10 To Die For Desserts

Who doesn't like desserts? I personally don't know anyone who doesn't. So for all the dessert lovers out there, I have 10 to die for desserts, you take your pick! Being so close to Valentine's Day, I thought this was the perfect opportunity to give you not 1 but 10 to die for desserts.

Tarte aux Pommes: Simple, but so good. This is a staple in every French patisserie on earth. Although it might be tempting to reach for that vanilla ice cream, I would skip it.  The taste of this tart is amazing, just by itself. I do however recommend a nice cup of coffee or tea, and a couple of friends to share with.

 

Cinnamon Snaps: This is an old family recipe from Aunt Lou, my husband's great aunt. Making these cookies was a culinary adventure since Aunt Lou's recipe book was pretty much lacking amounts! Spice cookies are popular in Europe and were  brought to the U.S by our European ancestors as part of their culinary tradition. Grab a couple of snaps and a cup of coffee, or tea. Another Aunt Lou recipe: chocolate drop cookies.

Aunt Lou's $200 Cake: Another family recipe from dear Aunt Lou. I love the title for this recipe since in her times $200.00 was a princely sum. If my calculations are correct, this recipe was written circa 1940, so I ran this dollar amount through the CPI inflation calculator to try to get an idea, in today’s dollars, what this cake is worth just for fun.   So here you go, a cake in 1940 that was $200 would be valued at  $3,341.66 in 2014!  Wow, that would rank up there with cakes made by Chef Duff!

Blueberry Crostata: A rustic and delicious dessert. A crostata or galette, depending on where you are from is a rustic dessert. It consists of pie dough wrapped around fresh fruit and baked to delicious goodness. In my book and in my head, I consider blueberry crostata a “healthy” dessert, since it is mostly fruit, right? Right! You might also like my peach crostata, just saying!

Lemon Tartlets: If you say lemon, I am there. I love anything lemon. Lemon tarts, lemon pie, lemonade, lemon candy. Okay, you get the picture, if it tastes like lemon I am game.  The recipe for the lemon curd is easy to make. All a good lemon curd needs is a little elbow grease and a dash of patience. That’s it. BTW, I sometimes cheat with the pastries, since I buy the pre-made ones when I am short on time.

 

Pistachio Rosewater Cookies: These are really to die for; they have such a delicate flavor. I took a batch into work and my co-workers loved them. I even had a male co-worker tell me that I was sabotaging his diet, jokingly of course. Pistachio rosewater cookies have a subtle floral taste that is not overpowering. And by the way, these cookies go great with a cup of floral tea.

Strawberry Tart: A summer favorite at my house! The simplicity of the shortbread crust combined with  the delicious sweetness of vanilla custard and fresh juicy strawberries is the absolute highlight of my summer. The origin of fruit tarts goes back to the Middle Ages as a matter of fact, when people ate custard alone or combined with seasonal fruits.

Polvorones de Limon: They are basically a shortbread cookie with a hint of lime. Now in Spain and Latin America these cookies are called polvorones because they are dusted with sugar. The literal translation of polvorones is “dusted ones”. As far as cookies go, these citrus shortbread cookies are pretty easy, not a lot of steps.

Mango Passion Fruit Lime Tart: Makes me think of tropical breezes and the sound of the waves. It is the perfect ending to a casual summer meal, or any meal for that matter. Mangoes are also one of my favorite fruits and I eat them every day, for breakfast, and lunch! It’s funny because growing up I did not like mangoes at all. I am not kidding.

Last but not least in this delicious list of 10 to die for desserts is:

Walnut Tartlets: Creamy walnut tartlets are sweet, crunchy, creamy. They are perfection in a nutshell, excuse the pun! These beauties are a take on a recipe I found in a French cookbook that belonged to my late father.  You could say that this dessert is the French cousin of an American southern favorite: pecan pie, which I happen to love dearly. I love having another excuse to use my tartlet set yet again which I bought many years ago, way before I started blogging.