I learned an important lesson this week. I am not a confectioner.
I’ve been on a baking winning streak. Pretty much everything I’ve made in recent memory has been good. No major mishaps. Maybe I’ve gotten a little cocky, because this week I took on something I’ve never been good at: candy.
I’ve read a lot lately about salted caramels, and they truly appeal to my taste for the combination of salty and sweet. I thought about finding a local shop that sells them, but decided to try making them myself. Big mistake.
It might have been the wicked Austin humidity that was the culprit, though. I realize I’m a bit of a masochist for experimenting with chocolate and sugar when it’s 104 degrees and 70% humidity. But, like I said, I’ve gotten a little cocky and I thought my skills could somehow transcend Mother Nature’s obstacles. I was so wrong.
My caramel, despite reaching the right temperature on my candy thermometer, never set up quite right. I ended up with a big, brown, over-salted square of vaguely chocolatey goo. Erik tried to be polite, saying the flavor reminded him of See’s chocolate lollipops, but I knew it was bad. There was nothing wrong with the recipe, per se, but I lack the patience to try to make these again.
Next up was truffles, something I’ve made many times before without any trouble. In retrospect, I see that the recipe I used wasn’t great, as it called for far less heavy cream than I remember using in past successful attempts, and the directions said to melt the chocolate first, then add the hot cream mixture to it, mixing to combine. In all my experience making ganache, I’ve always added the hot cream to finely chopped chocolate, which melts it. In this case, I ignored the voice in my head that said this ain’t right and followed the instructions as written.
So, what happened? My ganache broke. Never in my life have I broken a ganache. I made two batches of truffles, actually, and only the second batch broke; the first batch was grainy, but edible. I tried in vain to fix the broken ganache, and ended up just chucking it angrily in the trash.
The flavor of the “successful” batch of truffles was flat (despite the spicy kick of cayenne pepper--go figure) and the texture was chalky. The recipe made an even dozen, and nine still sit in my kitchen, untouched. Chocolate never goes untouched in my kitchen. I suspect they will linger there for a couple more days before I heave them in the trash with a great sigh. It will be a long time before I try my hand at candy again.
A couple of friends were coming over for pizza that night and the truffles were supposed to be for dessert. I was reluctant to offer only the disappointing truffles, so, since I only had a couple of hours before they showed up, I scrambled to find something else to make.
Baking Illustrated (a collection of some of the best dessert recipes from Cook’s Illustrated) has a great recipe for a Freeform Summer Fruit Tart that sounded perfect: bursting with fresh in-season fruit, and not too heavy or sweet. I was hesitant about making the dough, though, given my humidity issues that week. Then I remembered that I had some store-bought pie crust in the fridge that would be perfect. (Note: I prefer to make everything from scratch, but not only was my time limited and the weather uncooperative, but I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to use up the food we have before buying new stuff. Hence the store-bought crust.)
I got some ripe black plums and sweet blueberries at Central Market, along with some cream to whip up and serve on the side. I also got a loaf of apple cranberry walnut bread (not for dessert, just because I like it), half of which I ate in the car on the drive home.
The recipe calls for a 12-inch circle of dough--I had two 9-inch circles, so I decided to make two tarts. They were absolutely delicious and a huge hit with everyone.
I like that you can use any combination of stone fruits and berries for the filling. The assembly of the tart was super easy and fast, and that, combined with the unlimited possibilities for fillings, makes this a truly versatile recipe and perfect for company. I will definitely make this one again.
Here is the recipe as I made it:
Plum and Blueberry Tart
(adapted from Baking Illustrated)
2 9” store-bought pie crusts, at room temperature
1 pound of ripe plums, sliced
1 pint fresh blueberries
6 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Unroll the pie crusts and place each on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Pile the fruit in the middle of each crust, to within 2” of the edge, evenly distributing the plums and the blueberries. Sprinkle the fruit in each tart with 2 teaspoons of sugar (use more or less, depending on the sweetness of the fruit), dot with butter, and then fold the edges of the crust over the fruit, overlapping each fold. Brush the folded-over edges with water and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
Bake the tarts for about 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, rotating the pans halfway through. Let the tarts cool on the pans for ten minutes, then either serve warm or transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Serve with honey-sweetened whipped cream.
Makes two tarts, which is enough for 8-10 people.
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