Chocolate Covered Grape Truffles

Grapes and chocolate are for sure favorites of mine. Together like this, they are divine.

Last summer, my super fabulous friend Debi made these for us when we stayed with her and her family in Chicago. These are so good and easy to make, you must give it a try.

You can use green or red grapes, make sure they're really fresh, plump and crisp. Remove them from the stems. Wash and dry them well, then refrigerate for a couple of hours. 

1-1/2 pounds of grapes

1/2 pound good dark chocolate, chopped up for melting, use a good chocolate, the taste and quality of these truffles are dependent on the quality of chocolate you start with

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

chop the chocolate for melting in a double boiler or ......

use a glass bowl over a pot of simmering water.

pour the melted chocolate over the cold grapes and......

mix really fast. The chocolate will start to harden right away, so don't dilly dally. Make sure all the grapes get covered with chocolate, keep them separated so they don't stick together. Toss them on to a baking sheet and dust them with the cocoa powder with a small strainer.

Cover baking sheet and chill for a couple of hours to set chocolate.

Enjoy ! They are so good !

Triple Berry Tart

At the organic market, the berries were plentiful and fragrant. They jumped in my basket and came home with me.

After researching several ideas of what I wanted to do with this beautiful bounty.

I decided to try a berry tart. I'd seen this amazing crust recipe for a tart a few months back and I wanted a cheesy filling with the berries on top. So after sifting through all my cookbooks and recipes I decided to do this...

Tart Crust
1 2/3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/2 cup chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons cold water
3 tablespoons apricot jam

Mix flour, salt and powdered sugar in food processor. Add butter and cut in using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. 

Add egg yolks and process briefly to blend. Add enough water by tablespoonfuls until mixture forms moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk.
Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 30 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12 inch diameter round. Transfer to 9inch diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Trim crust overhang to 1/4-inch. Fold overhang in, creating double thick sides.

 Freeze crust 15 minutes. Line crust with foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights.

Bake until sides are set, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until golden brown, piercing with fork if bubbles form, about 15 minutes. Transfer pan to rack. Brush crust with the apricot jam while it's warm. Cool completely.

Now for the filling and the berries.

• 1 cup mascarpone cheese (about 8 ounces), room temperature
• 1/3 cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
• 3/4 cup strawberries, sliced and or quartered
• 1 pint raspberries
• 1 pint blueberries
• Mix the mascarpone, sugar, vanilla and whip cream gently with a whisk, not too much, just until its creamy and smooth. Spread into cooled crust evenly, then grate the lemon rind over the filling.

• Arrange the berries in a beautiful pattern that looks pretty to you. Chill and serve same day for best results. Enjoy !