"Tartlets" news and stories

• Nostalgic foods you can make for the holidays, including Potato Latkes and Spicy Popcorn.
• Yes, you can find some healthy fast food.
• A recipe for the intriguing Black Cake.
• Forget those little candy canes. How about some 14 inchers?
• Massachusetts Governor-elect Deval Patrick is also a gourmet cook. (Also check out some of his favorite recipes.)
• A new book coming out says that the next big trend is "gastroporn." Um, hasn't that been going on for a few years now?
• Um...wow.
• This week's recipes: Mincemeat, Frangipani mince tartlet, and Chocolate Caramel Turtles.

Pairing lemon with other fruits in desserts is a great idea, as the bright, tart flavor of lemon really helps to highlight other flavors. Bea, from la Tartine Gourmande, used this strategy when making her luscious Blackberry Tartlets with Lemon Cream. The tarts are quite easy to make because the elements are made separately and combined before serving. The tart shells are made with pâte brisée and are prebaked, a step that you could easily do a day or in advance if you want to try the tarts during the holidays and need to save time. The lemon cream, which is really like a light and rich lemon-flavored custard, can also be done ahead of time. Before serving, the cream is spooned into the tarts and garnished with fresh berries. It looks like Bea gave some a sprinkle of confectioners' sugar and garnished others with small sprigs of mint.

Although she used blackberries in her tarts, Bea is quick to point out that you should use whatever type of fruit is seasonally available - strawberries, raspberries, etc. We're suspect that the tarts will taste just as good without any fruit topping, too.

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Chocolate cake and chocolate cookies are all well and good, but when you want to do something a little fancier, a chocolate tartlet might be just the thing. These bittersweet chocolate mini tartlets were cooked up by Anita at Dessert Comes First for a party that had some guests with discerning palates. The tarts are actually not much more difficult to make than cookies would have been since the shortbread-like base is pressed into mini muffin tins to make the shells, which are then filled with a creamy and intense chocolate filling and baked again to set them slightly. The quick and easy tarts, as Anita so brilliantly suggests, can then be topped with any number of things to spice them up a bit before serving. She used cacao nibs, chopped nuts and chili powder.

And for any s'mores fans out there, a marshmallow topping would make this a very adult s'more, indeed.

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From looking at this scrumptious Cherry & Lemon Cream Cheese Tartlet from Lex Culinaria, you would never guess that it qualifies as a "light" dessert. The first trick employed in lightening the recipe was changing the crust. The tart crust is made from crunchy baked phyllo dough instead of a richer, more fattening shortcrust pastry. The smooth, creamy filling uses a low fat cream cheese and, of course, the beautiful fresh cherries topping the tarts off are full of vitamins and antioxidants. In this dessert, there is a great combination of flavors and textures. I already want to try the recipe - but there are so many other "light" applications for this kind of tart shell that I don't think it'll be the only time that I use the trick this summer.

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