Thanks to Random House Canada I have had the opportunity to put yet another recipe from Martha Stewart’s New Pies and Tarts cookbook through my test kitchen. How lucky a foodie am I?! But I did something Martha may not approve of. I changed her recipe. And… I paid the price!
You will find Martha’s original recipe here. See… I had half a batch of her Pâte Brisée in the freezer and thought to myself, OK, I can make half these galettes with it. No worries. The real problem? Finding rhubarb in April! When I chose this recipe I figured I would be able to find rhubarb in the freezer section. Nope! In fact, finding frozen raspberries was very challenging but I did it and went with it. To see me make the pastry, go here.
I divided the dough into four sections and rolled them into 7″ rounds, approximately 1/8″ thick. Then I chilled in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Altogether there was supposed to be six cups of fruit so I used three cups of raspberries and added 2 tbsp of cornstarch and 1 cup of sugar. Which was ridiculous! Even with this mound of sugar on top, I had a ton leftover. So confusing! You were supposed to divide the filling between the discs of pastry, leaving a one inch border. Well I got the border part right.
Wetting the dough as I went, I folded up the sides to make it all nice and pretty. I refrigerated the galettes for 30 minutes, then brushed the crust with water and sprinkled with an organic sugar I had since I did not have coarse sanding sugar. I baked in a 400F preheated over for 30 minutes, reduced temperature to 375F and baked for an addition 15 minutes.
OMG, what a mess! The pan closest to the element (not on the very bottom) seemed to swell and explode!!! The filling remained very liquid-y, never gelled probably because I did not use all that sugar and cornstarch but I if I had, this might have been even more disastrous.
The wonderful thing about this particular kitchen disaster is, it still tasted FANTASTIC! Oh man, if you like raspberries, this is the treat for you.
I totally take responsibility for this screw up. I should not have messed with a Martha recipe and may have angered the foodie gods who taught me a lesson but still let me eat well. There is no point rating this recipe since I went off the foodie map.
As a result, I need your help! What should I make from Martha’s book next? I have a poll going on the right-hand side of my blog. Your choices are:
Chocolate Mousse Tart with Hazelnuts
Pumpkin Flans in Pastry Shells
Apricot Hand Pies (sorry, no link)
So please vote. Poll is open until Friday. I want to get on my next foodie challenge as soon as possible. Hopefully if you select the apricot hand pies I will be able to find some ripe apricots at this time of year! I probably should have gone with another chocolate recipe, LOL.
Can’t wait to see what you choose for me to make! Happy voting!
Disregarding Martha’s instructions? Oh dear. Martha doesn’t like that. And she has connections, you know. Big connections. It’s a wonder you weren’t struck down by lightning. But see, she still loves you — the tarts were delicious despite your evil ways.
test on the comments
finally i got the comments to work for me! Oh my, each time I read your blog I just want to go home and bake! Even your recipe gone wrong looks delish!
Yup, that’s what you get for messing with Martha. LOL, just kidding! Seriously, they still look pretty tasty and what’s a foodie to do if she can’t get rhubarb, improvise of course! I always applaud your creativeness, and see you were still rewarded with a tasty finale. BTW, those are the most gorgeous measuring spoons I’ve ever seen.
Debra, I know, I got off lucky! I think it’s because I’m reading her book “Martha’s Rules” that she and the foodie gods let me off easy.
Renee, how wonderful you can comment now, that’s awesome! I do hope you do get to go home and bake. How wonderful would that be?
Ava, yes, part of what I do is seeing how flexible recipes are. Although Lorraine gave me a bag of rhubarb over the weekend after I had made the galette, LOL. Thank you! I got those measuring spoons at Jenny Jib in Lunenburg: http://www.jennyjib.com/ when Jamie was visiting. Aren’t they astounding? Oh I just had to have them, so decadent! I’m going to see what else I can find out about them for you.
These look like serious must-try’s to me!! YUM!! You know how I am about raspberries!
And wow, check out your ultra-spectacular measuring spoons. Beautiful!
Yummo,, I wish my computer had a smell good food button cause I’d be pushing it right now,,
These look so good! I don’t even like raspberries and I still want to try these! 😀
Thanks for encouraging me to buy the spoons Jamie, a great investment, I adore them so much, so pretty!
Laurie, LOL, I wish I had that button too!
Shannon, wow, that is high praise, thank you!
Ava, the store contacted me, you can see the spoons here.
Oh and I bought them at Jenny Jib from the nicest lady in Lunenburg.
Thanks for the links Suzie, I checked out the website for Basic Spirit and I love all their beautiful spoons. They even have Mermaids and Lighthouses! It’s funny how these little knick knacks can really bring such joy to your kitchen. I have a thing for unique measuring spoons and ramekins.
You’re welcome Ava and you’re right, they have beautiful spoons! It’s true, mine bring me a ton of joy. It is the first time I have treated myself to something like that and I swoon over them. They kind of remind me of Paula Deen’s spoons which I have always wanted but I like these even more!
These look lovely! I just got the same book and made her port and plum crostata using the pate brisee. that crust is delicious!
They sure do look lovely. I was looking for something on the similar line to make but most of them were for one huge Galettes. Thanks for sharing this 🙂