Mom's Birthday Dessert

A dessert trio of Warm Mocha Tart, Pink Peppercorn Ice Cream, and fresh Michigan strawberries.

The three played quite nicely together.








The ice cream recipe came from a Bon Apetit mag I ripped off from work. It looked so interesting, I just had to try it. Peppery, herbal...like no ice cream I've ever tried before.

Pink Peppercorn Ice Cream from Chika Tillman, Bon Apetit September 2004

2 cups whole milk
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup pink peppercorns, crushed (about 1/2 ounce)
7 large egg yolks

Bring milk, cream, sugar and peppercorns to a boil in a large heavy saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat; let stand at room temperature for 1 hour to let flavors blend.

Bring milk mixtute to a simmer. Whisk egg yolks in a large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk hot milk mixture into yolks. Return mixture to pan and stir over medium heat until finger leaves path on back of spoon when drawn across, about 3 minutes (do not boil). Strain custard into large bowl; cover. Refrigerate until cold, about 4 hours. Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.

Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to container; cover and freeze (can be made 3 days ahead. Keep frozen).

The mocha tart...I've made that before (April of last year):

Warm Mocha Tart

This was lifted from the Jan/Feb 2005 issue 'Country Home' magazine, and is a recipe by Alice Medrich in her book 'Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate'


8 tb (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (natural or dutch process)
1 1/4 tsp instant espresso powder or 1 1/2 tsp instant coffee crystals
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting (optional)

To make the tart crust: Mix the melted butter, the 1/4 cup sugar, 3/4 tsp vanilla and salt in a medium bowl. Add the flour and mix just until well blended. Don't worry if the dough seems too soft. Press all of the dough very thinly and evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 9 1/2 inch tart pan with removable bottom. Position rack in bottom third of the oven. Bake in a 350 oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until crust is a deep golden brown.

Meanwhile make the filling: Place cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa and 3 tb butter in a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring until the mixture is blended and smooth and begins to simmer around the edges. Remove from heat and stir in the espresso powder and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Just before the crust is ready, whisk egg thoroughly into the hot chocolate mixture.

Pour the filling into the hot crust and turn off the oven. Leave tart in the oven until it quivers like tender gelatin in the center when pan is nudged, about 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly on a rack. Dust with additional cocoa powder, if desired. Serve tart warm or at room temperature. Makes 8 to 10 servings.

Only this time I used a chocolate crust from another chocolate tart recipe. Only because I had it already. It was frozen from when I made it in January. So that made putting this together even easier. I used my rectangular tart pan I bought in North Carolina last year. Way freaking good.

We had a nice day today. A nice weekend overall, actually. It was hotter than hell yesterday, but we hung out all day in the AC-cooled house, did some cleaning and very unstrenuous chores. I'd done my shopping and plant watering very early in the day. Weeding? Oh, so sorry. Never got around to that. Hey, I think I'll wait for it to rain, and then they'll pull so much easier...! Then we went to the next door neighbor's daughter's high school graduation party, and sat with a few neighbors and drank beer for a few hours. Very nice.

Today, we went to church, and then mom came over around 11 in the morning and we had a nice lunch at Stillwater Grill in Brighton. Then proceeded to a few favorite grocery stores in Ann Arbor, and then to Cabela's. We had to return something there. Turns out nephew Peter already HAS a Leatherman pocket knife, so he probably doesn't need the one we bought. We'll have to think of another gift, or just give him money. Either way, we haven't forgotten his birthday, which was in May. Then we visited Pentamere Winery in Tecumseh. We were the only ones in there, and tasted pretty much the entire list. Some things were typical of Michigan wines: weak, leaving you wanting more. Other things, however, were quite nice. We utterly caved in and bought the pricy Eiswein made of Vidal grapes. But it was sooooo wonderful. So many things going on (most notably green tea and honey) and the finish went on and on and on... I *love* eisweins.

We drove home in driving rain, where we had a 'dinner' of a variety of crackers, cheeses, mom's favorite prune chutney, and then the dessert trio.