"dessert" news and stories

"Balance really is the art of the tart," says blogger QuintanaRoo, whose fruit of choice, above, is the black apricot (an intensely sweet hybrid of plum and apricot). According to California fruit source Melissa's, the fuzzy deep purple fruit with the golden interior "is reminiscent of apricot preserves." In a textured almond crust to frame it, this is one sweet early-summer dessert. And, Quintanaroo adds, for the balance every tart needs, try pairing the black apricots with sour plums.

She doesn't provide a recipe to go along with her luscious photos, but this Kitchen Daily recipe for petite fruit tarts will do those black apricots proud.

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If you have empty freezer space, a glass baking dish and a fork, you're ready to make this refreshing warm-weather treat.

No, I'm not going to make a "making whoopee" joke, or even a whoopee-cushion joke. But it's pretty tempting. However, I will tell you that in a New York Times story about whoopie pies, it said, "food historians believe whoopie pies originated in Pennsylvania, where they were baked by Amish women and put in farmers' lunchboxes. Tired from a morning's work, the farmers purportedly would shout, "Whoopie!" if they discovered one of the desserts in their lunch pails." Really? This just reminds me of that Weird Al Yankovic video for "Amish Paradise."

Whether you're Amish or not, whoopie pies are fun food, and with this recipe from blogger fritesandfries, which includes a dash of Syrian Aleppo chile pepper in the buttercream filling, they're a touch spicy as well. And if you want to temper your fun with a little veg, try this recipe for a carrot-cake version.

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I've never loved that old adage about taking the bitter with the sweet, but in the case of rhubarb and strawberries I make an exception. This pairing is classic because it's pretty hard for it to go wrong, the strength of the rhubarb tempering the sweet berries, and the berries taking the edge off what might be an overpowering bitterness on its own -- helped along by our old friend sugar. Here they meet up in a homey cobbler of buttery biscuits, in a recipe from Melissa Murphy's Sweet Melissa Baking Book. (You might want to dig into that cobbler on a warm summer afternoon in the shady garden of Murphy's Sweet Melissa Patisserie, in Park Slope, Brooklyn.)

Experiment with rhubarb. There are dozens of varieties, like the deep red Valentine and juicy Holstein's Bloodred, and the pink Sunrise. And try it in an airy dessert -- Ruth Cousineau's Kitchen Daily recipe for meringue nests with roasted rhubarb-and-strawberry sauce.

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Each Thursday, we round up a selection of scrumptious links from our friends over at YumSugar. Here's what they've got cooking this week:

• If you recorded PBS' showing of Food, Inc. last night, watch it with the perfect pairing -- popcorn!
• Eat a healthy treat on Earth Day with coconut pineapple loaf cake.
• Don't even think about saving Mother Nature anything on an empty stomach.
• Test your tasty-bits system know-how.
• Take a bite of out a Greek salad on a toothpick.
• Who says you can't drink your Sunday Best?
• Recycle your beef -- Japanese style -- with this tataki recipe.