Over the past several weeks, I’ve given you quite a few Thanksgiving pie options. But I couldn’t resist adding just one more!
As a baking blogger, the holidays provide inspiration and ideas. I love having the time of year do the recipe brainstorming for me, especially when a tart like this is the result. Guys, I kept my very favorite for last. Yes, I’ll play favorites today.
This past weekend, Kenny and I got away overnight to a posh hotel in historic Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. We’re lucky to live near all kinds of little getaway spots, and even though it was chilly, it was really lovely to walk on the waterfront and see the boats and pretend it was a lot warmer.
The best part of the hotel was the pool. It was a heated indoor pool, and getting in was like being enveloped in a warm water hug. Maybe I’ve never told you this before, but I love baths. Baths are a daily thing for me, even if I’ve showered too. I love the bubbles, the scalding water, the jets (yep, my tub is tricked out), and the music playing softly in the background as I let all the stress melt out of my tired muscles.
Other than dessert, I have these other material loves in life: a good book, a great workout, and a hot bath. So as I chugged back and forth in that heated pool, I realized that my life would be pretty luxurious if I could come home from work every day, jump into a heated pool, swim for a while, and then dry off in a lounge chair with a book and some truffles.
I just heard Steven Tyler in my head shrieking “Dream On.”
If the pool fantasy can’t come true, I’ll take this tart instead. It’s all my favorite things. Maybe not everyone’s on the marzipan bandwagon, but I really don’t care. This is the best.
The crust is buttery and light, with some almond meal thrown in for kicks. Piled into the crust is raspberry jam, a baked marzipan layer, and thick chocolate ganache with toasted almond flair. If you want an elegant but totally doable dessert to present tomorrow, this is your girl.
Okay, kids. I’ve got more baking to do tonight, so I’ll catch you later. I’m pretty excited to get all those pies lined up on the table, and I hope you are, too. Have a safe, joyful, warm and cozy Thanksgiving with family and friends. From JAB and me to you, happy holiday season!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a tart pan (the kind with the removable bottom) with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Combine the almond meal and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cream the butter, powdered sugar and egg yolk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Adding each gradually, alternate the flour and the almond mixture until both are fully incorporated.
- Press the dough into the prepared tart pan, working it evenly along the bottom and up the sides.
- Take the raspberry jam and spread it evenly along the bottom of the crust. Set aside.
- Make the marzipan filling. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the almond paste with the brown sugar and egg until well combined.
- Carefully spread the marzipan mixture over the raspberry jam. It will be sticky and some of the jam might come up, but spread lightly and evenly over the surface.
- Bake the tart for 20-25 minutes until the crust and filling begin to turn golden. Remove from the oven to cool.
- Make the ganache. In a microwave-safe bowl, heat the chocolate chips and heavy cream for one minute. Stir until smooth, heating an additional 20 seconds if needed.
- Pour the ganache over the baked tart, spreading the chocolate evenly to the edges. Sprinkle the toasted almonds on top. Cool until set.
- Cut into wedges and serve.
]]>
You know, the ones that don’t have eyeballs or gummi worms all over them. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I saw a spiderweb chocolate tart a week or two ago that was so gorgeous it made my mouth drop open.
These truffles are easy and a perfect Halloween party treat. They’re simply marzipan dipped in chocolate with some orange flair! Orange is the new black and all. At least, this time of year.
The onslaught of holidays between October and January makes the descending temperatures more bearable. I mean, we’re distracted, making cute crafty things and getting our inner Martha Stewarts on. It’s fun. But what happens January 2nd? Ever thought about that?
Pure freezing sadness, people. Seriously. It’s cold and bleak, and the winter stretches on through the next two and half to three months. Maybe Valentine’s Day helps a bit, but there’s just no way to love February.
I’m not sure where I’m going with this, except to tell you to get your holiday on while you can. Because after that, it’s all about those sad trees with no leaves. That’s why the yellow, orange and red-leafed trees give me pause. Beautiful, yes. The beginning of the end, also yes.
Okay, now that I’ve depressed you, I’ll lift your spirits with these truffles. I dipped them, but my kids helped with the piping. Can you tell? I decided to sacrifice straight lines for happy children. Besides, they look more Halloween-like this way anyway, with all the twisted lines. Right?
These could not be easier to put together. Buy marzipan at the store, check. Dye it orange with food gel, check. Roll into balls and dip into melting chocolate, check. The orange candy melt flair is optional. Just use a chocolate melting candy you like. Ghirardelli is my favorite, since the quality of their melting chocolate is pretty great.
The best thing about dipping marzipan is that it doesn’t want to fall apart in the chocolate melts. It goes in and out like a charm. No worries, mates!
When all’s said and done, you have yet another Halloween treat, and this one is cute and snazzy. It would be a welcome addition to any grown-up costume party, so if you’re lucky enough to have plans, take these along! If not, join me. I’ll be cowering behind my front door, avoiding trick-or-treaters and thinking about summer. Because those cold months, they’re a-coming!
Ingredients
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix the red and yellow food coloring gels into the marzipan until you reach a desired shade of uniform orange. I opted for a brighter orange for Halloween.
- Roll the marzipan into one-inch balls. Place on waxed paper or a silicone baking mat.
- Heat the chocolate melts according to package directions. Carefully dip each marzipan ball into the chocolate, using a fork to pick up each truffle so that chocolate drips through the tines. Slide each truffle onto the paper or baking mat with a toothpick. Allow the chocolate to set.
- Heat the orange candy melts according to package directions. Place it into a piping bag with a narrow round tip.
- Pipe the orange candy melts carefully onto the truffles in whatever pattern you desire. Allow to set.
- Store in an airtight container.
If you catch a whiff of almond extract and you want to drink the bottle, then you love marzipan. If not, well, yep. Sorry. You can come back next week when I have some fun spooky treats set to go!
These are buttery cookie bars topped with a gooey layer of baked marzipan and toasted almonds. I’ve had to hide these in a dark corner of the freezer to avoid consuming every last one.
Like marzipan, acquired tastes abound, and not just in food. I made the mistake of recommending Pitch Perfect to my parents last week. When I saw that movie with Kenny and my brother at the movie theater, we fell out of our seats with tears streaming down our cheeks. We were laughing that hard.
The night my parents sat down to watch the movie, I got a very short e-mail from my mom along the lines of, “This movie sucks.” She informed me that it wasn’t funny, had bad music, and that she and my dad just didn’t get it.
I’m assuming that it must be a generational issue, right? Because people in my age group (not to mention my beloved high school students) loved that movie. And the music, too. I mean, college a capella is so strongly embedded in our culture nowadays, but it probably wasn’t back when my parents were pursuing higher education.
So the movie didn’t mean much to them, and I’m okay with that. I still think that a girl doing snow angels in vomit is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
After all, don’t so many things take time to appreciate? Like Ugg boots, or kale? But once we’re there, we’re there. And I’ve been appreciating marzipan since I was little tiny, thanks to my German grandparents.
Yep, marzipan is a German thing. But I’ve managed to add American flair by putting it on a cookie bar. Because, as you know by now if you read my blog, bars are my jam.
The key to making a good cookie bar is to make it nice and thick. Then it’s just so much fun to bite into. The sticky marzipan topping along with the crunch of the toasted almonds means that your texture senses will be so happy right along with your taste buds.
Just be wary of the marzipan. You want to brown it, but don’t let it go too long. The top should be firm, but underneath will be that fantastic gooey layer right before you get to the soft, thick cookie bar.
Not everyone has the same taste, which is a mercy. And it can take some time to fall in love with something, which is why I became obsessed with sushi after years of not wanting it. Just be glad that some tastes are acquired. They just want to take the time to get to know us!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil, leaving enough to hang over the sides. Coat with cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Add the egg, vanilla and almond extracts and mix again. Gradually add the flour, mixing until just incorporated.
- Pat the cookie dough onto the prepared pan evenly. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven.
- While the bars are baking, make the topping. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the almond paste with the brown sugar and egg until well combined.
- Spread the mixture over the bars after they come out of the oven. Sprinkle the chopped almonds on top.
- Bake for another 15-20 minutes until the marzipan topping is browned and set.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.
]]>
Today’s pie is really a tart, and I’m feeling rather European because it’s a Linzer tart. Translation: it’s got an almond base and there’s raspberry involved. I also worked in some dark chocolate for good measure. Can’t hurt, right?
Basically, the tart dough is made of almond meal, which I buy at Trader Joe’s (you can grind up the almonds on your own if you’d prefer), flour, some butter, and sugar. Simple, delicious. I’m a huge fan.
You work half the dough into a tart pan with a removable bottom, spread on a chocolate raspberry filling (easy to make!), and make a pattern on top with the rest of the dough. The typical look is lattice, but lattice bores me sometimes. I decided to try this ladder-type pattern instead, which was lots of fun.
Then it got even better. I used my powdered sugar dusting wand (a totally useful kitchen gadget and quite an obsession of mine) to make the top look nice and snowy. And then I tasted my tart. Just a bite, before freezing the rest for Thanksgiving dinner.
It was hard to stop there! I have a thing with chocolate and almond, so I’ll easily put away a couple of slices on Thursday. And that thick layer of chocolate raspberry sandwiched between the marzipan-like dough is pretty fabulous. I’ve never felt more proud.
Advice: instead of doing all the usual pies this year on Thanksgiving, change it up a bit. This Linzer tart is definitely a fun addition to the usual pecan and pumpkin, so go a little crazy. Your family won’t mind!
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Coat a tart pan (the kind with the removable bottom) with cooking spray. Set aside.
- Combine the almond meal and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Cream the butter, powdered sugar and egg yolk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Adding each gradually, alternate the flour and the almond mixture until both are fully incorporated.
- Press half the dough into the prepared tart pan, working the dough along the bottom and up the sides. Form the other half into a ball on waxed paper. Place both in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the filling.
- Melt the chocolate in the microwave for one minute. Stir until smooth, microwaving an additional 30 seconds if needed. Mix the melted chocolate with the raspberry preserves and lemon juice until all ingredients are combined.
- Remove the tart pan from the refrigerator and spread the filling evenly into the bottom crust.
- Roll out the other half of the dough to form a circle. Using a knife, cut the dough into strips. You can either form a lattice pattern or create a pattern of your choice.
- Bake the tart for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. Let the tart cool completely.
- Dust the top with powdered sugar. Cut into wedges and serve.
]]>
There are very few non-chocolate desserts that I’ll go for. I’ve been working on establishing my love for anything with a crumb topping, so we’re clear on that! And I do have a special fondness for cheesecake, as do most breathing human beings. But along with these exceptions to my rule, I love anything with marzipan or almonds. My German grandparents pretty much made sure of that by passing down their love of almond through my mother and straight to me.
I’m a total sucker for chewy almond cookies, the kind you get at good, old-school bakeries. Sometimes they’re plain, sometimes dipped in chocolate. They come in all different shapes. I don’t really care what they look like, as long as they’re soft. Once they age and get harder, I lose interest. When I was a kid, our local fishmonger used to sell them (no idea why), and his name was Mr. Moon. So, I’ve always called almond cookies Moon Cookies.
These are so moist and chewy, and the crunchy almond coating is a texture explosion. What’s even better is that these babies aren’t bad for you. They have no butter or oil, and they only use egg whites. A perfect, delicate cookie that anyone can eat! In fact, I gave my leftover cookies to people with a history of heart problems. These cookies are kind to your arteries. And they’re so good! They feel sinful, but really, they’re a healthier sweet escape.
Plus, they’ve got protein. Almonds, right? A healthy nut! Nuts are all the rage right now, as is protein. You’ve gotta watch your nutrition, after all.
The only thing you have to factor in when you make these is time. The dough is best left chilled overnight, since it’s too sticky to work with otherwise. They bake at a lower than normal temperature, and once they’ve cooled, you can dip the cookies into dark chocolate. Almonds and chocolate. Mmmmm.
By the way, if you can’t find almond paste, you can always make your own out of almonds, egg whites, butter, almond extract and sugar. There are some great online tutorials. And if you’re one of those people who goes mad for marzipan, these are for you. Here we go!
Ingredients:
- 16 ounces almond paste
- 3/4 cup powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 egg whites
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 cup sliced almonds
- 4 ounces dark chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the almond paste with the two sugars and blend until crumbly, about 5-6 minutes.
Add the salt, egg whites, and almond extract. Beat for about a minute.
Put the entire bowl into the freezer and keep there overnight.
Preheat the oven to 300. Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. Put sliced almonds on a plate at your work station.
Take the dough out of the freezer and roll into balls about 2 tablespoons large. Cover the balls with sliced almonds and then shape however you like. You can leave the cookies in a circle or make moon shapes. Put on cookie sheets, but leave extra space. These cookies spread.
Bake 30-35 minutes until lightly browned. Do not let them get too dark, or they will get hard and crunchy.
Allow the cookies to cool completely before removing them from the cookie sheet. If you like, melt the dark chocolate in the microwave and then dip the cooled cookies into the chocolate. Put on wax paper until hardened.
Eat within a few days, and store in an airtight container.
]]>