Having found a remote interest in desserts (making them…the eating them interest was always present), Teresa made some delicious Apricot Tea Cakes for our mom’s birthday dinner. Recipe from Tartelette: Apricot And Lavender Brown Butter Tea Cakes

I would show you pictures of what I got Andrew as his birthday gift, but they’re all being returned. Instead, I’ll share one of my all-time favorite photos, taken on the night that Andrew first sang to me. For his birthday two years ago, I gave him a framed print of this photo and I wrote a line from one of the songs he sang below it, “Have mercy on the man who sings to be adored.” It’s still hanging up in the living room.

Over the weekend, our friend Drew visited all the way from Atlanta. Although he did not get any home-cooked meals or even a taste of San Francisco’s dining scene, and instead was subjected to fast food and on-the-mountain hot dogs and chili in Tahoe, we did have one homemade treat…chocolate chip cookies. I made this recipe the night before we left for Tahoe, rolled it up in tin foil and froze it. Then when we were playing Cranium in the Tahoe cabin, I sliced the roll of cookie dough and baked them straight out of the freezer. It worked beautifully. It should be a rule that there’s always homemade cookie dough ready to bake in the freezer.

This recipe is a little more involved than the Nestle Tollhouse recipe I’ve been using for years, but it’s so worth it. The recipe comes from my go-to source for new recipes: Cook’s Illustrated. Actually, I trust almost anything from America’s Test Ktichen, having tried many recipes from my favorite cookbook: America’s Test Kitchen: The New Best Recipe

Here’s the recipe from Cook’s Illustrated:

Makes 16 cookies.   Published May 1, 2009.   From ATK Books.

Avoid using a nonstick skillet to brown the butter; the dark color of the nonstick coating makes it difficult to gauge when the butter is browned. Use fresh, moist brown sugar instead of hardened brown sugar, which will make the cookies dry. This recipe works with light brown sugar, but the cookies will be less full-flavored. For our winning brand of chocolate chips, see related tasting.

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.
2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.
3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.
4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)
5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Sweet Tart Dough (Paté Sucrée)

This is a classic sweet tart dough, the one pastry chefs learn as apprentices. It is really a cookie dough and it is perfect with any sweet tart, whether the filling is fruit, ganache, or custard.

The easiest way to make this dough is in a large-capacity food processor, although it can be made quickly in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Whichever method you choose, just make certain to go easy on the dough – its lovely texture depends on your not overworking the flour. Finally, as you’ll see, this is a large recipe – enough for three crusts. With a dough like this, the texture is always better if you make a large batch, so it’s best not to cut the proportions; rather, make the full recipe and freeze the dough you don’t need at the moment: Frozen tart dough is always a good thing to have on hand.

Ingredients:

2 ½ sticks (10 ounces; 290 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 ½ cups (150 grams) confectioner’s sugar, sifted

Lightly packed ½ cup (2 ¼ ounces; 70 grams) ground blanched almonds

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

3 ½ cups (490 grams) all-purpose flour

To make the dough:

1. Place the butter in the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade and process, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed, until creamy. Add the confectioners’ sugar and process to blend well. Add the ground almonds, salt, and vanilla and continue to process until smooth, scraping the bowl as necessary. Lightly sitr the eggs together with a fork and, with the machine running, add them to the work bowl; process for a few seconds to blend. Finally, add the flour and pulse until the mixture just starts to come together. When the dough forms moist curds and clumps and then starts to form a ball, stop! – you don’t want to overwork it. The dough will be very soft, and that’s just as it should be. (If you want to make the dough in a mixer, use the paddle attachment. First beat the butter until it is smooth, then add the remaining ingredients in the order given above. Just be careful when you add the flour – you must stop mixing as soon as the flour is incorporated.
2. Gather the dough into a ball and divide it into 3 pieces. Gently press each piece into a disk and wrap each disk in plastic. Allow the dough to rest in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, or for up to 2 days, before rolling and baking. (The dough can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to a month.)

To roll and bake tart crusts:

1. For each tart, butter the right-sized tart pan and place it on a parchment-lined baking sheet. If you are making more than one tart, work with one piece of dough at a time.
2. What makes this dough so delicious – lots of butter – also makes it a little difficult to roll. The easiest way to work with paté sucrée is to roll it out between sheets of plastic wrap. Just flatten a large piece of plastic wrap against the counter and roll the dough between that and another piece of plastic. Turn the dough over often so that you can roll it out on both sides, and as you’re rolling, make sure to lift the sheets of plastic several times so that they don’t crease and get rolled into the dough. (If the dough becomes too soft, just slip it, still between plastic, onto a baking sheet and pop it into the fridge for a few minutes.) Remove one sheet of the plastic and center the dough (exposed side down) over the tart pan. Press the dough against the bottom of the pan and up the sides, remove the top sheet of plastic wrap, and roll your rolling pin across the rim of the pan to cut off the excess. If the dough cracks or splits while you’re working, don’t worry – you can patch the cracks with leftover dough (moisten the edges to “glue” them into place). Just be careful not to stretch the dough in the pan (what you stretch now will shrink later). Chill for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator. (Repeat with the remaining dough, if necessary.)
3. When you are ready to bake the crust(s), preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Line the crust with a circle of parchment paper or foil and fill with dried beans or rice.
4. Bake the crust (or crusts) for 20 to 25 minutes, or just until very lightly colored. If the crust needs to be fully baked, remove the parchment and beans and bake the crust for another 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden. Transfer to a rack to cool.

KEEPING: Wrapped airtight, the dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 2 days or frozen for a month. Frozen disks of dough take 45 to 60 minutes at average room temperature to reach a good rolling-out consistency. Baked crusts can be kept uncovered at room temperature for a bout 8 hours.

Pastry Cream

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cups (300 grams) whole milk

1 moist, plump vanilla bean, split and scraped, or 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 large egg yolks

½ cup (100 grams) sugar

3 tablespoons (30 grams) cornstarch

1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (9 ½ ounces; 160 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature

To make the pastry cream:

1. Bring the milk and vanilla bean (pulp and pod) to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cover the pan, turn off the heat, and set aside for 10 minutes. Or, if you are using vanilla extract, just bring the milk to a boil and proceed with the recipe, adding the extract before you add the butter to the hot pastry cream.
2. Working in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan, whisk the yolks, sugar, and cornstarch together until thick and pale. Whisking all the while, very slowly drizzle a quarter of the hot milk onto the yolks. Remove and discard the vanilla pod (or save it for another use).
3. Put the pan over medium heat and, whisking vigorously and without stop, bring the mixture to the boil. Keep the mixture at a boil, whisking energetically, for 1-2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and scrape the pastry cream into a clean bowl. Allow the pastry cream to cool on the counter for about 3 minutes.
4. Cut half the butter (5 ½ tablespoons; 80 grams) into 5 or 6 chunks and stir the chunks into the hot pastry cream, continuing to stir until the butter is melted and incorporated. At this point, the cream needs to be thoroughly chilled. You can either set the bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice cubes and cold water and, to ensure even cooling, stir the cream from time to time, or refrigerate the cream, in which case you should press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal.
5. When the pastry cream is cold, scrape it into the bowl of a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Put the remaining 5 ½ (80 grams) butter in a small bowl and, using a rubber spatula, work the butter until it is soft and creamy. With the mixer on high speed, gradually beat the softened butter into the pastry cream. Keep whipping until the pastry cream is light, smooth, and satiny. The pastry cream can be used now or chilled until needed. (The cream can be kept tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or packed airtight and frozen for 1 month. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator and whip before using to return it to its smooth consistency.)

To assemble the tart:

Wait until the tart shell has cooled. Then spoon the pastry cream into the shell and even out with a spatula. Top with fruit, chocolate shavings, and powdered sugar as desirable. Enjoy!

If you’re in a beginner or looking to take your photography to the next (manual) level, this is a great class for you. I had a blast when I took it and I only wish there was a Photo 103 course.

Here are a couple photos I took in her class:

This photo got a shoutout on Nicole’s blog.

Prosciutto & Mozzarella di Bufalo with sundried tomatoes and pesto from Le Pain Quotidien in Old Town Alexandria

For dessert, we departed from the traditional Chinese dessert and opted for a Coconut Cream Pie from Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. I think my mom “forgot” to make dessert just so I’d bring something super sweet from Tartine.