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Desserts

Flan

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There is, apparently, a right way and a wrong way to eat dessert.

When I lived in France, one of my favorite things to get at the Franprix was the flan four-pack.  After a hot afternoon, jammed in a metro, one small satisfaction was getting home, pulling back the plastic top, and sinking my spoon into the cool caramel center.  Whatever fleeting frustrations I had, melted away.  You had to love a country whose grocery stores carried a fifty-cent flan.

Week after week, I enjoyed my flan.  Break off a container, pull back the top, sink the spoon in, and enjoy.  I might get lost in certain arrondissements.  I might not understand the jokes in the movies.  I might get frustrated with certain french customs.  But I knew my flan.  Or so I thought.

One night, I was at a small party, when…

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Healthy Carrot Cake

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The word “healthy” can be fraught with confusion.  We all strive to be healthy, and healthy living is certainly an attribute.  We try to make “healthy” choices during the day.  Call me “healthy” and I’ll react with pride.

But call my cake “healthy,” and I might wince.  For whatever reason, when healthy modifies a recipe – and especially a dessert – my first instinct is to shy away from it.  For whatever reason, the word “healthy” seems strongly pejorative when it’s the adjective in front of a meal.  Call my food delicious or creative or inspired, but please don’t call it healthy!

So, when Caitlin suggested we make this “Healthy Carrot Cake,” my first reaction was “Can’t we make a good carrot cake?”  Which, of course, she found very upsetting.  So I relented, …

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Baklava

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Baklava stresses me out.

As soon as I open the plastic packaging and roll out the cold sheets of phyllo dough, I feel like I’m in a race against time.  I can picture the sand streaming down the hour glass, announcing the moment that the phyllo dough will become parched and unworkable, as if your potter’s wheel could only spin for so long.  Time is of the essence, but working quickly is not necessarily the solution.  Move too carelessly and too quickly, and the thin sheets will tear and break into equally unworkable pieces.

I’ve tried covering the sheets with cold towels, or keeping half the sheets in the refrigerator, but have not noticed any real difference.  If I am going to work with phyllo dough, I am going to have to work quickly and carefully.  And that stresses me out.  …

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Rhubarb Creme Brulee

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Like any man, I love my gadgets.

Three years ago, I moved into my current apartment.  A few days after the move-in, the place barely looked inhabited.  I had only a bed, a bookshelf, and a desk in my new place.  At the time, I had been uncertain how long I would be in Saint Louis, and the thought of another quick move had encouraged a minimalistic lifestyle.  I had no couch, no chairs, and little cookware.  I also had no television.

Four weeks later – or should I say two paychecks later – I was ready to spruce up the apartment.  I scoured the Internet, looking for the right price for the right item.  I searched a number of different stores in the bi-state area.  If Missouri did not have what I wanted, I was happy to head to Illinois.  And that’s where I ultimately went.

One Saturday morning, I called the Target store in Belleville, Illinois, to confirm that I was coming.  …

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