It seems I've barely had time to notice that summer is here, other than tending to the garden, keeping the dogs occupied, and trying desperately to escape the heat. Time to slow down, push some of life's obligatory matters aside for just awhile, and enjoy the best features of summer.

The longer days have meant that there's more time to get things accomplished, so a bit more time for pleasures like reading, knitting...baking.



DH chose the dessert for this week - galettes. Fresh, ripe apricots were available at the market, so I thought that would be a treat, as their season is so fleeting.

I used Ken Haedrich's basic flaky pie recipe (one crust), six fresh apricots and one peach. I macerated the apricots in 1/2 cup of brown sugar, a squeeze of lemon, and 3 tablespoons of vanilla Torani.



To avoid leftovers and/or overindulgence, I chose to make 2 medium-sized galettes, and froze a third portion of the dough for later.

I was unnecessarily concerned about the pastry becoming gummy from the juices. Apricots are not naturally very juicy, so I could have used more of the leftover juices than I did. I will definitely watch the lemon next time. Despite the brown sugar and Torani, the mixture was a bit tart. Still very delicious, though.

This dough is tender, flaky and light. Excellent. The tips of the apricots blackened just slightly, and everything baked up at the perfect texture.

This will be a definite go-to dessert for me.

I've no idea why I snapped the image from that angle.

I was trying to take some photos for our corporate website in as much natural light as possible when I noticed the room darkening dramatically.

The clouds are much more interesting at this height...

Proust had it right.

It's been years since I tasted a freshly baked Madeline, maybe even more than a decade. Food of the Gods. I am in love.

I took the recipe from Afternoon Delights, omitted the lemon, and substituted cardamom and vanilla bean. Quantities to substitute were a bit of a crap shoot, but my guesses turned out to be right on the mark.



The cakes were extremely flavorful and heady (I think from the aroma, in particular), but still delicate, somehow. I am patiently waiting for an opportunity to make these again!

Fresh strawberries and rhubarb absolutely rock. First pie of the season, made with fresh, mostly-local fruit (I don't know when or even if we can get local rhubarb here).

Delectable. Thank you Ken Haedrich , and your lovely book, too.



The crumb crust in this recipe also serves as the topping. I was a little unsure about how it would stand up to the juices after a day or two, but overall, it maintained a really good texture.

And it tasted amazing. Really bright and flavorful. I made one small change. The spices called for include cardamon, which is one of my favorites, and ground ginger. I substituted a lesser amount of fresh grated ginger, which added a just a little zing.



This was a perfect way to kick off the pie-making extravaganza. Definitely a winner.

Mother's Day Lemon Pound cake, from this Tea and Cookies recipe.



Although I'm probably itching for an argument, I will leave the syrup out of this recipe next time I make it. The cake is perfection with out it, in my opinion. The husband has requested an orange-vanilla adaptation. So shall eh have it.



And no, I didn't make the poor cake suffer in a pool of glaze. I replated. I think that I'm going to have to visit some antique-ish places for interesting service plates.