I was unoriginal again. While this means that I don't get to tell you about one of my own creations, it does give me the opportunity to tell you about yet another one of my favorite cookbook authors - Pichet Ong. Ong's book, The Sweet Spot, is a unique treat that contains the recipes for even more unique treats.
Ong specializes in desserts (he ran a dessert-only restaurant in New York called P*Ong), but brings an a creative Asian sensibility to them. His book is all about taking traditional Asian flavors (mango, various teas, yuzu, almonds, coconut, etc.) and working them into western desserts like cookies, cakes, pies and ice cream. If you know me at all (or have even read this blog a couple times), you likely understand that I think this is a fabulous approach.
I've worked my way through much of his book, and recently noticed his blog. And especially this recipe for a Grapefruit Almond Frangipane tart. I love grapefruit, but had never thought to use it in baking. And it seemed like it could go well with almonds. It was a fascinating idea, if nothing else; so I tried it.
This was not an easy recipe. Blog recipes aren't explained quite the way cookbook recipes are, so I had to Google to learn about browning butter (no, I'd never done this before). It also had a number of steps -- making and rolling out the grapefruit-flavored (via zest) tart pastry, which is not my strongsuit (mine cracked quite a bit). Making the frangipane cream without burning the butter. Locating almond flour at the grocery store (in the organic area of Wegman's, it turns out). And getting it all assembled.
In the end, I'm pleased with how it came out. Definitely one of the prettier things I've ever made. I think I used a tart ring that was too big, as I'd want more grapefruit coverage if I did it again. People seemed to like it a lot, though I noticed that the crust came out a bit underbaked despite being in the oven for quite a while.
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