This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie selection is Fold-Over Pear Torte. There is not a picture of this recipe in the book and for some reason when I saw the name, I assumed, probably because of the word “fold,” that it would be some sort of turnover. It’s actually more like a pie with a tall crust, as it’s baked in a springform pan. I made a half recipe in two 4.5-inch pans and managed to roll one crust a bit bigger, so one torte had more crust folded over. I made one with pear and one with apple, and so far have only tried the apple one. Funnily enough, before it was officially pear season, we were given large quantities of pears by relatives on two separate occasions, but I actually had to buy one for this recipe. I used dried cranberries for the dried fruit component because I didn’t feel like cutting up apricots (lazy baker).
Josh and I spend a lot of time together, but we do have various separate interests and hobbies. I am not interested in sports much at all, and Josh is an enthusiastic fan of baseball and football (and tennis and basketball when he is betting with his friends). He is very happy that the Giants are actually in the baseball playoffs this year, though it has made for some tense sports-watching. I made this recipe on Sunday afternoon while Josh was watching a very close Giants game and there was a lot of shouting coming from the living room. At some point he came into the kitchen and saw a bottle of rum on the counter, for the small amount in the torte, and said he felt like he could use a shot to calm his nerves. Luckily they won, and again last night.
Okay, back to the torte. This is one of those recipes that I would categorize as “surprisingly good,” mainly because I had no idea what to expect, and it was a splendid dessert. It was so well proportioned: buttery flaky crust, a delightfully light custard, and sweet fruit – so nice! We rated this recipe an 8 for Deliciousness and I gave it a 4 for Effort, for an EDR of 2. Many thanks to the lovely Cakelaw of Laws of the Kitchen for a fantastic selection. You can find the recipe here on her site, along with lots of other great treats and epicurean adventures. I’m also looking forward to seeing how the other bakers’ tortes turned out.
It’s nice when you’re pleasantly surprised by a recipe (or anything, really) and this week’s Sweet Melissa Sundays selection, Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Torte, exceeded my expectations. The last chocolate-raspberry dessert I made was not a hit and usually when the word “truffle” is involved, I assume the dessert will be a bit rich for me. I liked this torte, though; the texture is kind of like a baked chocolate mousse and the bites of fresh raspberry hidden in the chocolate are a nice reminder that it is summer (when you live in a windy corner of Marin county, you definitely need to be reminded of the season on occasion).
Since I wasn’t sure we’d like the torte, I only made a quarter of the recipe in a 4-inch springform pan. Josh and I both gave it a thumbs up, though it’s probably not something that will go on my repeat list. Based on the few bites I took, I would give the torte a 7.5 for Deliciousness. It was very easy to throw together, so I’d give it a 2.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 3. Thanks to Jennifer of The Rookie Baker for hosting this week. You can find the recipe here on her site and visit the Sweet Melissa site to see what the rest of the group thought of this treat.
This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie Treat is Cherry-Fudge Brownie Torte. The past few TWD recipes have been fairly simple, homey and comforting ones prepared with mostly pantry staples, so it was about time we had a fancy dessert with a long ingredient list. I finally broke down and bought a bottle of Kirsch, which I had put off for a while since it’s kind of pricey. I read this post on David Lebovitz’s blog a while back where he lists it as one of his top five baking essentials and assures his readers that a little goes a long way. This was my second experience flambéing fruit and alcohol, and I’m happy that a package of long-stem matches appeared at my house since the last time, as it made the process a lot less nerve-racking knowing I wasn’t going to burn my hand or drop a match in the pan. I recommend having some in your kitchen (both Kirsch and long-stem matches).
This was a good dessert to divide up over a couple days; nothing is excessively laborious or complicated, but the brownie layer must cool before it is coated with the creamy mousse topping, which needs to set for another four hours. I baked a quarter recipe in two 4.5-inch springform pans, which probably took about 35 minutes to fully bake. The result was a gloriously dense fudgy brownie, laden with chunks of chocolate and tart cherries. The mousse topping was supposedly pourable but mine fell more in the spreadable spectrum of toppings. I don’t know if I overmixed or undermixed.
My boyfriend and had I disparate opinions on two torte-related issues this week. The first was the quantity to make. I told him I planned to make a quarter recipe, and he reminded me that there have been some weeks in the not so distant past where I’ve made small portions and we wanted more. But, aside from the fact I don’t own the proper-size pan for a half-batch, I could tell this one would be insanely rich and we would not need more than a quarter recipe, so that’s what I made. I told Josh if he really needed more dessert I’d make something else (and he’s still working on the torte). The second disagreement was the Deliciousness rating. I initially gave it an 8 and he rated it a 9.5, but then when I tried it the second night I thought it was absolutely divine, so the torte ended up with a 9 for Deliciousness. I gave it a 3.5 for Effort, for an EDR of 2.57.
Many thanks to April of Short + Rose for selecting this great dessert. You can find the recipe HERE on April’s site and see what the rest of the bakers thought by visiting the TWD blogroll.
A while ago I implemented a Tuesdays With Dorie rule for myself. I decided that I would finish writing my post on Monday night and publish it before I went to work on Tuesday in order to not have that horrible last-minute homework assignment on Tuesday evening when I come home. This also prohibits me from glancing at others’ posts before I write mine, which I don’t like to do. And up until this week, I have followed the rule and it’s been great. (And tonight totally convinced me to stick with my rule, since our internet has been down for the better part of the night.) I got a little behind this week, between other baking (hopefully some will make it here soon), taxes, and Easter; so it was extremely fortuitous that this week’s recipe was called 15 Minute Magic Chocolate Amaretti Torte. 
This is a fabulously quick, easy, and delicious dessert – Dorie isn’t kidding when she says fifteen minutes. I managed to throw mine together on Monday night while I was making dinner. I quartered the recipe since I’ve had quite a bit of chocolate recently, but I would certainly make a full-size version of this torte in the future. There was much discussion on the P&Q board about amaretti cookies; I did not find Dorie’s favorite brand, but I found some wonderful ones sold individually (perfect since I made a mini) at A.G. Ferrari Foods, they were even wrapped up in pretty Easter colors.
I gave this recipe a 9 for Deliciousness (I’m sure it would be a 10 with the glaze and almond whipped cream) and a 2 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 4.5. Many thanks to Holly of Phe/MOM/enon for selecting this lovely torte at just the right time. You can find the magic recipe on Holly’s site, and be sure to check out the TWD blogroll to see what the other bakers thought of it.
