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Happy New Year, and a hazelnut ganache tart

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Well, the holidays have come and gone and left me without a creative impulse in my body. I blame the cold weather for the absolute lack of motivation I feel. I’m not crafting, not drawing, hardly cooking. Not printing, not writing. What the beejesus is that gal doing then? Ok, I’m watching plenty of I Love Lucy episodes, staying cozy, seeing movies, trying new pubs, dancing on Friday nights. The only thing I can really share is the Hazelnut Ganache Tart I made just before Christmas for a coworker’s birthday.

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Snatched from the pages of Real Simple years ago, it’s incredibly easy with something like five ingredients. Every place I take this tart, people melt, they ask for the recipe, they’re beside themselves. It looks deeply rich, yet the surprising thing is how light it is for being nothing but chocolate and heavy cream. Find the recipe here.

I’m hoping that this January haze leaves me soon. I welcome 2013 with great heart and vigor…but, for now, I’ll be here, quietly keeping warm. Cheers to you and yours, and some photos from the start of this new year.


One year ago: Photos from the week: 01.15.12 and A finished book, a reading booked, and a craft date with dears.

Glazed triple-chocolate pound cake with toasted hazelnut

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By the time Thanksgiving rolled around this year, I was completely off pie. It’s my own fault—I overdid it with the Thanksgiving preview pie, and instead of flaky pie crust and fruit fillings all I could think of was chocolate and more chocolate…which led me to this recipe for a chocolate pound cake.

This was the goal:

This was the result:

The only tweak I made to the recipe was toasting hazelnuts, chopping them, and sprinkling them on top just after I poured the glaze over the cake.

Lesson learned: burning chocolate only takes a second…I was melting chocolate on the stovetop to mix into the batter, turned away to grab my camera, and when I came back the chocolate had solidified into an ugly burnt mess. (Note to self: duh, this is why folks usually melt chocolate in a double-boiler) Also learned: use a bundt pan that is the specified size. I borrowed my mom’s bundt cake pan that was smaller than the 14-cup size called for, which meant my cake took about an hour and a half to bake and came out of the oven overflowing the pan, looking like a giant muffin.

Being inexperienced with chocolate cakes, I was expecting this recipe to make a more dense cake. But instead, it was very spongy and light. My mom, having read and baked a few more chocolate cake recipes than me, was not at all surprised.

Here are my favorite shots from Thanksgiving day, spent in San Jose with my family. Happy holidays to all—amazing that Christmas is right around the corner.