twd ~ Crunchy & Custardy Peach Tart

Rachel of sweet tarte had such a great idea when she picked this! It's perfect for summer, and living in Georgia, we have some great peaches.



It was also great timing to have something that could sit in the frig overnight. My sister, who is 2.5 years older, has been living in Shanghai for the past two years. She’s truly more than a sister so I’m very excited that she is moving back to the states. She arrived on Thursday afternoon and moved to NYC on Monday. I made the tart on Wednesday, and served it to my mom, sister, and my sister’s friend Greg, after she came in from the airport. We all met at my apartment, and It was a hit – everyone had a piece and cleaned their plates!



The tart kept well in the refrigerator overnight. The streusel topping was a little soft, but otherwise, it was perfect. I ran out of butter when I was making the Sweet Nut Tart Crust, so I used oil instead. Surprisingly, it turned out really well. The texture was definitely different, and not quite as good, but it worked.

Meet Charlie! The adorable black cat who is now fully recovered from dental surgery and feeling very frisky! Well, when he's not sleeping.

twd ~ Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

Natalie of Oven Love picked Oatmeal Breakfast Bread for this week's TWD.



I knew I was going to love this. I love oatty things, and this one has raisins and cinnamon and a lovely brown sugar topping. Breakfast breads with toppings are just better. My favorite is one that has coconut, butter, and sugar for banana bread. They need to start making bread tops, and add them to the pastry cases right beside the muffin tops.



This bread is quite dense and uses applesauce in the batter. It’s quite good. If you need evidence, I baked it for a work celebration honoring two of our employees that have been with us for 10 years, and all that remained afterwards were a few crumbs. 10 years...wow!

twd ~ Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream

Katrina of Bakings and Boys! picked Chocolate Ganache Ice Cream this week. It's a perfect pick for the heat wave we've been having!



I followed Dorie's advice and used dark chocolate - 88% cocoa to be exact. I added a pinch of sea salt to the mix before I put it in the ice cream maker. I couldn't actually taste the salt, but I like a little with dark chocolate - it seems to take away any bitter aftertaste. I halved the recipe, but only used one egg (instead of two) for the custard. I was making next week's oatmeal breakfast bread to take to work and only had two eggs. I could have gone to the store but...couldn't quite make myself. The ice cream was still delicious, just a bit icier than I think it would have been otherwise. I also used coconut milk instead of milk and cream. I think this would be great with caramalized nuts thrown in!

twd ~ Gingered Carrot Crunchies

Dorie set out to make carrot cake cookies, and ended up with a cookie unlike carrot cake but still very good.

I set out to make Dorie's Gingered Carrot Cookies, and ended up with a sweet unlike cookies but still very good.

I quartered the recipe, and evidently got the proportions wrong. I had an inkling when the dough was supposed to be thick, and mine wasn't. But hey, it's hot. So I popped it in the oven anyway and came back 16 minutes later to find, not four individual cookies, but a mass of crispy dessert spread thin over the pan. It was too late to try again, so I broke it up into a bowl and let it cool.

Then I munched on it as I watched the finale of The Bacholette. Oh Roberto, you are too cute! It was very good for munching, and would be very good over ice cream or added to popcorn. The problem with making again is that I'm not sure exactly where I went wrong. But either way, it was a nice mishap!

Thanks to Natalia of gatti fili e farina for the great pick this week! Check out her blog for the recipe, and the real thing as it's supposed to be.

twd ~ Chewy Chunky Blondies

So I admit it, I can be an emotional eater.

This week, I returned from a fabulous trip to NYC and DC behind on sleep by about 250,098 hours. Even though the trip was for work, I had lots to catch up on in the office. Add on top my lady time (or whatever euphenism you favor) and I was craving something sugary, sweet, and chocolately. You can imagine how happy I was for this week's twd pick!



These blondies are essentially a bar chocolate-chip cookie with add-ins. Yes, they are as good as they sound. Mine came out more crisp than chewy. I did half the recipe and bake half of that, freezing the other half. On Saturday, I took my cat to the vet and found out he needs $2000 worth of dental work! Ouch. For him and me. He's a precious kitty I got from a no-kill shelter about five months ago, and is FIV+. But after that news, a little blondie for me and a little milk for him was in perfect order.

Thanks to Nicole of Cookies on Friday for the wonderful pick!

Froban or Ice Cream without the Cream

This is the best discovery!

Seriously creamy...cold...perfect for summer....

and all it is a ripe banana.

Those things that turn black sitting on the counter in the summer sun, and only beg a glance when they are too ripe to eat. Throw it in the freezer and then the blender and magic things happen.

That old ripe banana is reincarnated as yummy ice cream. Or something pretty darn close.

I added a handfull of frozen strawberries, and it begs for more playing around. Peaches, peanut butter, chocolate...okay, it's getting less healthy by the word but it's still a great (vegan) option.

Coconut Banana Cakes

Kimberly of Only Creative Opportunities picked an awesome recipe this week. It's Lots of Ways Banana Cake, and let's you get creative yourself.



I quartered the recipe, which made five cupcakes. I left the batter recipe the same, and added a coconut rum buttercream icing on top, sprinkled with coconut and almond pieces. For the icing, I used 3 Tablespoons of butter at room temperature. I added ~1 Tablespoon of coconut rum, and then confectioner's sugar until the right consistency. I couldn't stop dipping my fingers in the icing bowl while waiting for the cakes to cool! It was really good. The cake was lovely as well. A little dense and moist. I think it definitely needed a little something on top to sweetened the whole deal.