The tart that did not make me cry

I have a confession to make: Nancy Silverton’s crème fraîche brioche tart did not make me cry. Unlike Julia Child, I was not moved to tears when I ate a slice. Granted, I did not poach fruits. I didn’t dust it with powdered sugar or put slivered almonds on top. But I did do everything else this complicated recipe called for, including making the zabaglione, and it didn’t do much for me.

I keep wondering if I might have felt differently if someone else had MADE the tart and the sauce and the fruit. If they had gone through the measuring and the beating and the doting and the three different rises, the stiff peaks and the gentle folds. If, like in the video, I was handed a plate with a heaping pile of effort and deliciousness. But the answer is, I don’t think so!

I wasn’t totally disappointed with this recipe. If you’re curious to try it, I absolutely think you should. I do think the zabaglione (called the “white secret sauce” in the above link) is TOO SWEET, and to essentially put a whipped cream/pudding situation on top of a cheesecake situation just doesn’t make sense to me texturally.

The tart itself was nice! I would have made a less bulky “crust” next time to be more intentional about the goo-to-dough ratio.

To be clear, the issue with this recipe was not that it was hard. A one-bowl cake can be absolutely lovely. I made one over the weekend and kept exclaiming about its deliciousness between gooey bites. But a complicated recipe has its own pleasures: marking the steps, taking time, weighing and waiting.

I love a baking project. I love tucking a little pocket of warm dough into its first rise and checking on it later to see it fluffed up. But I don’t think I’d make this exact recipe again.

That said, here are two recipes I WILL make again, along with some other stuff I think you might like!

• I’m not sure exactly why, but I think this is the perfect time of year for quiche! This recipe from Bon Appétit is a great initial formula, but go wild! We made an eggplant quiche with Berbere seasoning, and it was diviiiiine.

• On the sweeter side, this lemon yogurt anything cake from Smitten Kitchen is SO LOVELY. It’s bright and springy and packed with blueberries and has a great goo factor. (This is the one-bowl cake I mentioned above!!)

• My partner and I crossed a big bridge last week: We finally signed up for BritBox! We have been making our way through a great number of quiz shows, but I especially want to shout out Ludwig, a mystery-within-a-procedural where a man pretends to be his recently disappeared police officer brother in order to figure out what happened. It stars the absolutely deeelightful David Mitchell (not the wonderful British author; the wonderful British comedian!).

• I just learned about Awakened, a novel about “a coven of trans witches [that] battles an evil AI in the magical coming-of-middle-age romp about love, loss, drag shows, and late capitalism,” and I am ALL IN ON THAT.

• Don’t forget about book club! This month, we’re reading Defy: The Power of No in a World That Demands Yes by Dr. Sunita Sah, which we will discuss on Sunday, May 25 at noon CT. Email me if you’d like the Zoom link!And, once again, so you can get on the library hold lists: In June, we’re reading Kevin Wilson’s wonderful Run for the Hills (out this Tuesday!), and in July, we’re going full TOXIC LESBIAN VAMPIRES with V.E. Schwab’s newest, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil.

That’s it for this week! Talk to you soon! (And tell me your BritBox recs over in the movies and TV channel on the GRETAGRAM Discord! Here’s a link to join the discussion.

Talk soon!

P.S. Do you like this email?! Spread the delight and forward it to a friend! (Or spam an enemy, lol!)