Cranberry White Chocolate Tarts

It was a weekday and I awoke just like every other morning, groggy and wiping the sleep from my eyes. I followed my typical routine—getting dressed and eating breakfast—before walking out the door. But my morning's familiarity ended here. The first snow had fallen to the ground while I slept and, for once, the snowflakes gathered, leaving the homes and streets white and sparkling.

Yawning, I drove away, making the first tracks in the pristine snow.

Working a baker's hours means I get to greet the morning long before it first hits light. As I walked the rest of the way to work under the falling snow, my feet left the first imprints on the day. The world was silent, still in bed, with the covers pulled up to its chin and dreams still filling its head. It felt surreal, surrounded by all this beauty, with no one to share in it but me.

I opened the shop and assembled the ingredients for the morning's pastries, the drifting snowflakes just visible through the storefront window. The music from the radio and the hum of the refrigerator harmonized, while the rotating blades of the stand mixer clashed, creating a familiar dissonance that has started to define my mornings. Once I get the first pastries in the oven, the smell of baking scones begins to fill the air. The scent slips out under the door and slowly drifts down the city streets.

The first customers of the day often tell me that the scents from the bakery lure them in, making the cold streets just a little bit warmer as they begin their day.

Though I dread waking so early in the morning (and oh do I dread it), once I find myself in the comfort and warmth of the bakery the world seems to make just a little more sense. My hair may be disheveled and my apron covered with flour, with dried dough hidden on my forearms and cemented to my fingernails, but this is the reason it's worth it to wake up so early in the morning. This feeling.

And though I can't explain it, it just feels right.

These Cranberry White Chocolate Tarts are fresh and colorful, with no shortage of flavor. Almond shortbread tart crusts are filled with a thin layer of white chocolate and topped with another layer of cranberries, combining three flavors I've grown to love together over the last month. I topped the tart with the simple homemade cranberry sauce I shared with you recently and it was a perfect match. If you are looking for last minute dessert ideas for the upcoming holidays, this is an easy and delicious choice. These are even perfect to make after the holiday, if you find yourself with some leftover cranberry sauce.

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Rocky Road Cookies with Almonds and White Chocolate Chips

I recently tried my hand at a bit of woodworking. You should know, before I begin, that I knew absolutely nothing about the subject. And truth be told, after all the fuss and mess, I still don't.

I wanted to create a new tabletop to play around with for my food photography. I was feeling uninspired with my current two choices: wooden dining room table and slab-of-wood-I-stained-that-looks-a-lot-like-dining-room-table. A change was in order. While place mats can be fun to experiment and play around with, I no longer wanted to be restricted to photographing something on a 15 x 11-inch surface (tougher than it looks!). Thus, my mission to create my own tabletops began.

I think this officially takes me from "enjoys food photography in her spare time" to "slightly obsessed." You'll still love me even if I am a little crazy, right?

After dropping $20 on five planks of wood, I was at a loss of what to do next. The wood sat in the garage for two months while I tried to figure out what to do with it. It got wet. It warped. It'll add character, I told myself when I tried to dowel all five pieces together and they refused to match up. It'll add character, I told myself when creating deep grooves and divots while mishandling a belt sander in an attempt to smooth the warped surface. It'll add character, I told myself when I accidentally dropped the heavy tabletop on cement and cracked one of the corners.

It'll add character... right?

I think that's going to be my new woodworking motto.

After painting the surface white and letting it dry, I christened it by photographing these cookies. And it was beautiful. Until, of course, I picked up one of the cookies after setting it on the table. Turns out you need to seal wood or the buttery goodness in your baked goods might just leave grease stains. Oops.

Well, there's always something new to learn. And if you are like me and trying to do woodworking, turns out there's everything new to learn. Um, does anyone happen to know how to get grease stains off wood?

Have YOU tried anything new lately?

Since I have an allergy to tree nuts, "Rocky Road" has eluded me for most of my life. I've lusted over this flavor in ice cream shops and bakeries for far too long. It's about time I did something about it. So today, that's exactly what I did.

Though these Rocky Road Cookies do not feature walnuts or marshmallows—the staples of that classic Rocky Road flavor—I don't think you'll mind. I think you might be too busy finding and nibbling at every last crumb to notice. Since I'm a little burnt out on marshmallows (yes, it's possible! I blame this, this, and this), I substituted in white chocolate chips instead. I feel that white chocolate chips have a texture better suited to cookies than marshmallows, while marshmallows have a texture better suited to ice cream. It's a personal preference, but I feel like it makes all the difference.

These Rocky Road Cookies with almonds and white chocolate chips may not be your traditional Rocky Road cookie, but it doesn't make them any less enjoyable. A rich chocolate cookie is absolutely stuffed full of white chocolate chips and almonds. Each bite showcases all of these flavors at once, providing your taste buds with a Rocky Road experience. Plus, these cookies kind of look a little rocky. I suppose that's what I get for stuffing them (too) full of flavor!

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White Chocolate Saffron Truffles

Truffles have this mystic, extravagant air about them. When you throw around the word "truffle," people Ooo and Ahhh and think of fancy, expensive things. Partly because actual truffles are those really pretentious mushrooms no one can afford. But mostly because the word truffle is associated with some sort of delicious chocolate treat for the rest of us. And everyone likes delicious chocolate treats (even, god forbid, those people who just don't know it yet).
A friend recently gave me a bit of saffron to play around with since I had never used (or tasted) saffron before. My immediate thought was to put it in truffles because I had already planned to make them (but for all I knew about saffron, it could have been a steak spice). Had I known saffron is the most expensive spice in the world, I might have treated it with a bit more reverence. Though I still managed to unwittingly combine two of the most pretentious foods in existence.

Now that I've wildly thrown about the words "truffle" and "saffron," I feel sufficiently pompous. So I apologize for this (deliciously) arrogant post but, since the damage is already done, I don't see the harm in being a bit cheeky for a bit longer. Do you?

Let me describe these sassy little devils to you.

White chocolate saffron truffles are sensual. Subtle. Conceited and coy. They send you a come-hither gaze from across the room. They make promises that sound too good to be true. They urge you to partake, to give in, to indulge. When you give into that unceasing gaze (and oh will you ever), these truffles live up to all of those expectations. The very moment they disappear into the mouth, they melt into a velvety smooth chocolate that circles the tongue like a silk scarf. The chocolate dances and weaves between the taste buds. It waltzes. It tangos. When the final chords strike, it gives a finishing whirl before dipping out of sight.
If you don't happen to have saffron lying around, it can be substituted for another herb such as lavender or removed completely. I don't think anyone can turn down a simple and elegant white chocolate truffle. And that's the truth.

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