10 Minute Fruit Tart

This weekend was, well, far from what I expect of a weekend. Very little relaxing and yet very little accomplished. Most of our time was committed to other people, with very little left to ourselves, most of which went to sleep. Saturday was my father-in-law's birthday and we'd made plans to have dinner at their place Sunday night. They asked us on Saturday to bring the fruit tart that he wanted for dessert. I said sure thing, and then promptly didn't concern myself with it again until Sunday morning. We had a very late night Saturday, so we slept in quite a bit. When I arose I popped open my netbook to check the weekly ads for our grocery errands. And then I realized that most of the stores were closed for Easter. I'm a genius. Now, not only can I not buy my regular groceries, but I can't find the fruit tart that my father-in-law requested for his birthday. Luckily there was a Kroger in our neighborhood that was open, but they of course didn't have any fruit tarts in their bakery. Now I was faced with having to come up with something on my own. Let's be honest here, this tart isn't anything amazing. I more or less pulled a Sandra Lee on this one, which I'm not very excited about. But, it came together quickly, easily, and everyone really enjoyed it. So, I figured why not share it? It's getting warmer, and with warmer weather comes more picnics and cookouts. Maybe you'll need a quick dessert, and maybe this will be it. I'm going to give you the rundown of what I did and how I did it to get this thing together in 10 minutes, not so much a recipe as a process I guess.

10 Minute Fruit Tart

1 9 inch prepared graham cracker crust
1 large box instant vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pint strawberries, sliced
1 pint blueberries
1 pint raspberries

• Put the bowl you'll use for making whipped cream in the fridge to chill. Put your milk in the freezer. Rinse and pick over your berries.
• Take your milk out of the freezer; put your cream in the freezer. Combine your pudding mix and cold milk and follow the pudding's instructions; mine said to beat for 2 minutes, let set for at least 5. Once done beating put the bowl of pudding in the refrigerator. Remove your empty bowl and whipping cream from the fridge and freezer.
• Beat the whipping cream on medium-high until soft peaks form. Sprinkle the sugar and vanilla over the cream, and beat again until soft peaks form, being careful not to over-whip.
• Put your whipped cream in the refrigerator. Slice your strawberries to your desired size. By now the pudding should be set. Spread pudding evenly into the pie crust. Top with your fruit, in whatever design you'd like.
• If you want to go the extra step, I used a piping bag to pipe some of my whipped cream on top. I had some fruit leftover, and obviously plenty of whipped cream, which we topped the plated slices with at dinner. You could also spread a layer of whipped cream on top of the pudding and then top with the fruit, or keep all the whipped cream for the side. Whatever tickles your fancy.

My notes: Popping my milk, cream, and bowls in the fridge and freezer just helped things come together a little more quickly. Especially since I started on this as soon as I returned from the store, so my dairy products had been out of the cooler for a little while by that point. Homemade whipped cream takes so little time to make and I think it adds at least a little something to a dessert that relies so much on shortcut goods.

Saturday Night

Saturday night our good friends Spencer and Deb were coming over for dinner. I didn't take any picture, I was too busy enjoying myself. But I thought I would put links to the recipes I used, since they are especially good this time of year. For dinner we had a salad, some beer bread, and slow cooker beef stew. Everyone really enjoyed it, and we have plenty of leftovers for dinner tonight. For dessert I made Eve's Pudding, which I'd been eager to make again for quite some time. I think it turned out even better this time, despite the fact that I messed up the batter and had to start over. Luckily I'd given myself plenty of time and had it in the oven before they arrived. Easy dinner parties are such fun!

Sugar High Friday #28

Alrighty, to help me stick with my resolution to keep up this blog I decided to have a go at participating in some blog events. This will be my first entry in the monthly Sugar High Friday event, created by the Domestic Goddess and this time being hosted by Cardamom Addict. Not only is this my first entry in Sugar High Friday, but it's my first blog event entry ever. Hopefully I do everything right! So, on to the sweetness.

For round #28 Cardamom Addict has come up with the theme Sweet Seduction. Very fitting for the month of February, no? I was thinking, and thinking, rolling ideas around in my head. And then it hit me while I was re-reading my February issue of MS Living. The very first sight in the "Warming Winter Puddings" article was a delightful looking dish, called Eve's Pudding. Named so for the first lady of Eden and the inclusion of her weapon of seduction, the apple. Cardamom Addict mentioned several different angles to approach from- something you've made to seduce someone, something your planning to make to seduce someone, something someone made to seduce you, or something you wish someone would make to seduce you. In my mind this particular item falls into two of those catagories. I used the possibility of this delicious dish to help sweeten the deal when convincing Josh to take me to Ikea, so I suppose you could say I used it to seduce him. And then, there is the lovely thought of sharing this decidedly British dessert with Colin Firth, after he whipped it up for me. Remember how helpful in the kitchen he was in Bridget Jones' Diary? Before I get too distracted, let's get to the recipe.

Eve's Pudding
Recipe from MS Living; Serves 8 to 10














1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened,
plus more for baking dish
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Salt
1 3/4 pounds baking apples, peeled,
quartered, cored, and cut into 1/8" thick
slices
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk
Heavy cream, for serving

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8 1/2" square baking dish; set aside. Whisk flour, baking powder, and 1/2 teaspoon salt ina medium bowl; set aside.
• Put apples, 1/4 cup sugar, the lemon juice, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt into a large bowl; toss to combine. Transfer to prepared baking dish, and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons water over top; set aside.
• Put butter and 6 tablespoons sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, alternating with milk. Mix until combined.
• Spread batter over apples, and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake until batter is cooked through and juices are bubbling, about 40 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack 15 minutes. Spoon into dishes; serve drizzled with cream.

My notes: I (so, so, sadly) don't have a stand mixer. I used my regular handheld mixer up until the flour point, and then mixed with a rubber spatula from there. Also, my square baking dish happens to be 8", not the above-mentioned 8 1/2". I baked the pudding on a foil lined baking sheet, in case of any over-spill. None occured, so I imagine that 1/2" isn't all that important. Lastly, I also sprinkled a little cinnamon atop the batter with the remaining sugar, to add a little color, and because I love cinnamon. :)