If I mention upside-down cake, you’ll probably picture a neon concoction with pineapple and maraschino cherries. The cake became popular in the early 1900s, when pineapple was first canned. But it’s been with us since the Middle Ages, when cooks used seasonal fruits and cast-iron pans.

Since apples are my favorite way to welcome cold weather (I first made this in the fall, when apples were at their peak. It was so delicious that I had to share.), I used them in upside-down cake. All the recipes I’ve seen call for briefly sautéing the apples, then transferring them to a baking pan. People, you’re losing the yum yums! If you cook something in a skillet, keep the browned bits in there.

I followed the tradition of tarte Tatin by caramelizing apples with butter and sugar in a cast-iron skillet. But instead of topping it with pie dough, I used low-fat yellow cake, from the infallible Alice Medrich. The buttermilk gives the cake tang and tenderness, while the gooey caramel apples glisten like jewels. When I first made this, my friend and I ate a quarter of it, knowing that I’d have to serve it for Thanksgiving the next night. In the following days, three slices easily equaled one serving.

There are dozens of apple varieties, but I recommend Golden Delicious, as it keeps its shape when cooked and isn’t too tart. If you’re lucky enough to score Golden Russets at the farmers market in the fall, they’re even better. Beneath the sandpaper skin lies juicy, gingery flesh.

Caramel Apple Upside-Down Cake

Topping adapted from The 1997 Joy of Cooking; cake adapted from Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts by Alice Medrich

Special equipment: a 9-inch cast-iron skillet (preferred), or any pan without non-stick coating. If your pan has plastic handles, cover them  with several layers of foil.

For the caramel apples:
6 medium-large Golden Delicious apples (about three pounds)
1/2 stick butter
1 cup sugar

For the cake:
1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour (6 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup 1% fat buttermilk (Substitute: place 1/2 tablespoon vinegar in a measuring cup and fill with milk until it equals 1/2 cup. Let stand for 5 minutes.)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup sugar

Make the caramel apples:
Peel, core, and quarter the apples. Melt butter in the pan. Remove from the heat and sprinkle sugar evenly over the bottom.

Tightly arrange the apples, flat side down, in a ring against the sides of the skillet. Fill in the center of the skillet with the remaining apple quarters. Keep in mind that the apples will shrink while cooking. You may have a couple pieces of apples left.

Place the skillet over the highest possible heat and cook, stirring, until the juices turn from butterscotch to deep amber, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Spear the apples with a fork or the point of a paring knife and flip them onto their uncooked sides. Return the skillet to the heat and boil for two minutes more. Apples will continue to cook even after you turn off the heat.

Make the cake:
Have all ingredients at room temperature. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 325° F.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together.  In a small bowl, beat the eggs together.  In another small bowl, combine the vanilla and buttermilk. Set all three bowls aside.

Cut the butter into chunks and place in a large bowl. With an electric mixer on low speed, beat till softened, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar, beating for about 3 minutes. Gradually drizzle in the eggs, beating at medium-high speed for 2 to 3 minutes. On low speed, beat in a third of the flour mixture, scraping the bowl with a spatula as needed. On medium-high speed, gradually drizzle in half the milk, continuing to scrape the bowl.  On low speed, beat in half of the remaining flour, then the rest of the milk on high speed.  Beat in the remaining flour on low speed just until combined, and continue to scrape the bowl as needed.  The batter may look curdled.

Scrape the batter over the apples and bake for about one hour, or the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, the top is golden brown, and a toothpick inserted through the center comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a plate.  If the caramel has cooled too much and becomes hard, place the pan over a low flame for a couple minutes to loosen the caramel.

Related Links:
More apple desserts
Banana upside-down brownies
The history of upside-down cakes

My go-to chocolate cake is from the ancient days of the Food Network, when it was located in Long Island (instead of Chelsea Market in Manhattan), and AOL was synonymous with the Internet. Actually, back in the 90s, you could request recipes by sending a SASE envelope to their offices (in case you didn’t have Internet access). It only took two months before you received the recipe in the mail.

Nowadays, you can look up any recipe on your phone while you’re standing in line at the grocery store, but this recipe still has its charm. It’s everything you’d want in a chocolate cake: rich, moist, dark, and airy. It’s just like the cake mix but better. I’ve updated this classic and added peppermint frosting for the holidays.

Psst! Still figuring out what to give people this year? Here’s dozens of ideas for homemade gifts.

Chocolate Peppermint Cake

Cake adapted from the Food Network’s “How to Boil Water,” hosted by Sean Donnellan; frosting inspired by The 1997 Joy of Cooking

Cake:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch-processed)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil, preferably expeller pressed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Frosting:
1 stick unsalted butter
2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon salt
A couple drops of red food coloring (optional)
1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil, or to taste
A couple tablespoons milk, as needed

Make the cake: Preheat oven to 350° F. Prepare one 9-inch cake pan or bundt pan by spreading it with butter, dusting it with flour, and tapping out the extra.

In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, beat the eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla on medium speed with a hand mixer, until well mixed. Slowly add the boiling water and mix. Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon, just until smooth.

Pour batter into pan. Bake 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Make the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the butter on low speed until fluffy, then gradually add the powdered sugar and salt. As soon as it’s incorporated, increase the speed to medium and mix until smooth. Add the food coloring if desired, or set aside a portion to color, so you can pipe a candy stripe design. With a rubber spatula, mix in the peppermint oil (do not use the electric mixer, as it will cause the aroma to dissipate). If needed, thin out the frosting with one tablespoon of milk at a time.

Frost cake: Place the cake on a platter and using an offset spatula, spread the frosting evenly on top, 1/2″ thick. To create the candy stripe design, fill a ziptop bag with half a cup of red frosting, and cut a very small corner off the tip of the bag (when in doubt, but a smaller hole than you think you need; you can always make it bigger if you have to). Pipe red stripes across the cake, 3/4″ apart. Drag a toothpick through the stripes to create the swirled design.

Photo: Tina Vega/Flickr

Gooey butter cake is exactly what it sounds like: sticky, chewy, creamy—and a heart attack on a plate. But once you try it, you’ll ignore your judgment and want to eat it all. According to legend, the cake originated around the 1930s, when a baker in St. Louis added the wrong proportions of ingredients to a coffee cake (although there are differing stories). The result was a toffee-esque goo that was held by a dense, cakey crust.

My favorite version’s from Paula Deen—she of Krispy Kreme bread pudding fame. Her pumpkin gooey butter cake’s a combination of pumpkin pie and cheesecake, with no fussy crust to roll out. The problem with most butter cake recipes though, is they call for boxed cake mix. Or if they’re from scratch, you have to wait for a yeast dough to rise.

I adapted a from-scratch cake recipe for the crust and slightly reduced the sugar and fat (it’s still a gut bomb, but I did what I could).

St. Louis Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake (from scratch)
Crust inspired by Food & Wine; filling inspired by Paula Deen

Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry milk powder (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 stick butter, melted

Filling:
1 (8-ounce) package Neufchâtel cheese (reduced-fat cream cheese), softened
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 stick butter, melted
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg

• Preheat oven to 350° F and lightly grease a 13″x9″ glass baking pan.
• To make the crust: Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and dry milk (if using) in a bowl. Add the egg and butter and mix until just combined with an electric mixer. Pat the mixture into the bottom and one inch up the sides of the pan.
• To make the filling: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and pumpkin until smooth. Add the eggs, vanilla, and butter, and beat together. Next, add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and mix well. Spread pumpkin mixture over the crust and bake 1 hour. Don’t overbake, as the center should be a little gooey.

View more Thanksgiving and fall dessert ideas.

*Note: the picture above is of Paula Deen’s original recipe. I lost my pic of the cake, but it looks similar.

Courtesy of Gail Ambrosius

If you’re a New York snob like me, you might glaze over the other 49 states when it comes to chocolate. With stores like La Maison du Chocolat and Jacques Torres, I assume that I can buy everything I need here.

Imagine then, my surprise (and excitement) when a chocolatier from Wisconsin sent me a box of truffles to review. Gail Ambrosius‘ chocolates are exquisitely crafted, from the cacao sourcing to the finished product. She’s personally visited cacao farms in Ecuador, Colombia, and Costa Rica. As a result, she helps farmers refine their harvest and ensures that they earn a livable wage (most don’t). Like all good chocolatiers, she chooses a specific chocolate (such as El Rey, Vintage Plantations, Finmac, or Santander) to pair with her flavors.

The ganache centers are intensely creamy (I wouldn’t be surprised if there was butter in them) and hand-dipped in a thick layer of 70% Colombian chocolate.

Caramel sprinkled with grey salt, courtesy of Gail Ambrosius

The chocolates come in several collections: classic, adventurous, and tea-inspired. Lucille’s vanilla tastes like your mother’s chocolate pudding, while the caramels are soft and chewy, with a jolt from grey salt. The other flavors are exotic without being overpowering (I’ve had my share of bad bacon chocolate and such). Lemongrass with ginger has a dreamy coconut aroma, while shiitake mushroom is deep and earthy (actually, it’s probably the only flavor that was weird for me).

I was greedy and ate all the chocolates before I had a chance to photograph them, so sadly I’m resorting to their PR photos. As of now, the chocolates are only available in select stores in the Midwest, plus online. Let’s hope they expand their distribution. The shipping ups the price, but they’d make a great gift for chocolate lovers who think they’ve tried everything.

Truffles start at $4.25 for a two-piece box, gailambrosius.com.

It’s been a while, but here’s another list of my favorite finds from the Fancy Food Show. Look for these up-and-comers at a store near you.

Askinosie’s Chocolate-Hazelnut Spread

No matter how hard I try, I could never produce this spread at home (even though I have an excellent recipe for a Nutella knockoff). The hazelnuts are a rare variety from Washington, known as DuChillys (pictured). Because of their oblong shape, you might mistake them for almonds. But once you taste their sweet flesh, you won’t forget them. The hazelnut butter, cocoa powder and nibs (from the Philippines), and organic sugar are mixed in a melanger for nine days. It tastes fruity (like raspberry) and is worth every penny. $13 for 6.5 oz, available at askinosie.com.

Comptoir du Cacaco

Comptoir du Cacao, a family-run chocolate factory in France, is finally coming to the states. I first tried their products in 2007, during an otherwise bum year at the Chocolate Show. I’ve been dreaming about them ever since (they weren’t available via mail order). Their signature “flaky pralines” contain nuts and/or caramel that are finely ground with single-origin chocolate. The texture’s like a Kit Kat to the nth degree. I also love the “little crusties,” which come in dark chocolate with candied oranges, chocolate-hazelnut with salted butter caramel, and white chocolate with coconut. Visit comptoircacao.com for more info.

Zingerman’s Candy Bars

Zingerman’s, the famed specialty-foods store in Ann Arbor, Mich., has made candy bars for several years, but they started their dedicated candy business a year ago (which means wider distribution). Each bar is made when it’s ordered, and stores can only display them for 60 days. The freshness, as well as the high quality ingredients (Valrhona chocolate, for instance), is evident when you taste the bars. The Zzang Original is what a Snickers was meant to be: crunchy nuts, soft nougat, and not too sweet. About $7 each, available at specialty stores and zingermans.com.

La Tourangelle Oil

This California-based company makes some of the most intensely flavored oils I’ve tried. I wouldn’t recommend baking with them (the heat will destroy the delicate flavor), but try using it in homemade chocolate-hazelnut spread, or drizzling it on vanilla ice cream. My favorites are the pecan and sesame oils (custom made from Japan, and the seeds are roasted at a low temp so they don’t burn). From $8.99 for 8.5 oz, available at specialty stores; latourangelle.com.

Raw IceCream

Talk about a conversation killer. Just say the words “raw” and “vegan,” and people will run away from you. But wait, I promise this tastes just as good as traditional ice cream. I asked them how in the world they get it smooth instead of grainy, and they aren’t talking. All I know is that they use cashews, coconut, agave nectar, cocoa butter, vanilla beans, salt, and other ingredients based on the flavor. The company is truly eco conscious, making carbon neutral and compostable packaging. Available at specialty stores in New York; rawicecream.com.

One of my pet peeves is reading recipes without pictures. How do I know if I want to make something if I have no idea how it’ll turn out? So why is there a generic picture of strawberries in this post, instead of the said dessert?

When I bake, I usually bring the dessert to a party, where it’s hacked to a pulp. A whole dessert, like an uncut pie, is boring, so I usually don’t photograph it either. As a result, I don’t blog about lots of things I make, because I don’t have pictures.

To solve this problem, I think bakers should be allowed to present desserts with pieces cut out. Just for photographic purposes of course. Besides, it’s hard to wait that extra day between baking a dessert and actually eating it at the party.  Once, a co-worker presented a crumb cake with a giant hole in it. I thought it was a great idea, except she said she wanted to make sure it wasn’t poisonous.

So you’re not sold on this idea, but you should be sold on this dessert (and its cookbook). As a chocolate fan, I usually think fruit desserts are boring. But every dessert from Rustic Fruit Desserts is one of the best things I’ve ever made. This “tart” originally had a short dough crust, but I used graham crackers because they’re easier to work with, especially during hot weather. I really like Midel, which is made of 100% whole wheat flour and has no refined sugars. It’s healthier than the traditional brands and much more flavorful.

Strawberry-Ricotta Cheesecake

Serves 8-12
Filling adapted from Rustic Fruit Desserts by Julie Richardson and Cory Schreiber; graham cracker crust adapted from The 1997 Joy of Cooking

Graham cracker crumb crust:

1 1/4 cup fine graham cracker crumbs (recommended brand: Midel)
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie pan or springform pan.
2. Mix together the ingredients with a fork until all ingredients are moistened. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan. Using your fingertips or the flat bottom of a glass cup, press the mixture firmly over the bottom and up the sides of a pie pan or 1/2 inch up the springform pan.
3. Bake until the crust’s lightly browned and firm, 10 to 15 minutes.

Strawberry-ricotta filling:

1 cup (8 ounces) whole-milk ricotta
1/3 cup (6 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) granulated sugar
Seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3 dry pints (6 cups) strawberries, hulled, and halved if large
1/2 cup strawberry jam

1. Using a handheld mixer with beaters or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, mix the ricotta, cream cheese, sugar, vanilla bean seeds, salt, and nutmeg on medium speed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Stir in the vanilla.
2. Pour the filling into the prebaked crust and bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes, or until the edges have puffed up but the middle’s still jiggly. (As the tart cools, the center will firm up.) Cool to room temperature on a wire rack, then refrigerate for 1 hour.
3. Just before serving, put the strawberries in a bowl. Warm the strawberry jam in a small sauce pan over low heat, then strain the jam over the strawberries and toss to coat. Arrange the berries on top of the tart and serve immediately. Alternatively, you could omit the jam and serve the berries alongside the tart.

Storage: The tart can be made a day in advance, in which case you should refrigerate it and top with the strawberries just before serving. Covered with plastic wrap, any leftovers will keep in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 days.

I’ve always been enamored with eating cookies for breakfast. After all, muffins aren’t much better; they’re basically cake without the frosting. If people can make healthy muffins, could a cookie be far?

The trouble is, most breakfast cookies have all the butter and sugar, but the whole grains are an afterthought. And then healthy cookies are disappointingly doughy.

When I saw this recipe on 101 Cookbooks, it sounded too good to be true. No added sugar? Vegan? 100% whole grain? No copout substitutes (like vegan buttery spread or Ener-G Egg Replacer)? It’s rare that a recipe with one of these attributes is delicious.

I’m happy to report that you can feel good eating these cookies for breakfast. Each cookie is crazy high in fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants. There’s a macaroon-esque chewiness, crisp edges, and cakey interior. The heartiness of the oats, richness of the coconut, and brightness of the fruit play well off of each other. My only complaint is that these crumble easily. Oh well, just think of it as soft granola.

The recipe is also highly customizable. Feel free to clean out your cupboard. You can use raisins (because you went on a healthy shopping spree and to your dismay, they became hard pellets), flaxseed meal (because there’s only so much you can sprinkle on oatmeal every morning), and applesauce (because the jar’s starting to look lonely after you dabbled in low-fat baking a while ago), but feel free to use any dried fruit (or chocolate chips), nut meal, and puréed fruit (even mix in a little nut/seed butter, such as tahini).

Breakfast Cookies
Adapted from Nikki’s Healthy Cookie recipe on 101 Cookbooks

Makes 3 dozen cookies

1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup flaxseed meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded and unsweetened
heaping 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350° F, racks in the lower and top thirds. Line two baking sheets with foil and grease with oil.
2. In a large bowl combine the applesauce, vanilla extract, and olive oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, flaxseed meal, coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the raisins.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough.
3. Drop firmly packed dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto the baking sheet. Bake for 12 – 14 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.

Calling all cacao nerds! My favorite American chocolate maker, Amano, is making a new bar with these beans. If you can guess where they’re from, you can win a year’s worth of chocolate!

These beans are unusually dark, so this could be a major clue. Also, Amano says, “They have a beautiful rich chocolate flavor with some very nice fruity notes. We have made a number of test batches and the chocolate made from these cacao beans is wonderfully complex. The finished chocolate is unlike any of our current chocolates.”

Go to the Guess the Origin Contest to enter. When the bar is released, a drawing will be held for everyone who guessed correctly.

Full disclosure: I’ve loved this chocolate from the beginning and followed their introduction of “dark” milk chocolate. By promoting this contest, I’ve received an extra chance at winning the raffle.

Photo: Amano Chocolate

I have a confession. I really like bananas (they’re a healthy, portable snack and I go crazy over banana-chocolate cake), but I feel guilty about the environmental and social impacts.

Bananas are grown with some of the highest pesticide levels of any tropical crop. Normally we don’t worry about it because we don’t eat the contaminated peel, but the pesticides leach into soil and kill surrounding wildlife. Also, bananas are grown in Latin America (imagine the fuel costs and how unripe they have to be to ship properly), where workers are denied fair wages and health care. Before you throw your hands up in frustration, please buy organic and fair-trade bananas (sparingly). Yes they’re more expensive, but that’s how much they’re supposed to cost. And then go ahead and make these banana brownies.

I first got this idea when I went to a demo and ate brownies with grilled bananas. So gooey and good. I decided to make it a one-pan affair by baking the bananas and brownies together. The brownies are an old standby. They’re like the box-mix kind, with their chewy bite and crackly, paper-thin crust, but better. They also happen to be low-fat. The only brownie I like more has three sticks of butter and 3/4 pound of chocolate, so you can’t really compare. The topping has a couple tablespoons of butter or optionally none at all, making the whole thing healthier than expected.

Personally I think these need nuts to break up the gooey texture, but a lot of people who like fudgy brownies liked these as is. If you’re not a fudgy fan, I suggest adding a handful of toasted walnuts or cocoa nibs (toss with a teaspoon of flour, so they don’t sink to the bottom) during the last stage of mixing.

Banana Upside-Down Brownies

Topping recipe adapted from David Lebovitz; brownies adapted from Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts by Alice Medrich
16 servings

For the topping:
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons (100 g) packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons water or butter; cubed, at room temperature
3-4 ripe medium bananas (organic and fair-trade please)
A few drops of lemon juice

For the brownies:
1 cup sifted all-purpose flour (112 g)
1/2 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon unsweetened dutch process cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon instant espresso or coffee powder, dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water
Optional: 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts or 1/4 cup cocoa nibs, tossed with a teaspoon or two of flour

1. Make the Topping: place the brown sugar and water or butter in an 8×8″ metal cake pan. Place the pan directly on the stove and warm over low heat, stirring until the sugar is the texture of wet sand. If using water, simmer for about 45 seconds. If using butter, stir just until the sugar is moist and bubbling, then remove from heat. (It won’t be completely smooth, and there may be a few bare spots.) Let cool to room temperature.
2. Peel and slice the bananas in 1/4-inch (1 cm) slices. Arrange them, slightly overlapping, over the melted brown sugar. Sprinkle with a few drops of lemon juice.
3. Make the Brownies: place the rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa, salt, and baking powder. Set aside.
5. Over medium heat, melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Turn off the heat and stir in the sugar until combined (texture will remain gritty). Add the eggs, vanilla, and dissolved espresso powder. Beat with a wooden spoon about 40 strokes, scraping the sides of the pan as necessary. Add the dry ingredients and the walnuts/nibs (if using) and beat for another 40 strokes, or just until completely combined.
6. Scrape the mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out a little gooey. Note: the brownie recipe calls for 20-25 minutes, but mine were nowhere near done then. I have a temperamental oven, so check the brownies at 20 minutes and every 5 minutes after that, and be prepared to bake for up to 40.
7. Cool for about 20 minutes, then run a knife along the edges of the brownies to help it release from the pan. Invert the brownies onto a serving platter. When completely cool, cut into 16 pieces. If keeping for more than one day, store in the fridge.

I was just trying to purge my pantry and for the life of me, couldn’t get anyone to eat my Chez Paniesse tart (a famous dessert that looks deceptively plain). I was met with skepticism: “You used old cream to make a tart? And it has a stick of butter too? Gee, thanks.” Some people didn’t bother trying it. Others eyed it suspiciously and insisted on only taking a nubbin. But once they tasted it, they couldn’t stop raving:

“Man, so delish. Not sure what I was thinking about taking a smaller piece. I inhaled it.”

“It’s divine.”

“Jess, you can clean out your cubboard any time you want.”

Imagine extra-rich dulce de leche, crunchy almonds, and a crumbly crust. You might be a chocolate person. You might be a nut-free person. Doesn’t matter. You’ll still like this dessert.

The recipe’s solid, so I decided to turn it into a homemade Samoa (my favorite Girl Scout cookie). All I had to do was add coconut, chocolate, and cacao nibs for crunch. It’s much easier than rolling out individual cookies, cutting the dough, dipping the baked cookie, and drizzling it with chocolate (although Chow’s version looks promising).

This tart has a lot of steps, but the dough is very forgiving. As I was shaping it, I worried that the heat from my hands would turn it into mush. And it came out fine! For tips, I recommend David Lebovitz’s photo tutorial (it’s for the original tart, but my recipe’s close enough). And do yourself a favor: spread it out over two days (one for making the dough, another for baking).

Coconut, Chocolate, and Caramel Tart

Inspired by Chez Panisse Desserts by Lindsey Shere
16 servings

Special equipment:
9- or 10-inch tart pan
parchment paper
heatproof spatula

For the dough:
1 cup (140 g) flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (4 oz, 115 g) chilled unsalted butter, cut into little cubes
1 tablespoon ice water
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
2. Add the butter and mix with your fingers, a fork, or pastry blender until the butter’s in very small pieces, the size of rice.
3. Add the water and vnailla and mix until the dough is smooth and comes together.
4. Press into a flat disk, wrap in plastic and chill thoroughly.
5. When ready to put the pastry in the pan, grease the bottom of the pan and line it with a circle of parchment paper. Let the dough come to room temperature and press the dough into a tart shell using the bottom of your hand. Try to get the dough flat on the bottom, and push it evenly up the sides with your thumbs. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but you want to make sure the sides don’t collapse. If that happens, you can take it out midway during baking, and push the dough back up the sides.
6. Put the tart crust in the freezer and chill thoroughly.
7. When ready to bake the crust, preheat the oven to 375° F.
8. Bake the crust for 20-30 minutes, until it is set and light golden-brown.
9. Remove from the oven and patch any holes with leftover dough (or use a water-flour paste).

For the tart filling:
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1 cup (200 g) sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut, preferably lightly toasted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. To bake, place the tart pan on top of a baking sheet (in case the filling leaks).
2. Heat the cream, sugar, and salt in a big, wide heavy pot (use one that’s at least 4 qts) until it begins to boil.
3. Continue to cook and when it starts to foam up, remove it from the heat and stir in the coconut and vanilla.
4. Scrape the filling into the crust. If there’s too much filling, save it; if the tart leaks, you can re-fill the crust.
5. Make sure everything’s evenly distributed and there’s no clumps of coconut. Put the tart into the oven.
6. After ten minutes, check the tart.
7. Take a heatproof silicone spatula, hold it diagonally, and tap the entire surface of the tart to break up the top layer. Do not break the pastry underneath; you just want to break up surface crust that’s forming. This step is very important to cook the filling evenly and prevent it from looking wrinkled.
8. Continue to cook, checking the tart every 5-8 minutes, and break up any dry crust that may be forming, easing off as the filling sets up. As it begins to caramelize, stop tapping it and let the tart finish cooking on its own.
9. Remove the tart from the oven when the filling is light brown (like the color of caramel sauce) and there are no large, gooey pockets of white filling, about 30 minutes.

For topping:
1/4 cup cacao nibs
1/2 cup finely chopped dark chocolate

1. Immediately cover the tart with cacao nibs (you want it to stick to the still-hot caramel).
2. Let the tart cool a few minutes on a cooling rack and sprinkle chocolate on top. The entire surface should be covered. Don’t be shy. Add more chocolate if you have to. (There should be at least twice as much chocolate/nibs than pictured above.)
3. Check and see if the tart has fastened itself to the tart ring. Slide a knife (or a curved vegetable peeler, which will slide nicely in between the ridges) between the tart and the pan to loosen it so the sides don’t come off when you remove the ring.
4. When completely cool, remove the ring by resting the tart on top of a solid object and gently coax the ring off. Slip a large spatula underneath it the tart to remove the bottom of the pan. Cut into slivers (best done with a serrated knife).

Make-ahead: The dough can be made in advance, and chilled (up to 4 days) or frozen longer. The dough can be frozen once it’s pressed in the tart pan. Wrap in plastic if you don’t plan to bake it within 48 hours. Once baked, store the tart at room temperature. Wrap in plastic wrap if keeping for more than one day. It’s best eaten on the first day but will keep for up to 4 days.