Please, sir, I want some more.

Busy days. I just finished the translation of a legal text, so I need a moment of relaxation…

Quick Piccolo update: my boy is definitely on the mend…I find his toy balls scattered all over our bed at all times of day, which always puts a big smile on my face… 

Another thing that puts a big smile on my face is that my parents are flying into Florence tomorrow afternoon for their annual three-month (summer) visit. I haven’t seen them since October. I am very excited, that goes without saying, but it also means that I have been doing quite a bit of straightening up and cleaning and so on (oops…Hi Mom!, no, no, the house is ALWAYS spotless and in order…hah, of course it is!!! But I want to make it even MORE spotless for YOU and Dad…uhm…). Okaaay, quick change of subject…

Yesterday I made my second ever attempt at a cream-filled fruit tart (see photo…Puzzola, my eldest cat, reminds me a bit of Oliver Twist, here…): a pâte sucrée base (pâte sucrée is a sort of rich, sweet short pastry…useful when you make tarts, since it really holds its shape) filled with a combination of crema pasticcera (=pastry cream) and Chantilly cream (=flavored whipped cream with a fancy name) AND topped with raspberries from our back yard (that’s the red splotch in the middle of the tart) surrounded by wild blueberries (washed and frozen by yours truly last September) from the Tuscan Apennines.

Oh, I almost forgot: before filling the pastry base, I brushed it with melted dark chocolate, so it wouldn’t get mushy once the cream was added…yes, this thing was RICH. But it’s the cake that Stefano wanted…and, all things considered, it was quite good…though I think I will omit the Chantilly cream next time.

Okay, I have some more housecle…I mean, translating to do…er…yes…

8 Comments

  1. Margaret, your cream-filled fruit tart looks absolutely yummy! Your home grown raspberries give it a special pop of color on top! Hope Stefano enjoys his birthday and his dessert!

    Clean up, paint up, and fix up! Gotta be ready for the folks! Makes me tired to think of it! : ) Enjoy! Donna

  2. Looks simply divine – what a wonderful fruit tart! Enjoy enjoy your parents visit – how I miss mine so very much (both have left us now). I can remember such very wonderful times when we lived in the UAE and they would come with their love and laughter to visit for a month or so – what wonderful times we had together – such wonderful memories Margaret.

  3. I am so jealous of your raspberries and past beautiful spring photos of them. I’d been salivating over a tiny little plastic container of raspberries at the grocery store all week and your mention yesterday of raspberry tart put me in the car to go get raspberries and make a dessert. Your tart looks delicious. I planted some kind of berry bush last year but no berries yet, too small. I thought of you saying your raspberries had taken over your whole yard when I planted it.

  4. Donna, I don’t know where you got the idea that I might be painting…NOT! 😉 And Stefano did enjoy his…tart, thanks! 😉
    Susie, I know what you mean. My parents are in their early 80s and still flying about…quite amazing (they both take 4 grams of curcumin/day, by the way!).
    Paula: ROTFWL! Sorry! I will make it up to you by writing a very long scientific post, how about that? 😉
    Linda: I will take a photo of my raspberry bush and send it to you…today, if I can! My parents are landing in Florence in about 5 hours…speaking of which, this is really weird: 3 of my 5 cats are lying on my parents’ bed…how do they KNOW? Cats are really amazing creatures…

  5. That tart looks absolutely delick-able… and I love the picture because the fellow in the fur suit is exhibiting such restraint. I would have pounced on it long before!

  6. hi Margaret: la ricetta della settimana – do you share your crema pasticcera ricetta? I don’t have a good recipe.

  7. Hi Margaret,
    Thank you so much for your blog. It is a wealth of information for all of us.

    My dad (67 years old) has recently been diagnosed with MM (May 15th 2010). He had a bone lesion in his right thigh. The lesion was a result of MM.
    He is on Dexamethasone and Lenalidomide. Thanks to you, I got the information on Curcumin and got in touch with Dr. Aggarwal.
    My dad will be starting curcumin in a day or so.

    My dad lives in India and has access to the great medical facilities there. However, I was wondering if you had any idea where I could get god quality curcumin in India.

    Thanks
    Vijay

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