Entry #1 - Woohoo!
Upon deciding to do this, it was difficult coming up with what should start it off. I mean...the options are endless! Then I figured, "first time blogger, why not first time tart making?"
Now to explain why making a tart popped into my head. Quite simple, really. The night before I had a few coworkers over for a delicious dinner that involved using some rather large pots I seldom touch. Inside one of those large pots I discovered a tart pan! My immediate reaction was to wonder why hadn't I known about this pan's existence in my apartment until now and then very quickly became an exclamation of, "I gotta make a tart now! Duh."
Upon deciding to do this, it was difficult coming up with what should start it off. I mean...the options are endless! Then I figured, "first time blogger, why not first time tart making?"
Now to explain why making a tart popped into my head. Quite simple, really. The night before I had a few coworkers over for a delicious dinner that involved using some rather large pots I seldom touch. Inside one of those large pots I discovered a tart pan! My immediate reaction was to wonder why hadn't I known about this pan's existence in my apartment until now and then very quickly became an exclamation of, "I gotta make a tart now! Duh."
So I took to my many baking books in search for the recipe that would be the one. I landed on a classic lemon tart from Kate Brack's "The Sweet Life" (which was exciting in itself because it was my first time using a recipe from this book...I'm just full of firsts here!) and set out to make it happen.
Isn't she beautiful? I'd say I did quite alright for my first shot! This is NOT to say I didn't hit road bumps, because I certainly hit a few.
Bump #1: Kate Brack (and her book) are Australian. This means metric measurements and slightly different ingredients (oh, what I would do for true double cream in this country). So translating between American and Australian measurements was difficult, especially without a kitchen scale.
Bump #2: The lemons. The recipe called for 150mL of lemon juice from 2-3 lemons, so that's what I got...2-3 lemons. After all 3 were squeezed to hell I produced just shy of 100mL of juice! Womp womp. My conclusion? Australian lemons are bigger, probably. The boyfriend confirmed they're usually rounder and larger (he is Australian, himself) and then was the biggest sweetheart in the world went to the store to buy me more lemons (it took the juice of 2 more, if you were curious).
Bump #3: That dough. It was perfect - until I attempted to transfer it to my tart pan. Oh how that thing fell apart. I ended up piecing it together in the pan and figured, "well, lesson learned" and allowed it to really bum me out before I even reached the halfway point. But then I got thinking, "ya know, it's your first tart, of course it won't be perfect. Practice makes perfect!" and realized it wasn't the end of my beautiful tart. After all, no one sees the inside of the thing once it is filled, right?
In the end, it tasted amazing (but doesn't anything with lemon?) and looked great! I may have had a few troubles that seemed to set me back, but life is full of troubles and set backs that are meant to be overcame. I know, deep stuff for just talking about making a tart, right? Ultimately I reminded myself that perfection is not necessarily perfect. I can't wait to make more and experiment with all sorts of citrus fruits! I am thinking blood orange next...
Have you ever made a tart? Have any tips for transferring the dough?!
Bump #1: Kate Brack (and her book) are Australian. This means metric measurements and slightly different ingredients (oh, what I would do for true double cream in this country). So translating between American and Australian measurements was difficult, especially without a kitchen scale.
Bump #2: The lemons. The recipe called for 150mL of lemon juice from 2-3 lemons, so that's what I got...2-3 lemons. After all 3 were squeezed to hell I produced just shy of 100mL of juice! Womp womp. My conclusion? Australian lemons are bigger, probably. The boyfriend confirmed they're usually rounder and larger (he is Australian, himself) and then was the biggest sweetheart in the world went to the store to buy me more lemons (it took the juice of 2 more, if you were curious).
Bump #3: That dough. It was perfect - until I attempted to transfer it to my tart pan. Oh how that thing fell apart. I ended up piecing it together in the pan and figured, "well, lesson learned" and allowed it to really bum me out before I even reached the halfway point. But then I got thinking, "ya know, it's your first tart, of course it won't be perfect. Practice makes perfect!" and realized it wasn't the end of my beautiful tart. After all, no one sees the inside of the thing once it is filled, right?
In the end, it tasted amazing (but doesn't anything with lemon?) and looked great! I may have had a few troubles that seemed to set me back, but life is full of troubles and set backs that are meant to be overcame. I know, deep stuff for just talking about making a tart, right? Ultimately I reminded myself that perfection is not necessarily perfect. I can't wait to make more and experiment with all sorts of citrus fruits! I am thinking blood orange next...
Have you ever made a tart? Have any tips for transferring the dough?!
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