First up, the Cranberry Chocolate Tart. Aside from the cookie hunt, more on that in a following post, this was the most labor intensive dish. Despite one minor mishap, it came out great and I'm definitely making this again to conquer it.

Cranberry Chocolate Tart, epicurious.com

Notes:
I doubled the recipe and divided it between one 9.5" tart pan, four 5" tart pans and one ramekin. This would have easily accomodated five 5" tart pans but I only had four. The crust was by far the most fun to make. I used the chocolate graham crackers to make the crust and used a measuring cup and my fingers as a tart tamper. The tastiest part was the marscapone cream filling.. let's just say, I licked the spoon.

The mishap happened on the cranberry topping. In reading the reviews, many people noted that one bag of cranberries would not cover the entire face of the tart. So I decided to buy three, make note, three bags of cranberries = tripling the recipe. A few other reviewers also noted not to cook the cranberries too long to the point where they start bursting. Once they reach that stage, the topping would turn to mush and not look as nice as the recipe photo. So what happened? Not only did I take three bags of cranberries and followed a doubled recipe, I also er'ed on the side of under cooking the cranberries. Basically, once I heard cranberries start bursting, I turned the heat off. The recipe called for the cranberries to be tender, yet plump. Mine were still pretty firm but what I would deem plump. Because they were still so firm, none of the juices in the berries were released. And I think this is where things went wrong. The recipe calls for the liquids to be separated from the berries, then mixed with a gelatin mixture and then remixed with the berries. Because of the lack of liquid, the berries and the juices became a little too firm. So the next day as I pulled them out of the fridge to top the tarts, there were lots of gelatinous bits. There really was no save to this besides continously stirring up the berries to break down the gelatinous parts as much as possible before topping the tarts.

Despite the undercooked berries, the tart still came out really good. The tartness of the berries complimented the sweetness of the cream filling and the crust. Additionally, the crystalized ginger bits were nice surprises throughout.

Pumpkin Layer Cake, Everyday Food - November 2007

Notes:
Does anyone else every get sick of pumpkin pie year after year? I definitely do, and for some odd reason I seem to crave pumpkin pie in the off season. Anyways, I saw this recipe and thought it would be a perfect alternative to pie. It was really easy and straight forward to make. Instead of making one 9" cake, I decided to make one 6" cake and two 2" cakes, the bigger one for the party and the smaller ones to give away. No recipe doubling was needed. One recipe was the perfect amount.

I spent a lot of time icing the cake. I wanted to make it nice and perfectly smooth instead of having the knife swirls. It came out as perfect as I could make it. However, when it arrived at the party I noticed that there was signs of buckling. If you look at the picture above with the tart, you'll notice a "ridge" in the middle of the cake. I'm thinking that put too much frosting in between the layers and the weight of the top layer started to push the filling out. Note to self, don't over do the filling. For those experienced bakers out there, what's a decent amount of filling in between layers? I definitely don't want the cake to look like it got the frosting shaft.

And a mini cakes tip, cottage cheese/sour cream tubs make the perfect cake carrier! Just place the cake on the lid, decorate and pop the container right over it! It's not the most attractive thing in the world, but it does a good job of protecting the cake.

And lastly, my savory items.

Clockwise from upper left:
Sugar-glazed Pearl Onions, Everyday Food - November 2007
Sauteed Spinach and Mushrooms, Everyday Food - December 2007
No Knead Dinner Rolls, Everyday Food - December 2007
Buttermilk Biscuits with Chives, Everyday Food - November 2007

Not pictured: Vegetable Enchiladas, December 2007

All were very yum indeed. I couldn't decide between the rolls and biscuits so I made both! And both were really well received! It was my first attempt at making biscuits and rolls! I had loads of fun cutting in the butter, though my hand hurts now (I need a better dough cutter). And I had lots of fun making the rolls. The recipe is just as simple as making no knead bread! The verdict on the rolls were that they were so yummy and buttery that you don't even need to butter them! Funny part about that was that the only butter I used was to butter the pan and brush on top of the rolls before baking. Sorry that there are no finished pictures of the rolls. Those came straight out of the oven and onto the table.

And lastly a note on the enchiladas, they were really good however, if you plan on freezing them, don't count on the enchiladas coming out cleanly from the dish. The freezing process dries out the tortillas so the enchiladas end up sticking together. One thing I'm going to try in the future, is to put a layer of sauce on the bottom of the dish before putting the enchiladas in. Hopefully it will help create enough steam and moisture to help prevent that.

*B's sister gifted me a subscription to Everyday Food for my birthday. And everytime she asked me about one of the dishes I made, I kept saying, "Everyday Food, the gift that keeps on giving."