Pear Tarte Tatin

A white plate with a cake on it

My first exposure to Pear Tarte Tatin, was at Sign of the Dove in the 1990’s. I loved the dessert, but not the procedure, as I remember the pear slices would often be less than well-caramelized and occasionally stuck to the pan when unmolding. Years later while looking through Bistro Cooking by Patricia Wells, I…

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The Friday Baking Project

Holiday Challah

PRINT Holiday Challah Yield: 2 loaves  # of Servings:   20 Method: Straight dough Ingredients: 1 packet (.25 oz / 7 g) active dry yeast 1 ¼ cups warm water, approx. 104 °F 4 cups (1.2 lb / 545 g) bread flour 1 ¼ tsp (0.25 oz / 7 g) kosher salt ¼ cup (1.85…

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Holiday Challah  

Holiday Challah bread with apple slice

Traditional Friday evening Challah is a long loaf, formed from a three, four, or six-strand braid. An example of a basic three strand Challah is found in the initial Friday Baking Project blog on 8/7/2021. For the upcoming Rosh Hashana holiday, the beginning of the Jewish New Year, the shape of the challah changes to…

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Plum Torte 2022

Plum Torte

For many in the northeast, late summer/early fall baking always includes the simple, yet wonderful Plum Torte from Marian Burros of the New York Times. According to the paper, this recipe was printed annually from 1983 to 1989, and there was an uproar when they stopped. To pick up where the Times left off and…

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Blueberry Tart

Blueberry Tart round cake

With blueberry muffins a daily offering at Seven Layers, there were always plenty of blueberries around the shop. Wanting a new item for the pastry case toward the end of the first summer, I thought they could be put to use in a new dessert. Researching my favorite baking books, I discovered this Blueberry Tart…

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Pâte Sucrée

A cookie sitting on top of a table next to a rolling pin.

P¢te Sucr©e, sweet tart dough in English, is a rich, crisp pastry dough used for free-standing dessert tarts, baked in a removable bottom tart mold or a flan ring.  This was one recipe search that proved difficult, as there were many failures from usually trusted sources.  I finally found this very good recipe in Martha…

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The Friday Baking Project Plum Galette

PRINT Yield: 1 galette # of Servings: 8 to 10 Ingredients: P¢te Bris©e 2 Filling: ¼ cup (1.75 oz / 51 g) sugar3 tbl (.8 oz / 22 g) ground almonds3 tbl (1.1 oz / 31 g) all-purpose flour 2 lb (907 g) large plums, pitted, quartered and sliced into ¼â€œ pieces, should yield 6…

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Plum Galette

Plum Galette open faced pie

A galette is essentially an open-faced pie, where fruit is placed in the center and the outer edge is brought up to just partially cover the fruit, allowing its simple beauty to shine through.  With no top crust to crimp and seal with the bottom, galettes are much easier than the standard two-crust pie. The…

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Chocolate Cream Pie

Chocolate Cream Pie

Reminiscing over food often includes the occasion and the special people at the table in addition to the food. Excellent meals while traveling, and holiday dinners are examples, where all elements meld into one strong memory. Such is the case with this Chocolate Cream Pie recipe. We had long time Martha’s Vineyard friends over for…

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