Baking Tarts for Dummies
Posted on November 2, 2010 by Nina Timm in vegetarian
“Baking Tarts for Dummies” could easily be a sequel to all the books with similar titles that are already on the shelves. I sometimes wonder where all these titles are coming from? “Chewing food for Dummies”, “Parenting for dummies”, “Photoshop for dummies” and heaven forbid “Pimpin for Dummies”.
By choosing this title I am in no way referring to my loyal visitors as dummies, but I just want to show you how incredibly easy it is to bake a tart.
Sweet or savory, tarts always wow your guests. It says “I cared enough about you to bake something really delicious!” At the same time, I find people to be intimidated by baking tarts. I always hear: “but you are good at baking and that’s why your tarts always taste so good!” Let me tell you, I WANT you to make a delicious tart too. I WANT you to experience the oohs and aaahs from your guests. I have made so many delicious tarts over the years by just following the same basic principals…….the best pastry ( yes, you can buy it) and good quality ingredients as toppings. The following tarts are all easy do-able tarts, I invite you to have a look and try some today! You will never again be intimidated by the idea of baking your own tarts and you will no longer feel like a total dummy!!
When the tart comes out of the oven, sprinkle with some the bacon bits(if used), some fresh truffle and Parmesan shavings. Serve this simple yet extravagant tart with a simple green salad.
Cook’s note: Truffles are hard to come by and a bit on th eprice side. It can however easily be replaced with a boiled egg, blue cheese f just the bacon bits. Enjoy!
As you all know by now, I am forever involved in some kind of charity work. Every now and then there are some big fundraisers for worthy causes such as the Haiti Fund or The Blogger Aid fund doing the rounds here on the blogs. I am always amazed at the effort that bloggers put into making these fundraisers successful. I like to be hands on and I suppose God answered my prayers by opening my eyes to the needs around me. I see children dropping out of school because they do not have the right books, stationary or clothing. I see children as young as 8-9 years using alcohol or other substances just to make their daily existence more bearable. These are the kids I want to help and mentioned this on my other blog a while back. A fellow blogger friend of mine Tandy came on board and decided to donate a percentage of each on of her cookbooks sold to my “nameless” charity drive. I was so overwhelmed and I am extremely grateful for this act of kindness. Thank you Tandy. The book is called Lavender & Lime and consists of 80 of her favorite recipes. I had a sneak preview of this book and will most definitely try a few of her tasty recipes. You can visit Tandy here and order the books from her site or just click on the logo below. Thank You again Tandy!!
thanks so much Nina.
I wish I can bake beautiful tarts like these…
Thank you for the tart confidence Nina. Also for the timely mention of your charity. If only we could raise money for luxuries for the children of the world and not the basic necessities like clean water, food, the right to go to school and the tools to do so it would be such a better place.
I wish I had a piece of that lovely tart for my lunch today, Nina! It looks so delicious and beautiful!
What a wonderful tutorial and charity!
This looks delicious.
What a fabulous looking tart! Would be perfect for a sophisticated summer lunch.
Oh, and I would love to see a Pimpin' for Dummies book – would buy it just for the laughs. 😉
Nina you're magnificent! You're styling and food is out of this world beautiful! When is your cookbook coming out my friend, I'm serious!
That's such a beautiful tart, Nina! Re. truffles – the othe option if you can't afford or get yor hands om the real thing is to sprinkle some truffle-infused olive oil over the tart just before serving – that will give you the distinctive flavour without having to take out a second mortgage on your house :o)
I want a big slice of that tart!
Oh Nina! I love your ideas of tart using the puff pastry…actually I have one roll of the pastry in the freezer…will take your ideas 🙂