TWD - Tarte Fine

For this week of TWD Leslie of Lethally Delicious decided on Tarte Fine - go to her page to find the recipe, or flip through Dorie's book to page 315.

Tarte Fine is a french classic - the recipe says. When I read the ingredients and this introduction, I had a certain picture in mind. A picture of a very thin tarte crust (the "fine" part in the Tarte Fine, I thought), layered with apples. Well, the second part of my guess was right, but the "crust" should be puff pastry.

Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of puff pastry. It has a lot of fat and calories for not so enormously much taste. In this respect it reminds me very much on a croissant. When I see a croissant I always ask myself why I should eat something as fat and full of calories as a muffin, but without any taste of itself (despite, maybe, the taste of butter).
That doesn not mean I never eat croissants :o]
And it does not mean I didn't try the Tarte Fine...

The second point why I am not a huge fan of puff pastry is that it's not a good keeper. I always bake on Sunday and bring the treats to work the next day, so anything puff pastry is always difficult and never a big success.

The Tarte Fine didn't taste bad, but it had the looks of a cold Pizza and wasn't a big hit around here. Maybe it didn't help I used the jam as a bottom layer between the pastry and the apples...

So. Let's just not speak too much about this tarte and start thinkig about the next apple recipe, which is just one week ahead with the Double Apple Bundt Cake to come!


PS: Don't forget to visit Leslie's page anyways! She is one of the nicest, most helpful and most awesome bakers of all these awesome TWD-ers!

PPS.: Now that I had a look at Leslie's page and some other TWD-bakers I found out what the Tarte Fine should actually look like! And as I had some puff pastry left, I just tried it out. Looks much better! Now my colleagues will have to deal with another Tarte tomorrow...

TWD Rewind - Peanut Butter Crisscrosses

I am not going to leave my link in this weeks TWD-"Leave your Link"-section because I made a catch-up. I missed the cookies Jasmine of Jasmine Cuisine  picked two weeks ago. But I adore peanut butter (and anything peanut in general) so it was no question I am going to catch up with those one day. Additionally, I do not really like coffee-taste. Funnily, very often when coffee-including recipes are scheduled for TWD I nevertheless decide to follow them - and often they turn out great.

However.

Two weeks ago I missed the Crisscrosses because I was in Paris (no misery, I know). And this week I was a bit in a hurry, because a close friend stopped by for the week, so there was no chance I am going to do both, the cookies and the Coffee Break Muffins Rhiani of Chocoholic Anonymous picked this week. You can find the recipe on her page or in Dorie's book on page 15.
And you can follow all the honest TWD'ers who made the right recipe for this week.

I got to say that I was as sorry two weeks ago not to bake along with Jasmine, as I am this week for not going down the road with Rhiani. Both are incredible bakers and have wonderful homepages! Additionally, Jasmine is one of the few European participants and I am always surprised they often chose recipes with very typical american ingredients, just like peanut butter. Strange, isn't it?

Well. The crisscrosses turned out just as expected. Incredible. In-cre-dible! Peanuts. Butter. Peanutbutter. Perfect.
The recipe gives a whole lot od cookies, about 40-50. My colleagues really loved them, and nevertheless there were some left in the evening. But be sure, it was not the falt of the cookies, but of the quantity.


Do it again, again, and again...

TWD - Peach Upside Downer

Cranberries are not very common in Austria. No, that's not completely  true. In fact, something very similar  (lingonberry or cowberry or lowbush/mountain cranberry - that's what the dictionary tells me is the correct translation for- what I have in mind) is very common as jelly to accompany game. But it is almost impossible to by fresh ones, and frozen are just not available. You can have them dried or as jam. But both are not suitable for the Cranberry Upside Downer, the recipe Sabrina of Superfluous chose for this weeks TWD. (find the recipe on her page or in Dorie's book on page 206).

So I had to opt for the Playing around version of this easy and fast-made cake, the Peach Upside Downer. It is the end of the summer, but just perfect to give it a last summerly treat - so I don't regret it a tad!

I enjoyed baking this one, because it was easy made and fast, and it looks very good because the combination of yellow-peach and strawberry jam for the glaze is a pretty combo. Essentially, it did remind me very much on a Tarte Tatine in the making (except you on't have a special pan for it).

On the next day it was very humid, because of the "wetness" the peches gave the cake, but still more than good.

P.S.: Can you see the steam on the one picture? I took it just a few minutes after bringing the cake out of the oven. Looks funny, doesn't it?