Ladies' Caprice

Caprice. A word seldom used in English, but common in French and Italian (capriccio), especially when it comes to children.  Leave it to the Romance languages to aptly capture what we call a "tantrum."  Faire des caprices.  I picture a Diva, storming off stage mid-aria in a wild swing of emotions when her accompanist misses a note. 

A caprice comes down to impulses, urges and unpredictability.  

Since Roman turned two, I've disregarded the idea of "terrible twos."  He is eagerly conversing in two languages, taking in the magic of New York City, forming friendships, singing and dancing.  None of that feels terrible in the least. 

Of course our days are not without conflict.  Just yesterday he lay screaming on the floor of a NY public library at the mere suggestion that he put his coat on before going out into the 40 degree chill.

So when I came across a recipe called Ladies' Caprice in Ruth's Box, I was fascinated.
Caprice: An extravagant and sudden whim.

What would Ruth-- a NY lady, wife and mother of two, do when faced with an extravagant and sudden whim of her own?  Shop for a bold new hat?  Smoke a cigarette and dream of some far off land?  Call a friend and scheme against her husband?  Perhaps she would just bake.

The recipe card was hard to decipher.  I gather from her incomplete notes that Ruth must have baked a few Ladies' Caprice in her time.  So I improvised.

Ladies' Caprice: meet Nonna Elena's marmalade tart, meet Brutti Ma Buoni nut/meringue cookies.

I hope I did justice to the original recipe.  I can assure you that this remarkable tart will calm whatever sudden, extravagant whims you might have.  It's just that good.  So please, pas de caprices.

Ladies' Caprice

For the dough:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 ounces cold sweet butter (1 stick plus about 1 tablespoon)
1/4 cup sugar
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cream

For the filling:
Black raspberry jam (8 or more ounces)
2 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup finely chopped walnuts

In a food processor, combine the flour, salt and sweet butter (cut into chunks).  Process until the butter is broken up into small pieces.  Add the sugar, egg yolks (reserve the whites for the tart filling) and cream.  Continue to process until the mixture begins to come together.  Form it into a ball with your hands.
Grease a tart pan with a removable bottom.  Flatten the ball of dough and press it evenly into the tart pan, using the heel of your hands, work the dough slowly to extend it to the edges and up the sides of the tart pan. Prick all around with a fork and bake for 15 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.  Let cool completely.

Spread the black raspberry jam along the bottom of the cooled tart shell.

Make the filling:
Using an electric beater, beat the 2 egg whites until soft peaks form.  Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla extract.  Use a silicone spatula to fold in one cup of finely chopped walnuts.
Spread this mixture on top of the raspberry jam in your tart shell.
Bake once again at 350 degrees, for about 40-45 minutes.
Let cool before serving.
This will keep well overnight if you want to make it one day before serving, and will keep for several days.

Porcini Mushroom Tarts

I feel lucky to live, for now, in a place where porcini mushrooms are sold locally. They are still expensive, but fresh woodsy mushrooms, sauteed with fruity olive oil and chunks of garlic are sometimes better than dessert. Something magic happens and they melt in the pan.

This fall, I've made porcini several times, simply, in the pan with garlic, a bit of chili, white wine and served over fresh fettucini. Last weekend, I realized how long it had been since I had made "rustic" tarts and decided that my porcini would be a wonderful filling. I do shy away from this kind of dough, and I lack the practice to make it without some degree of frustration. This dough recipe, from Baking with Julia seemed straightforward, but I had some trouble nonetheless. Perhaps it was in the conversion of butter from cups to grams. The dough needed a lot more flour than called for in the recipe, and even then, it was hard to handle (giving that middle tart the real "homemade" look.) But they tasted just right, and I made no apologies whatsoever!

If it had not been raining cats and dogs, I probably would have gone out to buy some white wine, rosemary or thyme to add to my mushrooms. But porcini do not need any doctoring, and I really loved the simplicity of these tarts. They were just the thing to make a cozy Sunday lunch, next to a bowl of leek and potato soup.

Porcini mushroom tarts

For the filling:

If you can't get fresh porcini, substitute any combination of mushrooms you like.

Sauté the mushrooms in olive oil and garlic, salt, pepper to taste. Add white wine (optional) or a little water and simmer for a few minutes to reduce the liquid.

For the pastry dough:

(makes enough for 2 8 inch tarts, or 4 mini tarts)

3 tablespoons sour cream (I used yogurt)

1/3 cup (approximately) ice water

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

7 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 to 8 pieces

To make the dough in the food processor:

Stir the sour cream and 1/3 cup ice water together in a small bowl, set aside.

Put the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt into the bowl of the food processor fitted with the metal blade; pulse to combine. Drop the butter pieces into the bowl and pulse 8 to 10 times (mixture should be speckled with butter pieces no bigger than the size of peas.) With the machine running, add the sour cream mixture and process just until the dough forms soft, moist curds. Remove the dough, divide in half and press each half into a disk. Wrap each disk in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours.

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 400 degrees. Let the tarts rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Apricot Tart with Almonds

When I was 17, I went to France for the first time to be an au-pair for the summer. About a month into my stay, the family's grandfather came to visit and died suddenly during the night. The family went into mourning, the kids were a wreck and the teary-eyed mother asked me if I wanted to leave. I high-tailed it out of there. I caught a series of trains and buses winding across the border and down the coast. 24 hours later, after one missed train and a few futile phone calls home, I found my way to my grandmother's house, a little oasis on Spain's Costa Brava.

My paternal grandmother was not known for her cooking. I was just relieved to be saved from the funeral arrangements in France and she was glad for the company that summer. Being the only granddaughter that speaks French, we shared stories, songs and books that summer, along with an apricot tart.

Her property in Spain had a lovely flower garden along with lemon, almond and apricot trees. We wandered in the garden and picked the fruit. It was my first taste of fresh apricots. They hung on the trees, fully ripe. Round and bright, they sat in bowls looking eager to be broken apart, eaten. She said, "why don't you make apricot tart?" Suddenly, she was really redeeming herself for having this recipe roll off her tongue- she seemed like an expert cook. I have always been sorry I did not write down her recipe.

The recipe below is heavily adapted from Bon Appetit magazine, and originally used canned apricots. Seeing as they are in season now, I am using fresh. I don't think it would merit baking this tart out of season. I made several omissions (such as the honey and almond extract) just to simplify the tart. The recipe is a bit complicated since you make a custard but then before baking you add more ingredients to the custard before filling the tart crust. I broke up the original recipe up to make it more user friendly. The last change I made was to use an entirely different pastry crust that uses ground almonds. I am not very skilled at pastry dough, I consider it pretty intimidating, but this one appealed to me because it didn't require rolling. Once it comes out of the food processor, I just pressed it to fit in the tart pan, then popped it in the freezer. It was pretty stress free compared to my usual experiences with pie dough.

I love the way the domes of the apricots peek through the custard in this almondy tart. Fresh apricots are sunny, like baby Roman's round, rosy cheeks.

Apricot Tart with Almonds

For the pastry crust

1/4 cup blanched almonds, lightly toasted and cooled

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces

1 egg yolk

In a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse to finely grind the almonds. Add the flour, sugar and salt, and process to blend. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. With the machine running, add the egg yolk and extract through the feed tube and process until combined. Add the ice water and process just until a dough forms. Remove from the machine. Fit into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, pressing the dough first along the sides and then evenly across the bottom. Place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line the dough with parchment paper and pie weights or beans. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack before filling.

For the custard

2/3 cup whole milk

1 2-inch piece vanilla bean split lengthwise

2 large egg yolks

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Pour milk into saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. Whisk egg yolks, 3 tablespoons sugar and cornstarch in a bowl to blend. Gradually whisk milk mixture into yolk mixture. Return to pan. Whisk over medium heat until custard thickens and boils, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool and discard vanilla bean.

Custard, continued

1/2 cup blanched whole almonds

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 large egg

8 small apricots (adjust amount depending on their size)

Grind almonds and powdered sugar in a food processor. Add cooled custard, pulse to blend. Blend in butter and whole egg. Pour into crust, smooth top. Arrange apricot halves, round side up, on top of the filling.

Bake tart at 400 degrees until filling is set and golden, about 45 minutes. Cooking time will depend on your oven, so check at about 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Store any leftovers in refrigerator.