For the past month or so, I've been spending a lot of time at Border's bookstore. It's always upsetting to see an iconic company go out of business, but when it comes to books, the scavenger in me can't help but to look for some good deals. I've purchase a huge stack of books during the past couple of weeks, most having to do with gardening, farming or food. I was really excited to try this fresh fruit tart recipe from a beautifully photographed French cookbook that I had snagged at a discount.
Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving as the recipe for this tart resulted in a creme en glaze filling and crust that were rather disappointing all around. And now the hard part begins. As I'm sure many of you can relate, I find that I end up tweaking about 95% of the recipes that I come across. When you think about it, aren't all good recipes just mediocre ones that have been reworked?
This is one the things I find most exciting about cooking, which I tend to view as an evolutionary process. I would love to write a cookbook that traces how some of the most famous dishes in the world have evolved through the ages. I'm sure the vanilla ice cream recipes circulating today vary greatly from the ones printed a century ago.
In any case, if you have killer fresh fruit tart that you would like to share with the rest of us, please do!
Its too bad you didn't care for the end results of your recipes! I totally agree that most recipes I end up tweaking. More of this, less of that, maybe a dash of this, etc. But it sure does look gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThis is fantastic! I too have been over to our local Borders several times, but the books that I like here are barely discounted so far, no crafting, preserving, cooking, or gardening more than 20% off, but yet the place is still a madhouse!
ReplyDeleteI've tried the same thing. My first encounter was with my Grandma's frosting for pumpkin cookies. There are tricks that the books don't tell you about. That tart sure looks good.
ReplyDeleteI usually use an almond-flavored custard, short dough and soft berries. I think apples would be too hard but very ripe pears would work. I use Bo Friberg's book but it's a tome! Anna in MD.
ReplyDeleteI view recipes as a "guide" or a starting place! LOL! I never seem to quite follow the exact details of a recipe as invariably I need to do some substitution or see an opportunity to modify it a bit right from the start.
ReplyDeleteThat tarts sure looks tempting!
I'm curious to see the recipes people share.
ReplyDeleteI have a recipe for a tart originally from Martha Stewart that uses an almond cream filling. It is very versatile and delicious! http://henbogle.com/2006/07/12/cherry-tart/
ReplyDeleteYou probably could use the almond filling with the above tart and add the glaze to make the fruit colors pop. I just use my favorite butter pie crust recipe, because, really, what tastes better than butter, sugar and flour, anyway?