With the warm summer months now upon us in the US, it’s only natural that we’re eating a lot more of what’s considered to be “summer fruits”. When it’s a hot day, we naturally gravitate to lighter foods. It’s hard to even consider baking pumpkin pies or making a full-on Thanksgiving dinner when the mercury rises (though it’s sometimes what we contend with in southern California when it’s not uncommon to have temps in the 80’s on Thanksgiving day). Tell me… how can one resist the juicy summer fruits when they’re all over the Farmer’s Markets and grocery stores? Obviously I can’t and sometimes find I get ahead of myself and buy too much! And then I need to be somewhat creative in using them. Fruit tarts are pretty simple and a rather elegant way of turning summer fruits into a beautiful dessert that looks like you spent hours making.
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The end of yet another month is upon us and that means it’s time for yet another Daring Bakers reveal :) The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.
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I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love strawberry shortcake. Once summertime rolls around I can barely suppress the urge to buy strawberries every time I hit the market. There’s so many ways to make shortcake and it’s such a quick and easy dessert that you can throw it together in no time at all. You can buy pound cake (Sara Lee is my favorite brand) or angel-food cake cups but personally I love to make the cake myself. I know… newsflash huh? Last Christmas my mother came to visit and I whipped up a quick cake recipe, baked it in individual molds, topped them with defrosted sliced strawberries and freshly whipped cream and she proclaimed it to be the best dessert I’d ever made for her! But now that it’s strawberry season there’s no need to use frozen berries… and the result is even better :)
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This week’s Tuesday with Dorie hostess was Kelly of the blog Baking With The Boys and she selected the recipe for Mango Bread. This was quite a fun adventure because while I was peeling the mangoes, my wonderful DH came into the kitchen to see what I was up to. He wasn’t sure if he liked mango so I cut him a slice and he loved it! So much so that he asked if he could help me make the bread. I always have fun when DH cooks with me and this time was no exception. He got so into the process that before we knew it he was pretty much doing it all himself… and I was merely providing direction!
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Posted in Tuesdays with Dorie | 12 Comments »
