FFwD: Gerard's Mustard Tart

When I was younger, I hated mustard! I was more of a ketchup fan. I would put ketchup on everything and anything! But as time is passing, my taste in food is changing and I now find myself eating things like Gerard's Mustard Tart!

The filling was easy to make: whip the eggs with the cream, add the mustards, whip and season with salt and pepper. It was the crust that I found a bit challenging.

The first time I made the pâte brisée by hand, the dough was very crumbly, I could hardly form a disk with it! It was impossible for me to roll it out, so I decided to remake it. The second time, I used the food processor method, that took me at most 5 minutes. The dough turned out soft and workable... Success!

This tart is something I would never had tried on my own, but I'm glad I gave it a try! It smells delicious out of the oven and I had to hold myself from cutting a slice right away. If you like mustard, you're sure to love this!

Tarte aux pommes - Apple Tart

Lately, I've been doing a lot of thinking about my future. I had a hard time choosing my major in University and I sometimes wonder if I made the right choice. I still have some time ahead of me, but I am finding it increasingly difficult to motivate myself and devote myself 100 percent to studying Accountancy.

This past summer, an idea occurred to me and I am surprised I didn't think of it earlier: why don't I study pastry and do something that I actually enjoy? I do spend most of my time reading baking blogs, flipping through food magazines and baking books, watching the Food Network, baking and making ice cream...

So I've come to a big decision: I will apply to the Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec for next Fall and meanwhile continue my studies in Accountancy! The only thing really motivating me is knowing that I will be able to attend the Professional Pastry Making Program. Until then, I have made it my objective to learn as much as I can about pastry arts! I own The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts, the book used in the Classic Pastry Arts Program at the French Culinary Institute, and believe that I can learn a lot from it!

So here goes, the tart I've been meaning to make for a long time, the apple tart. I will not be posting the recipes from the book since I will be using it a lot and I don't think it would be right. I used a pâte sablé (shortbread) dough for the crust and made an apple compote with apples, sugar, vanilla extract and lemon juice. Thinly-cut apple slices were arranged on the top and the tart was baked for 50 minutes at 350 degrees F. When cooled, I lightly brushed the top with a nappage made from apricot jam and a bit of water.

Tarte au citron - Lemon Tart

Celebrating name days is an important tradition for Greeks. Every name has a certain date associated to it to celebrate the memory of the saint bearing that name. When it's the name day of a member of my family, we always call them up to wish them a "Happy Name Day" and often have a dinner at somebody's house.

Last Friday was my sister's and grandmother's name day. They are both named Helen because of another Greek tradition which is less frequently used today. When a child is born, the parents would usually name it after the baby's father's parents (depending if it's a boy or a girl) and then name their next baby after the mother's parents (again, depending if it's a boy or a girl). If there would be a third baby, it would be named after the father's side again. This is why some families have 5 Nicks! This is a good way to keep some older Greek names around but many new parents do not follow this tradition today.

So we went over to my grandmother's house this weekend for dinner and I decided to make her une tarte au citron. I find lemon desserts to be even more delicious on hot summer days!

I made a tart shell using a Pâte sucrée, filled it with lemon curd and piped a decorative design with swiss meringue over the lemon curd. I finally got how to make swiss meringue, remember my first attempt? Then I made my boyfriend brown the meringue using a torch (I was afraid to melt the tart!). The recipes were adapted from the Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts.