Summer desserts

One of the drawbacks of cooking for 5 hours everyday is that when I come home, I'm too tired to bake :(. Hopefully, I can end this baking drought soon, since there are only a few weeks left while stone fruit is still in season and my figs are starting to ripen!! My Kitchenaid casts longing looks at me and I hear fruit tarts calling my name :).

Here are some of my baking adventures from earlier this summer when I was still a woman of leisure...

I *heart* Nigella Lawson and I don't care if she's not professionally trained - she knows food and her cookbooks are gorgeous...Here is a recipe from her "Nigella Bites" cookbook, it's called a "Chocolate Cloud Cake" and it is oh-so-heavenly....The cake is a flourless bittersweet chocolate cake. After removing it from the oven, the middle sinks in to form a crater. Then you fill the crater with a lovely unsweetened whipped cream. Sprinkle a little cocoa powder and powdered sugar on top and voila! Instant heaven :).



My Kitchenaid came with a little recipe book and I decided to try out the cream puff recipe. They were so easy to make and came out pretty nicely. I was lazy though and used Jello vanilla pudding mix for the filling, which I sorely regretted. Won't do that again!



After a visit to the farmer's market, I made this "tart-cookie" with the lovely fresh fruit that I purchased that day. The "tart-cookie" is a lemon sugar cookie base with a light layer of cream cheese. Adorning the cookie are white peach slices, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.



Strawberry cupcakes!!! I love how strawberries naturally lend themselves to flower-like patterns...I made these for a friend's birthday.



Last but not least, I tried out a recipe for Lemon and Raspberry Custard cups from Sunset magazine...The custard was so light, it was rich yet refreshing. It was even better the next day after the custard had set in the refrigerator.



Just looking at these pictures has got me itchin' to bake something!! Fig tart, here I come!