Crustless almond melon tarts

These almond tarts hardly take over half an hour to make because they are crustless. I suddenly found that this way I like them way more that the classic version in short pastry shells. You can use more traditional apples, pears or cherries instead of melon. I never thought about using melon here before a month ago. Turned out that it does a great job here, everybody seems to love the dessert, but I'll better tell you the whole story.

Apple cobbler with Cheddar cheese

I know it's not the season for apples, but what can I do? I have a favorite apple dessert. I first tried it at Coffee Bean cafe no less than 5 years ago and since than I kept coming back there for it. In parallel I made several attempts to to recreate it at home from time to time and this time it really worked. Not that it tastes the same, but it is equally good. It would make me stay at home.

Polish style szarlotka (apple pie)

I used to think I’m not someone who easily gets provoked. However after this article in NY Times Dining made me cook I’m not that sure any more. The result was that I discovered a delicious apple pie which is very different from whatever I tried before. Given that I’m a complete apple pie freak and try different apple pastry wherever I find it, I feel impressed and simply happy about it.

Picture perfect Tarte Tatin

I keep making Tarte Tatin since I came back from France. Last time I made a pretty innocent one, with not much sugar and butter. This time I wanted it to be rich and really pretty. The idea was to make a thick apple layer. Like the one I saw in Berthillon Paris cafe.

Quiche with red onion and blue cheese

We started routinely baking quiche in my family well before I went to study in France. Once I made the classic Quiche Lorraine (bacon and cheese quiche) after I bumped into a recipe in Gastronom.ru. Everybody liked this idea of an open savory pie filled with something baked in egg custard and we started trying different fillings.

Tarte aux poires normande (French pear tart)

While I was living in Fontainebleau Tarte Normande was one of my favorite desserts. In one of the bakeries I frequented it was just incredible. I tried it once and got addicted forever. Since then I was almost never able to leave this bakery without a piece.

Just apple and strawberry crumble

It's been a long time since I made my last crumble. I'm a big fan of cheese and apple cobbler in Coffee bean. Since I first tried it I made several attempts to replicate it at home. None of them worked. Once I'll have to find a way to get access to their recipe. However because of these trials I got enthusiastic about making fruit crumbles.