Apple Frangipane Tartelettes

Fall is almost here...even if it's been almost hundred degree weather out here in Los Angeles.  In either case, I decided to make some apple tartlettes since apples make me think of fall even though they are pretty much available all year around out here. Frangipane is one of my favorite fillings in a tart, and a perfect complement to most fruit, but best of all to the humble apple.  

This recipe, inspired by the Joy of Baking website, does use some sugar, but I tried to keep it very minimal so that Cy can enjoy some too without too much guilt involved.  

Summer Tomato Tart

I seem to be on a tart roll lately..maybe because it tends to be be easy to make, pretty to look at, and delicious to eat ;)

This recipe for the tomato tart I saw over at cannelle vanille (whose blog is beautiful by the way), and I immediately knew that I had to make it.  We recently started getting our produce from the folks over at farm fresh to you, and I have to say that it's been amazing.  It's so nice to wake up to a box full of organic produce once every couple of weeks!  It's kind of exciting to open the box, wondering what kind of veggies and fruits we were going to have to try to cook with that week.

Needless to say, we got a wonderful assortment of heirloom tomatoes in our stash so I knew I had to use them for this tart.

The tart  does have a thin layer of arborio rice in it, as well as some rice flour in the dough,.  I love that the tart is gluten-free, but I definitely serve it to Cy on days I know he's going to be playing basketball so I know that he can take the extra carbs.

Since we also had some avocados and beets in our produce box, served it with a little of this on the side ;)

Double Blueberry tart

It's been a little while since I've posted, life get's a little crazy sometimes as most of you know.  BUT, I hope that this recipe for  my absolute favorite blueberry tart will make up for it.  The double dose of both cooked and fresh blueberries provides an amazing contrast in texture and really just a wonderful burst of blueberry flavor - so perfect for summer!

The tart is really very simple - the filling is from one of my favorite baking sites , and is really just blueberries and just a handful of sugar which you can replace with a sugar alternative like stevia if you'd like.  I made a gluten-free tart crust out of almond meal from clean start just to lower the carb content for Cy, but really, you can use ready made pie crust if you're in a time crunch.  

                   

Cherry Frangipane Tartlettes

I love that cherry season is here as it reminds me that summer is almost here, but I don't love the prices at the markets.  As much as I love cherries, I don't buy them as often as I would like to.  I love the color and delicate flavor of Ranier's , but $9.99/lb!? (whole foods) no thank you.  However, I did let myself give in to some sweet red cherries.  They were wonderfully sweet on their own, but I went ahead and made these little tartlettes, inspired by this recipe. The combination of cherry and frangipane is a match made in heaven - add to that the crunch of the outside crust? Perfection. 

The antioxidants responsible for the cherries' bright red color are also responsible for many anti-inflammatory properties and other health benefits, so you won't have to feel quite as guilty snacking on these babies ;)