Pimp Up your shoes DIY

Pear & Almond Tart Recipe

This is the The Cook’s Atelier recipe. I decided to give it a chance. And it was truly delicious!

For the pears
1. Bring 4 cups water, sugar and lemon juice to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Add pears and reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the pears are tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Cool the pears in the syrup.
For the almond filling
1. In a medium bowl, mix the ground almonds, sugar and butter until smooth.
2. Add the egg and mix until incorporated.
3. Cover and chill at least 3 hours.
For the pâte sucrée
1. Whisk the cream and the eggs together in a small bowl and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt and butter.  Using your fingers, incorporate the butter until you have a coarse meal.
3. Gradually add the cream and yolks, and mix until just combined.  Be careful not to overwork the dough.
4. Bring the dough together with your hands to incorporate completely.  Place it in the fridge for at least one hour.
To prepare the tart
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3. Place the chilled pâte sucrée on a lightly floured work surface, and sprinkle with a little bit of flour.
4. Roll it into a 1/4-inch-thick circle, flouring as needed.
5. Cut the dough into circles slightly larger than the tart pans.
6. Gently press the dough into the pan, being careful not to stretch it as this will cause it to shrink when baking.
7. To remove the excess dough, work your way around the edge pinching it off with your fingers.
8. Chill in the fridge for 1 hour, or the freezer for 10 minutes before baking.
9. Once chilled, spread the almond filling evenly in crust.
10. Stem pears and cut each in half lengthwise; scoop out cores.  Cut each half crosswise into thin slices.  Gently press each pear half into the tart to fan the slices (keep them tightly overlapped).
11. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the filling comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
12. Cool tart in pan.
13. To serve, sprinkle with powdered sugar and add a dollop of whipped cream.

Enjoy! 

Walking in Memphis + Meshka Design's clutch

Walking in Memphis in High Heels

Happy Monday everybody! Hope you'll all have enough discipline till Friday. :-)

Snapshots from this week

This was a lovely autumn week for us. :-) Happy weekend everyone, hope you'll all have a sunny one!

Quick&easy brownie muffins

 

INGREDIENTS:
150 g (0,35 lb) hazelnuts, 180 g (0,40 lb) of sugar, 140 g (0,3 lb) butter, 100 g (0,2 lb) of dark chocolate, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 100 g (0,2 lb) of wheat flour, 3 eggs 
Cream :200 g mascarpone cheese, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and sugar with real vanillaFor decoration : anything you wish :-) 

Roast the hazelnuts in the preheated oven to 200 degrees Celsius ((390 F) for about 12 minutes. Remove the skin and grind them in a food processor along with the sugar.Dissolve butter with chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, then add the nuts, mix briefly.Combine the flour with the baking powder, add it to the nut&chocolate mix, mix it for a minute, then add the eggs and mix it for another 2 minutes.Preheat the oven to 200 deg. C (390 F) .Fill the muffin cups with your mixture (about 1.5-2 tablespoons to 1 muffin cup).Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.CREAM:Mix mascarpone with a spoon of sugar and vanilla, decorate with anything you like (looks nice when sprinkled with grated chocolate).Enjoy!

Last minute halloween DIY

It's almost Halloween! For those who are not ready yet and are still in need for some inspiration here are my favourite DIY projects that might help:
1. Waterproof Outdoor Paper Lanterns from Sugar & Cloth
2. Batty Treat Holders from Simply Modern Mom
3. Gold Leaf Halloween Postcards from Lovely Indeed
4. Pumpkin Place Cards from Everyday Occasions
5. Doily Pumpkin from Allyson Baker
6. Skull "Surprise Inside" Cake Recipe from I am Baker

Meshka Design custom clutches at Emily's wedding

Emily is one one the sweetest brides that I've been working with. While having three totally different bridesmaids, she decided to go for black vegan clutches with peacock feather embellishment. These are the detachable brooches so the girls can use the clutches after the wedding and simply add other accessories to their simple black purses to match with other outfits
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INSPIRING WORDS FOR THE BEGINNING OF NEW WEEK

Hope you all have a wonderful week. Happy Monday!

New Meshka Design's assymetrical clutch

photos by Kathleen from carriebradshawlied.com

 The new assymetrical clutch is available in 19 different colors :

Summer In a Jar | Homemade Peach&Cinnamon Jam

It is the easiest jam I have ever made. All that's required is throwing the ingredients into a pot and boiling for about half an hour. Then simply ladle the jam into jars and process these in a water bath to make them shelf-safe.

Ingredients (makes 8 small jars):

• 6 pounds peaches
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 4 cups sugar
• 2 tbs ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Peel and pit the peaches, roughly chop and place in a large pot. Add the lemon juice and cinnamon and mash them together to desired consistency.

2. Stir in the sugar and bring to a boil over medium heat. Continue to boil, stirring frequently, until the jam thickens, about 30 minutes (you can easily test the thickness by dropping a little bit of jam onto a cold plate).

3. Ladle the jam into sterilized jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.

Inspiring words -start improving the world today

 Happy Monday everyone! :)