use real butter

I have been quite busy of late, cramming in all sorts of things before my next treatment tomorrow. That’s right. I have a Valentine’s date with my oncologist. Not exactly my first choice :) Jeremy will be with me since I’d go careening into a ditch afterward if I drove myself home. So if I haven’t been on my usual round of food blogs, forgive me. I’ll have some down time coming up soon enough. Meanwhile, I had two most excellent tele days in a row. Tuesday, Jeremy and I went to Breckenridge.

looks nice

we found the powder

That’s when I realized I wouldn’t be able to make a Valentine’s dinner on Thursday because I would be Out.Of.It. Not only would I be unable to make the dinner, but I’d probably be unable to eat it. I don’t particularly care for Valentine’s Day and the unbelievably ridiculous expectations that are placed on men by society (i.e. the hetero female half and for instance, the diamond industry) to scramble around to woo women with… stuff. How about wooing women by not being a cad? Call me unsentimental. I’m not, but I am practical. My guy - he works his ass off, and yet he still cares for my sorry ass when I’m sick as hell, he takes me skiing or on walks to cheer me up because I love the outdoors, he respects me, treats me as his equal and better, he cleans the house, takes care of our pup, never complains, only has the sweetest words for me, shares his dreams and ideas, holds the flash and/or reflector when I need that extra hand for a food shot. This isn’t lost on me, so you can see why Valentine’s Day is a guilt trip I won’t impose on such a Good Man. Valentine’s Day is merely an excuse to cook a good meal for both of us. I moved it to tonight.

So on our way home we dropped by the grocery store in Breckenridge. Talk about well-stocked. Talk about a bougie ski town. I found everything I needed, more or less. The reason I couldn’t run to Boulder today was because…

i was here

my awesome group sans leyla who busted her knee at jackson hole :(

our instructor rips it up

We had such a phenomenal class. Bluebird day, some powder, and we learned to tele carve and practiced moguls. Wooohooo! It got downright hot (40F!!) and the snow began to stick in the afternoon. I had yet another fabuloso face plant that knocked the wind clear out of my chest. ha ha! When I biff, it is spectacular. And my camera didn’t die or kill me! Sweet. My legs were so unbelievably tired, but it was soooooo goooooood. Love the burn.

I rushed home in time to get started on dessert (my next post - whenever that will be). Then I began prep for dinner. I see that folks gush about Cook’s Illustrated all the time and I think it’s a great magazine. I used to subscribe to Way Too Many magazines before I decided to cull it down to bare essentials. One of the only rags I voluntarily subscribe to now is Fine Cooking, because I love the pictures don’t you know ;) I also love the recipes, their thorough treatment of topics, and that their ads don’t piss me off. I decided to make one of their crusted roast recipes, which we both love. It’s a total crowd pleaser for dinner guests too. Here’s the menu I whipped up in 2 hours:

organic yukon gold mashed potatoes
roasted brussels sprouts with shallots and lemon
sautéed spinach with garlic
crusted new york beef top loin roast
classic crème brûlée


The crust part of the roast calls for shallots, thyme, marjoram, garlic, and fresh, coarse bread crumbs. Marjoram and I are not friends. So she got the boot. I also increased the bread crumbs to 2 cups from the original 1 cup of the recipe since I find the seasonings a tad strong and we are always wanting for more crust (it falls off the roast into the pan, but it’s still good!).

for the crust

into the cuisinart for some quick pulses

mix it up

pour the butter

I’ve made this roast before with a rib eye roast and it was *amazing*. Unfortunately, all I could get in Breckenridge was this New York top loin roast, which cost me a pretty penny. Still, it is the porterhouse cut and the flavor is Very Good, just not as tender as say, tenderloin. He gave me a 3.2 pound cut with a nice cap of fat on top. Fat is good, it gives great flavor. Too much fat usually winds up with a smoking oven for me. I trimmed off 70% and left enough to still baste the roast in nice flavorful juices. Good and good.

salt and pepper rub

pan searing on all sides

Once the meat was seared, I spead mustard all over it. I happen to do the bottom because more surface area means more crust and more yum. The recipe called for Dijon and when I searched my fridge, the closest I had was Dijon-horseradish. I like horseradish… Slather it on lovingly and generously because you need enough of a layer to get the bread crumbs to stick. It’s a messy ordeal, but it’s so totally worth it.

slather with mustard

press the bread crumb mix onto the roast

Once I placed the roast in the oven, I turned to the pan in which I had seared the roast. What a mess, huh? No. It’s not a mess, but a lovely fond. You know, fond, the browned bits of goodness left in the pan after you have seared some delicious thing? Don’t you dare throw it out. That is the stuff of yum.

i am very fond of fond

What I do is use my fond to make a reduction sauce to serve with the roast. Remember, I loathe waste. Today I decided on a port reduction sauce, something sweet since Jeremy seems to like sugar in just about anything. I turned the flame on high and…

poured in the port

when it reduced by half, i added butter

and when it reduced to a thickened sauce, it was done

I set it aside, to be warmed up later. Meanwhile, all of the sides were made - chucked the Brussels sprouts into the oven on the rack below the roast. The roast is said to be done to medium rare when the thermometer reads 120F in the center. If we have guests and they don’t like rare (we love for our beef to moo) then I’ll follow that guideline. If it’s just the two of us, I go to 110F (about 50 minutes) because the ends will be somewhat rare or medium rare, which we’ll eat, and the rest will be very rare. The rest is going to be reheated, so who wants shoe leather for leftovers? I want some pink if not a lot on the leftovers. I removed the roast to the chopping board to rest for 10 minutes. In this time, the internal temperature will continue to rise and your roast will continue to cook.

what a beaut

Get a good knife and carefully carve slices off the end. Don’t worry if the crust falls off. It’s terrific served on the side.

dinner is…

no wait! don’t forget the port reduction

Next time: classic crème brûlée.

Roast Beef with a Classic Breadcrumb, Garlic & Herb Crust
from Fine Cooking issue #76

1 5-pound boneless strip loin roast or 5- to 6-poundtop sirloin roast with cap removed, trimmed if necessary, patted dry
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup coarse fresh breadcrumbs, preferrably from a baguette (I used 2 cups)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium shallots, minced
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tbsp fresh marjoram, chopped (I omitted)
3 tbsp melted unsalted butter (I used 4 tbsp)
1/3 cup Dijon mustard

Let the roast sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Position a rack in the middle of oven and heat to 400F. Put roasting rack in a roasting pan or heavy-dury rimmed baking sheet (line pan with foil for easier cleanup). Season the roast liberally with salt and pepper on all sides. Turn on exhaust fan. Heat oil in large sauté pan over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, brown meat on all sides, including ends, about 4 minutes per side (I am impatient, I seared for 2 minutes on all sides). Transfer meat to roasting pan. Set aside while preparing crust. In medium bowl, combine bread crumbs, garlic, shallots, thyme, marjoram, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Pour melted butter over mixture and toss to combine. Smear the mustard all over the roast (I cover the bottom too). With hands, press breadcrumb mixture all over the roast into the mustard. Roast the beef until instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part reads 125F for medium rare, about 60 minutes for strip loin roast or 60-80 minutes for top sirloin roast, depending on thickness. Check the crust often. When it is golden brown, tent the roast with foil to prevent burning. Remove roast from oven and let meat rest for 10-20 minutes before carving across the grain, into 1/2 inch thick slices.

Port Reduction Sauce

fond from searing the beef
1-2 cups port
1-2 tbsp unsalted butter

Heat the pan with the fond over medium high to high flame. Pour in the port and watch it steam off. Use a wooden spoon to rub at the fond while the port is boiling. You should “clean” the entire pan so the fond is suspended in the port. When the volume has reduced by half, add a pat of butter. Stir the butter in and continue to reduce until the sauce is thick enough to your liking. Remove from heat and serve with roast.

How many of you woke up one recent morning and said, “Time to make the doughnuts”? Because if you haven’t yet, it is most certainly time to make the bleeping doughnuts! Peabody and Tartelette are hosting the Time to Make the Doughnuts event due to them by tomorrow (Feb 12). Well, to be honest, I didn’t actually sit bolt upright in bed Saturday morning and declare I was going to make doughnuts. First I looked at the ski conditions and when I realized the mountain was a ground blizzard I opted for doughnut baking :)

I’ve never made doughnuts before. Sure, I’ve fried dough, but I’m talking about making doughnuts as in going after it with the intention of producing something on par with my white trash youth memories of Dunkin Donuts runs with my best buds. Never eat doughnuts alone. Here was my dilemma: I wanted to make chocolate cake doughnut holes - essentially the munchkins from DD. My dear man is never so rude as to demand anything of me, but I know that his all time favorite doughnut is the yeast-variety, filled with chocolate creme. It is not cream or anything so sophisticated as crème, the creme is the kind of frosting that makes you blind because it’s so bloody sweet. Rather than choose between my curiosity and his favorite doughnut, I endeavored to do both. Someone please smack me if I ever try to do that again.

dry ingredients for the chocolate doughnut holes

wet ingredients for chocolate doughnuts

chocolaty dough

Confession time. I don’t own round cookie cutters. I have squirrels, cats, bats, hearts, brooms, dogs, flowers, stars, and even moons - but nothing round. [Recalls Raising Arizona where one of the brothers asks if the old man has any funny shaped balloons and the elderly fellow replies, “Not unless round’s funny.”] Okay, I do have fluted biscuit cutters which are round. I used those for the filled doughnuts, but the smallest cutter was too big for a doughnut hole. I wound up using a little 1-inch decorative cutter.

expansion during frying should render a somewhat round shape

more or less

The frying was the hardest part for me. I consider myself competent enough in the ways of deep frying. I set up a large pot and filled it with canola oil, slapped the candy thermometer on the side, and got it to the right temperature (375F for the chocolate doughnuts). I dropped a dozen of the little dudes into the oil and they began to bubble and bobble. Good. Here was where I ran into problems… I would flip one and it looked just like all of the others. After a point I couldn’t tell who had flipped and who hadn’t and they just kept bobbing about and there was no way to see if they were too brown since they’re ALL dark brown to begin with. *sigh* Only a few were a tad overly browned (read: burnt).

glazing

sugar-coated nibble

The sugar-glazed doughnut holes didn’t elicit memories of Dunkin Donuts munchkins. Rather, it reminded me more of this cake-like cookie dipped in a marshmallowy white coating… like those SnackWells devil’s food thingies. I goofed on the glaze and used a whole packet of gelatin instead of half. So it got a little goopey as the glaze cooled, but I only dipped half of the doughnut holes in the sugar glaze. The rest were destined for a mocha glaze.

it’s not oil, but chocolate and espresso that drive civilization

shiny, rich, smooth

For the filled doughnuts, I used a copycat Dunkin Doughnuts recipe. In the frying frenzy, I didn’t read through the recipe as carefully as I ought to have and failed to notice that this one doesn’t have a kneading step after mixing the dough. What that meant was my doughnuts had a short strand instead of the lovely long bready filaments. Dang. Be ye warned and give that dough a few minutes of good kneading before the first rise.

start with yeast

let the dough rise

I used my fluted, round biscuit cutter (3-inch) to eek out a baker’s dozen. After the second rise, you could barely tell they were fluted. But one day, I’ll procure myself some decent round cutters. These doughnuts were far easier to fry up (at 350F) since I could watch them turn a lovely golden color within one or two minutes.

second rise

mmmm… fry

While the doughnuts were cooling/draining on paper towels, I attempted the frosting filling. I had suggested a nice buttercream, which while still gross to me, was lighter and smoother. But no, Jeremy said the shortening-based frosting was more on par with the original. Okay. I mixed it up and took a taste and it made my jaw ache - that’s how sweet it was. Blegh. I asked Jeremy to check the frosting and his eyes fluttered with joy as he nodded approval. Whatev.

chocolate frosting that will make you blind

When the doughnuts were cool, I poked a little hole in the side with a chopstick and then carefully swept out a little cavern for the filling inside. Using a pastry bag, I inserted the tip and squoze as much filling as I dared. With two left, I decided to indulge myself and fill the pair with some lovely homemade mulberry jelly that Joyce had made and shipped to me.

i don’t skimp on the filling - this is my kitchen, not corporate america

I didn’t dust the chocolate doughnuts with powdered sugar as Jeremy informed me that there was plenty of sweet in that doughnut already. Overall, the holes weren’t as moist as I would have liked (I blame the frying conundrum), but they are quite good. I think the filled doughnuts were pretty good, but I would have been much happier with a better developed structure in the dough. Jeremy says the sugary-chocolate-frosting-monstrosity doughnuts are really nice warmed up with a cup of dark roast coffee. Our neighbors gave them the thumbs up too. Big thanks to Peabody and Tartelette for getting me off my arse and doing something that’s been on my long list of things to try. Love you guys!

happy family of doughnuts

Chocolate Cake Doughnuts
from Diana’s Desserts

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
2 tsp baking powder (I reduced to 1 1/2 tsp for elevation)
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup buttermilk
3 tbsp butter, melted
6 to 8 cups vegetable oil for frying

In a bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, whisk eggs, sugar, buttermilk, and melted butter to blend. Stir into dry ingredients until well blended. Chill until cold, at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours. Scrape dough onto a generously floured surface. With floured hands, pat dough out to about 1/2 inch thick. With a 3-inch doughnut cutter, cut out doughnuts. Pat together scraps of dough and cut again. (Alternately, shape dough into ropes about 5 inches long and 1/2 inch thick; join rope ends to form doughnuts.) Place doughnuts on a well-floured baking sheet. Meanwhile, fill an electric deep-fryer to the fill line or pour about 4 inches of oil into a 5- to 6-quart pan; heat to 375F (190C). Place one doughnut at a time onto a wide spatula and gently slide into oil, frying up to three at a time. [Jen’s Note: I dumped 12 of the little “holes” in at a time.] Cook, turning once, until puffy and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes total (to check timing, cut first one to test). With a slotted spoon, transfer doughnuts to paper towels to drain. Repeat to fry remaining doughnuts. When cool enough to handle, dip the top half of each doughnut in warm mocha glaze or dip completely in sugar glaze. Cool on cookie rack. Let stand until glaze is set, about 5 minutes [Jen’s Notes: it takes more than 5 minutes to set well enough for transport - more like a few hours]. Makes approximately 4 dozen 1.5 inch diameter doughnut holes.

Sugar Glaze
from Recipezaar

1/2 envelope unflavored gelatin (oops, I used a whole packet)
1/2 cup boiling water
2 tbsp cold water
1 lb powdered sugar

Soften the gelatin with 2 tbsp of cold water. Add boiling water and stir. Stir in the powdered sugar until smooth.

Mocha Glaze
from Diana’s Desserts

6 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I used Guittard chips)
4 oz cup whipping cream
1 tbsp butter
2 tsp corn syrup
1 tsp instant espresso powder

In a heatproof bowl, combine all ingredients. Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a pan. Reduce to simmer and set bowl over pan. Stir until all ingredients are smooth and combined.

Filled Doughnuts
from Epicurean.com

1 pkg (or 2 1/4 tsp) regular or quick-acting yeast
1/8 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
3/4 cup lukewarm milk, scalded then cooled
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/6 cup shortening
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in mixing bowl. Add milk, sugar, salt, egg, shortening and 1 cup of flour. Beat on low speed scraping bowl constantly, 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 2 minutes. Stir in remaining flour until smooth. [Jen’s Notes: this recipe says nothing about kneading the dough, but after I was unsatisfied with the crumb I looked at several other similar recipes that have a “knead the dough” step. So knead the dough until smooth for a few minutes before placing in a greased bowl to rise.] Cover and let rise in warm place until double, approximately 50-60 minutes. Turn dough onto floured surface. Roll dough 1/2-inch thick. Cut with round cookie cutter. Cover and let rise on floured baking sheets until double, 30-40 minutes. Heat vegetable oil in deep fryer or Dutch oven to 350. Slide doughnuts into hot oil. Turn doughnuts as they turn golden brown, about one minute on each side. Remove carefully from oil taking care not to puncture the doughnuts and drain. When cool, make small hole to insert vanilla frosting . Take a sharp narrow knife and carefully make a large cavity inside of the doughnut to hold the frosting. Fill the doughnuts generously with frosting, jelly or custard and dust heavily with powdered sugar. Makes a dozen doughnuts.

Chocolate Frosting
adapted from Epicurean.com

1/4 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sifted confectioners sugar
1 tbsp milk
2 tbsp Dutch process cocoa powder

Cream butter and shortening. Gradually add sugar 1/2 cup at a time. Add milk and vanilla, beat until light and fluffy. Beat in cocoa powder. Will keep for 2 weeks in airtight, refrigerated container.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! Gong Xi Fa Tsai! Jing Nian Quai Le!

It is the year of the Rat and in case you didn’t know, it’s Peabody’s year. Last year was the year of the Pig, which was my year. Since I made it through more or less in one piece, I’m going to assume that I was working the good juju. Peabody tells me she’s sharing the good juju with me into this year. I love that girl. In turn, let’s just say good juju all around for everyone! I sincerely wish each of you everything your heart desires in the new year - health, happiness, luck, fortune - all of it and more. xxoo

I began my morning quite early because I was behind schedule on making dumplings. Well, let me explain why. I spent yesterday telemark skiing with a bunch of awesome tele babes on the mountain. I felt well enough to tele all day with my D70 in tow too.

a bluebird day

janet does the balloon drill

my group: the advanced tele babes

our kickass instructor

At lunch, I discovered that my hair was starting to fall out. So after the program, I hauled my butt down to Boulder and had my head professionally shaved. [The nurse advised against doing at home since cuts and infections are potentially dangerous due to low blood count and compromised immune system.] People had told me how traumatic it was to lose their hair in clumps over a period of 2-3 days, so I promised myself I wouldn’t allow it to be drawn out. I’ve never been a girly girl who cared about being feminine or pretty or whatever - as long as I can kick ass, I’m good to go. But I will admit that it was a little disconcerting. I never realized how thick my hair is - brrrr! By the time I got home it was 6 pm and time to make the big hot pot soup and then I was pooooped.

So that’s my lame excuse for why I was behind schedule on dumplings, but the skiing was totally worth it. Jeremy and I had some sweet pastries for breakfast since he’s not a fan of Chinese sweets and I didn’t feel like making any. I cranked out several dumplings and cooked them up and stuffed a few into him before he left for work.

traditions: mandarin oranges, dumplings, rui tsai and a hong bao (red envelope)

I also hung the Chinese character fu (luck) upside down on our front door. The literal translation is that luck is upside down - dao, but in Chinese the word for upside down sounds like the word for arrives, so it means “luck arrives”.

a pic from last year because I don’t feel like shooting the current one right now

I can’t help but do a few of the traditional things for the Chinese New Year as it is the biggest holiday of my Chinese culture. Halloween is my favorite holiday, but Chinese New Year is the most important holiday to me. The Lunar New Year represents family to me more than any other time and we are to remember and honor our ancestors too. It is also when I miss my sister most because she used to call me every Chinese New Year’s Eve to ask what foods she should prepare so little Ben will grow up with our family’s Chinese traditions. She isn’t my ancestor, but I remember and honor her all the same because I loved her so very much. Jeremy was so kind as to clean The Entire House last night as we aren’t supposed to clean the house for the next 2 weeks starting on New Year’s Day - something about sweeping out the luck. Anyway, we’re both thrilled about that directive!

Right! So all of this Chinese tradition is great, but I know what makes my guy happy and one of those things would be chocolate. To be honest, chocolate makes me happy too - not eating it, but working with it.

hot cream and chopped chocolate

I still had leftover crust dough from that Daring Baker’s Lemon Meringue Pie Challenge and wanted to use it up. Jeremy seemed to enjoy the crust and I figured some little chocolaty somethings would be nice.

adding espresso

Do you ever get a cookbook and then forget about it and then rediscover it and feel like a kid on Christmas Day? It’s like that 20 dollar bill that you find in some random pocket months later… Well, Sherry Yard’s The Secrets of Baking caught my eye this afternoon and her recipe for Deep, Dark Chocolate Tart matched up with what I had in mind sans the crust (I’ll bet it would be awesome with her chocolate short dough). So I snarfed the ganache filling and made a half batch.

pouring the ganache

I baked the little crusts and had to press the top mold down pretty hard because this dough has a tendency to rise. I definitely prefer short dough to this and will use it next time. When the crusts cooled, I filled them to the brim with the soft ganache and then let them set up in the refrigerator for an hour.

piping whipped cream

Whipped cream is such a pleasant and easy topping to work with. I also love how it contrasts with a deep, velvety, rich chocolate both in color and texture. I added a bit of sugar, vanilla, and a little almond extract because I like how almond and coffee and chocolate play off one another. Just for a little spice, I sprinkled the tartelettes with some ground nutmeg.

a little something sweet

Jeremy was quite delighted to open the refrigerator this evening and see a plateful of these cuties. But they weren’t all for him, as I requested that he take some over to our neighbors (and good friends) to wish them a happy new year. I think sharing is one of the things I love about baking.

2-inch rounds of happiness

Dark Chocolate Tartelettes
ganache from Sherry Yard’s Deep Dark Chocolate Tart (The Secrets of Baking)

note: I highly recommend using a short dough instead of the crust recipe I list here. A short dough is flakier, crispier, thinner, and sweeter than the crust from the Lemon Meringue Pie recipe. Plus, it will behave better (no shrinkage) especially if you are using petits fours molds or tart pans. Just be sure to stack a second mold on top even if using short dough. Also, I only made a half batch of the ganache, but I’m listing the ingredients for the full recipe.

crust:
¾ cup cold butter; cut into ½-inch (1.2 cm) pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ tsp salt
⅓ cup ice water

ganache:
8 oz. bittersweet chocolate
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tbsp brewed coffee or espresso

whipped cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

For the crust: Make sure all ingredients are as cold as possible. Using a food processor or pastry cutter and a large bowl, combine the butter, flour, sugar and salt. Process or cut in until the mixture resembles coarse meal and begins to clump together. Sprinkle with water, let rest 30 seconds and then either process very briefly or cut in with about 15 strokes of the pastry cutter, just until the dough begins to stick together and come away from the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a lightly floured work surface and press together to form a disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least 20 minutes. Allow the dough to warm slightly to room temperature if it is too hard to roll. On a lightly floured board (or countertop) roll the disk to a thickness of ⅛ inch (.3 cm). Cut a circle about 2 inches (5 cm) larger than the pie plate and transfer the pastry into the plate by folding it in half or by rolling it onto the rolling pin. Turn the pastry under, leaving an edge that hangs over the plate about ½ inch (1.2 cm). Flute decoratively. Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350ºF (180ºC). Line the crust with foil and fill with metal pie weights or dried beans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool completely before filling. If using petits fours molds or small tart pans, I prefer to roll the dough between two pieces of plastic wrap to less than 1/8 inch and pressing it gently into the mold. Stack a second mold on top and press down. Leave the second mold in place. Bake for 20 minutes, remove the top molds, and bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and gently pry the crust out from the mold and let cool on a rack.

For the ganache: Finely chop the chocolate and place in a medium heatproof bowl along with the butter. Bring the cream to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Immediately pour it over the chocolate. Let sit for a minute. Use a rubber spatula to gently stir the contents until completely blended (don’t stir all crazy-like though, because you will introduce air bubbles which will make your tart look diseased). Add the coffee and stir until well incorporated. Pour the ganache into the tart shell(s) and place in refrigerator to set for an hour.

For the whipped cream: Place ingredients in a bowl and whip on medium speed until frothy. Increase speed and whip on high until stiff peaks form (or soft peaks, if you prefer the floppy effect). Garnish tart(s) with dollops or pipe using a pastry bag.