to ensure that all the crispies are evenly coated, then dump out onto lined cookie sheet; break up the pieces so they don’t clump. This process will take about 30 minutes.

4. Make the ganache: place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, whisk the cream and malt powder then bring to a simmer over low heat. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate, allow to stand for two minutes, then whisk until smooth.

5.  Pour the ganache into your cooled tart shell, and press 1.5 cups of caramelized crispies and the crushed malt balls into the ganache. Pop into the fridge to cool and set while you make the malted cream.

6.  Make the malted diplomat cream: place a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl. In
a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, egg, egg yolk, cornstarch, and the malted milk powder until it becomes pale yellow, about one minute. Then, in a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium heat. Whisk half the warm milk into the egg mixture, then pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Whisk the saucepan constantly until the mixture thickens--it will seem like a thin pudding--about five minutes. Take the cream off the heat nd whisk in the butter and vanilla. Pour the pastry cream through the sieve to remove any milk solids. Stick a piece of plastic wrap right on top of the pastry cream, and chill for at least an hour.

7.  Finish assembly: whisk the heavy cream in a small bowl until soft peaks form. Whisk the pastry cream to lighten it, then fold in the whipped cream. Top the tart with with diplomat cream, and let set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving. When ready, garnish with leftover malt balls and caramelized crispies. Tart will keep for about three days in the fridge, covered, but is best on days one and two.

Make ahead: The crust, crispies, and diplomat cream can all be made ahead of time and put together a few hours before serving. Just remember that it’s best if the crust and ganache are given ample time to cool before you add the pastry cream.

Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt Tartlets

Guns! Brandy! Pie! Thanksgiving this year totally exceeded my expectations and got progressively more delicious and fun with each hour of the day. No one got punched, I didn’t kill any birds, the food was some of the best Thanksgiving fare I’ve ever had, and the desserts were off the wall. Sandwiched between it all was some chill time in front of the boob-tube and a bewitching soundtrack of lady crooners, amplified by mine and Emily’s homebrew, spiked cider, and endless mugs of coffee brandy. 

After a morning marathon of besotted cooking and an utterly indulgent brunch, we soldiered on to prepare the main Thanksgiving feast. Or rather, Jen and Dave soldiered on, while I diddled away with the desserts and cajoled Jen’s sous chefs into shooting cat-food targets with me out back. Then, with twenty entrees and two football games under our belts, we finally collapsed around the dinner table to gobble up twelve hours of work and toast to our hard-won, most excellent farming season.
  
I always worry that my desserts will be a letdown, and sometimes they are (last year’s cranberry frangipane tart, for instance). But this year, mercifully, all three desserts totally ruled. Not everyone had the stomach for pie at the end of the night, but Dave, Daniel, and I somehow managed to slowly shovel down sampler plates of the sweet potato buttermilk pie, apple cranberry pie, and these chocolate caramel sea salt tartlets. With whipped cream, no less! It was a heroic end to a delirious day from which I am still recovering. It hasn't stopped me from scarfing down the leftovers though, and it shouldn’t stop you from planning some holiday baking. Start with these! They were delicious insanity, especially with a bit of ground coffee sprinkled on top, and they would definitely be a welcome addition to any upcoming holiday tables you might be setting.
Hope you enjoyed a beautiful Thanksgiving!

Chocolate Caramel Tartlets
Recipe adapted from Claudia Fleming's The Last Course
 
Fleming uses a chocolate tart dough in her recipe. I substituted my favorite sweet tart dough because chocolate tart doughs (that aren't made with crushed cookies, that is) always seem a bit "blah" to me. Her original also calls for mini muffin tins or two-inch tart pans to make 24 mini tarts, but alas we don't have any. Were I to make this again--and I will!--I'd do it with a full-size ten-inch pan anyway.

For Tart Dough
9 tablespoons very cold butter (I prefer salted)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 large egg

Caramel Filling
1/2 cup water
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup light corn syrup (you can use Lyle’s Golden Syrup if you’d rather!)
1/2 cup (one stick) salted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons creme fraiche

Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
Large-grain sea salt, for garnish
Coarsely crushed coffee beans, for garnish (optional)

1.  Make tart dough: Cube butter into one-inch pieces and chill in freezer while you ready everything else. In the bowl of a food processor, mix flour, sugar, and salt. Sprinkle butter over top, and pulse about 10 to 15 times until butter is between the size of peas and oatmeal. Use a fork to break up egg in a small bowl, and pour a bit at a time through the feed tube, pulsing once after each addition. When the egg is all in, pulse the dough for ten seconds at a time until it comes together. Right before you get to this point, the mixer will change sounds and essentially start grumbling at you. Dump dough onto sheet of plastic wrap, lightly push together, and chill for at least one hour, preferably longer.

2.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees. For four-inch tartlets, divide dough into six equal pieces. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough hunks one by one to six-inch circles and fit them into tart pans, pressing along the bottom and up to sides to ensure an even fit. Roll your rolling pin across the top to cut the dough and make smooth edges. Prick the bottoms all over with the tines of a fork and firm up in freezer for 30 minutes. Butter the shiny side of six pieces of aluminum foil, press into bottom and up sides of tart dough, then bake tartlets for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake until golden, about ten minutes more. Tart can also be made in a ten-inch tart pan.

3.  Prepare filling: Place water, sugar, and corn syrup in a large saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, swirling the pan occasionally, until you have a dark amber caramel, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from heat and immediately and carefully (!!!) whisk in the butter, cream, and creme fraiche. Continue whisking until mixture is smooth. Divide the caramel among tart pans while still warm, filling them almost to the top. Let cool until caramel is set, about 45 minutes. You can also make the caramel up to five days ahead of time and refrigerate it; just reheat it until pourable.

4.  Make ganache: In a saucepan, bring the cream to a boil over medium heat. Meanwhile, place your chopped chocolate in a bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and let sit for two minutes, then whisk vigorously until smooth. Immediately pour chocolate over the tarts. Allow to set for about two hours, then top with big grains of salt and coarsely ground coffee when ready to serve. Our tarts kept covered at room temperature for four days.

Date and Brown Butter Tart with Bourbon Whipped Cream

It was surely some sight last week in the harbor of Belfast when four pajama-clad arms reached out from the cap of Emily’s 1988 Toyota Hilux pickup to unlatch the bed at 7:00 on a Monday morning. A group of young fisherman had been hollering about barnacles while the man behind the information desk arrived to raise the flag, and Emily and I hopped somewhat sheepishly and bedraggled to the cab of the truck so we could drive away for breakfast. I was expecting hoots and hollers or at least a “hello,” but the fisherdudes surveyed us only casually before we drove away.

That was the Monday after Maine’s thrity-sixth annual Common Ground Country Fair. Along with our farming compatriots, Emily—the new cheesemaking apprentice, as I am the new sort of junior cheesemaker—and I captained a few tables and sold cheese at the Maine Cheese Guild booth for all three days of the fair. The fair was some sight to behold—and behold is all we really did since there wasn’t much time to experience much beyond our booth—with farmers, businessowners, artists, and craftspeople from all over the state coming together to hock their wares and promote all the of stellar stuff that’s going on in Maine. I did manage to escape to a beginning beekeeping course, catch a few moments of clog dancing, and pet the cashmere goat kids who would soon be turned to pelts.

In any case, I made this tart several weeks ago and since then have had a serious baking confidence crisis, but working from dawn until beyond dusk has made sharing timely stories and baked goods more difficult. So, blog, say farewell to Arlene, who’s left for a job at Appleton Farm in Ipswich (!), say howdy to your new junior cheesemaker—me!—who is gracefully-ish bumbling through havarti and managing some cheeseplant mischief, and meet Emily, our new cheeseaking apprentice who is awesome. AND THIS TART. Brown butter, dates, crispy top, chewy insides; don’t sleep on it. It’s so easy and hugely delicious—it would be a real shame to pass this one up while you’re enjoying your own very busy-ass life!

Date and Brown Butter Tart

Adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin, one of my favorites!

1 recipe tart dough or half of your favorite pie crust recipe
40 to 45 Deglet Noor dates, pitted
1/2 vanilla bean, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9 tablespoons salted butter
2 extra-large eggs
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1 tablespoon raw or large-grain sugar

Bourbon Whipped Cream
1 cup whipping cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons bourbon, or to taste

1.  Prebake tart shell: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Roll out your tart dough to a ten-inch circle and line an eight-inch tart pan with it. Prick the bottom all over with a fork and pop into the freezer for a half-hour. Once chilled, press a well-buttered sheet of foil to the dough and up the edges, and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another ten until crust is golden.

2.  Make tart: Reduce heat to 350 degrees F. Place dates about a half-inch apart in concentric circles on tart shell. Slice open vanilla bean and scrape out pulp onto butter. Run the knife through the butter to ensure that you don't lose any pulp. Heat a medium saute pan over medium heat for one minute. Add the butter and the vanilla bean pod to the pan, and cook for six to ten minutes until the butter browns and smells nutty. Discard the vanilla pod.

3. Whisk the eggs and two-thirds cup of granulated together in a bowl. Whisk in the flour and salt, and stir in the warm butter. Pour the batter over the dates in the tart shell. Sprinkle the single tablespoon of large-grain sugar over the top. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling puffs up, browns, and is set. Cool the tart for at least 20 minutes before serving.

4. Make whipped cream: Beat heavy cream with egg beaters or in a stand mixer on high until frothy. Add sugar and bourbon and continue whipping until soft peaks form, about five minutes. Serve!