I’d like to say that everything I cook or bake turns out perfectly. Like there are little blue birds that bring my apron to me, and then sing their sweet little birdly songs… not unlike Cinderella. Of course, I’m also wearing a lovely floral print dress and my best pearls and heels. Well, here’s a shocker… it’s not quite like that. I generally cook in old pajama pants, tank tops and flip flops. I do like to wear my apron that proclaims “What’s Not to Like” that Stephan custom made for me.
I saw this tart in Chocolate Snowball by Letty Halloran Flatt. This is really a great book, with gorgeous photos and fantastic recipes. It is a Zinfandel Pear Tart with Maytag Blue Cheese Crust. The photo of this tart was gorgeous and the savory crust sounded a bit quirky, but pears + blue cheese = yum, right?
As you can see from the photo, my tart turned out beautifully… the pears take very well to the red wine and tint a lovely red hue. The crust is light and flaky and perfectly golden brown. Its really too bad it tasted like arse. Yes, I said that. I took one bite and threw the entire tart away. My poor hubby had several painful bites before putting it down. He didn’t want to hurt my feelings. He’s a good man.
I’m sure if the recipe was made like the book it would have been good. I made a few minor adjustments: Shiraz in place of Zinfandel and since I couldn’t find Maytag at my grocery store, I bought a different brand of blue cheese.
I’ve made several things since I’ve been blogging that sounded so good, but just didn’t work for me. Those items usually fall to the cutting room floor, but this one is so dang beautiful, I had to share it and my story. If you’ve had something turn out miserably, please do share… misery loves company! Also, if anyone wants the recipe, let me know and I’ll get it to ya!
Hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July!
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aw…at least it still looked perfect! and i think most of us are pajama bakers! comfort food in comfy clothes!
Reply to Haley
It’s sad and funny at the same time. The tart does look absolutely gorgeous.
Reply to Vera
Very funny! I bake in scrubs, a dark apron, and flip-flops. Like you. :)
Oh was that mango post-title a reference to SNL and Chris Kataan? That made me laught too.
Reply to Ivy
That does look absolutely amazing and beautiful!!!
Sharona May
Reply to Sharona May
i could see “blue cheese crust” being an iffy concept — good in theory, but maybe better suited to a savory tart? it looks lovely though! poached pears are one of my favorite desserts, so i bet there could be a tastier version of this recipe!
Reply to katy
I thought they were very round, very perfect rhubarbs. But when I found out they were pears I was quite surprised. It does look beautiful in the photos and its a shame that it didn’t turn out well. Thanks for being a sport by going ahead and publishing it anyway. It makes your journeys very real :)
Reply to Monkee
What a beautiful tart… what a bummer that it tasted bad. At least it was pretty, right?
Reply to Pam
Oh, how sad. I love every element, so it makes me sad that it didn’t work.
Reply to maybelles mom (feeding maybelle)
I actually came here looking for help on a mini-disaster. I made cherry ice cream last night and the recipe called for marscapone. It tastes way too cheesy. Gross! I’ll post pictures tonight with the recipe, but I have two tubs of marscapone left. I was looking for other marscapone ice cream recipes to see if there are other tasty recipes to try.
Reply to Maura
The photo is beautiful. Too bad it didn’t taste as good as it looks!
Reply to Jenny
i’ve had a few of those myself… but yes, it does look beautiful!! we wouldn’t know the difference if you hadn’t told us!!
Reply to Aran
What a shame, it’s so pretty.
Reply to kj
I once made a red wine tart. It was neither attractive or edible. My friends all took a piece which was sweet of them. I think some of them managed to swallow. It also only partially set so sort of slopped into your mouth. Disaster! I’m deathly afraid to make anything else from that cook book again.
Reply to imjustwaytoo
Sad it didn’t work. But it looks beautiful nonetheless:)
Reply to farida
I hate when that happens. I once invited friends over for dinner, and I decided to make Orange chicken. It was so gross. Only a couple people tried it – the same ones that felt nauseous later. I ended up ordering Chinese take-out on the spot. What a disaster! (I did shred the chicken later, and made delicious bbq sandwiches out of them).
Reply to Anne Marie
A least you got some beautiful pictures to ease the “pain”… am gonna watch out for that kind of recipe… thank’s for sharing :)
Reply to Zita
It’s GORGEOUS! I was going to ask when I could bribe you into making me one but the taste review steered me away. Almost everything I make is a mishap so don’t feel bad. I’ll have a beautiful new kitchen to mishap in soon though!
Reply to Dawn
Oh too bad, it is a lovely tart and I like the concept of it.
Reply to peabody
Sadly, looks can be deceiving. Too bad. There were a lot of nice ingredients sacrificed here.
Reply to Dana McCauley
Wow, that is gorgeous- bummer it tasted so bad, what a shame!
I submit to you the story of trying to make Maine potato candy, known as Needhams. It was a disaster- over the course of 2 days! Nothing went right and most of the batch got tossed. For more about the snafu, visit http://beansbistro.blogspot.com/2008/04/homegrown-gourmet-7-maine-potato-candy.html.
I also recently made a very tasty lemon merangue pie- that had it’s lemon goo turn into a bizarre liquid under the merangue which in turn soaked the crust into a graham-crackery mess. I haven’t blogged about that yet, but it’s in the to-do list!
Reply to Erika
That is one beautiful poop tart, for sure.
Funny stuff.
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Reply to Rick
We all have baking mishaps; except YOUR baking mishaps still look/sound perfect to me!! :0)
Reply to VeggieGirl