Something Special for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is right around the corner. Have you decided how you're going to make the day memorable for your mom? If you're thinking of treating her to a special homemade breakfast, make her some crepes or scones and a batch of this Passion Fruit Curd.

She's sure to love it!

Here’s wishing a happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there!

Passion Fruit Curd
Printable Recipe

4 large egg yolks
3 ounces sugar
2 ounces passion fruit puree
2 ounces (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, diced

Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the passion fruit puree. Place the bowl over a medium pan of simmering water and heat, whisking constantly, for 7 to 8 minutes, or until thick. Immediately strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl and stir in the butter. Chill.

Makes about 1 1/3 cups. Keeps for a day or two tightly sealed in the refrigerator. You will need about 4 passion fruits for this recipe. When buying passion fruits, look for fruit that's shrinkled—that's my word for shrunken and wrinkled—and trust me when I say there's no better way to describe a ripe passion fruit. To make passion fruit puree, halve the passion fruits, scoop out the flesh using a spoon, and strain it through a fine mesh sieve.

Flakey Tart Crust

Pâte brisée is French for “short dough”. It’s rich and flakey and used for sweet and savory tart, pie, and quiche crusts.

Pâte Brisée Tart Crust
Printable Recipe

12 ounces pastry flour
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
6 ounces (1 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
4 ounces eggs
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cold water
All-purpose flour, for dusting

Combine the pastry four, salt, and butter in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture resembles cornmeal.


Blend together the eggs and water in a small bowl, add to the flour mixture, and mix on low until the dough just comes together.


Transfer the dough to a work surface, bring together into a ball, and cut in half. Form each half into a ball and then flatten into a disc. Wrap each disc separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours or freeze for up to 1 month. (Thaw frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator and let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll out a disc of dough to a 12-inch wide, 1/8-inch thick circle. Roll the dough up on the rolling pin. Transfer it to a 9-inch pie tin. Ease the dough into the edges of the tin. Using a paring knife, trim the excess dough along the top edge of the tin. Patch any cracks or tears in the crust with a bit of the scrap dough and reserve the remaining scraps at room temperature. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Line the crust with parchment paper and fill half way with pie weights.

For a partially baked crust, bake for about 20 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown around the edges.


Carefully remove the pie weights and parchment and let cool slightly before filling. Patch any cracks in the crust with a small amount of the scrap dough.

For a fully baked crust, bake for about 20 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown around the edges. Carefully remove the pie weights and parchment and bake for another 22 to 24 minutes, or until golden brown.


Let cool completely before filling.

Yields 2 9-inch crusts. Of course, you can use this dough to make any other size or shape crust, too. Work quickly and with a light touch to prevent the butter in the pastry from melting. Beans or rice can be used as pie weights.

Now, what to fill it with?

Strawberry Curd

How do 2 people eat an entire flat of strawberries in just 4 days? To the exclusion of nearly everything else. Except for maybe whipped cream. It takes lots of creativity and determination and dessert twice a day. But we did it.

We had plain strawberries, sugared strawberries, strawberries and cream, strawberry ice cream, strawberry verrines, and Strawberry Curd, which we ate by the spoonful, over pink strawberry cupcakes, and in strawberry tartelettes. Four days of strawberry bliss.


For the strawberry cupcakes, I used this cupcake recipe, omitting the vanilla bean, decreasing the vanilla extract to ¼ teaspoon, and substituting 12 ounces strawberries, pureed, for the milk.


I used this tart crust dough for the tartelettes.


Strawberry Curd
Printable Recipe

14 ounces strawberries
2 large eggs
3 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Puree the strawberries in a food mill using a fine disc. Bring the puree to a bare simmer in a small, heavy saucepan. Whisk together the eggs, yolks, and sugar in a large bowl. Continue whisking while adding the hot puree in a thin stream. Place the bowl with the egg mixture over a medium pan of simmering water and heat, whisking constantly, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until thick. Stir in the butter and lemon juice. Chill.

Makes about 2 cups. Keeps for a day or two tightly sealed in the refrigerator.

Swiss Buttercream

It’s so good, you could almost eat it by itself.

Swiss Buttercream
Printable Recipe

4 ounces egg whites
8 ounces sugar
1 ounce corn syrup
10 ounces (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Whisk together the egg whites, sugar, and corn syrup in the bowl of a stand mixer. Place the bowl over a medium pan of simmering water, and heat, whisking constantly, until an instant-read thermometer registers 141˚F. In a mixer fitted with a whip attachment, whip the egg white mixture on high until cooled to room temperature. With the motor running on high, add the butter a tablespoon at a time, whipping for a few seconds after each addition until just combined, and stopping the mixer once or twice to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Continue to whip on high until light and fluffy.

Makes more than enough to frost a layer cake or 2 dozen cupcakes. You can flavor this buttercream however you like. For vanilla buttercream, beat in 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract. For chocolate buttercream, beat in 1 teaspoon vanilla extract plus 5 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate or 2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly. Buttercream keeps for about a week tightly sealed in the refrigerator. Bring to room temperature and rewhip until light and fluffy before using.

Caramel Pastry Cream

It’s a basic every cook should know.

Caramel Pastry Cream
Printable Recipe

6 ounces sugar
¼ cup water
2 cups milk
1 ¼ ounces cornstarch
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
½ ounce unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine 5 ounces of the sugar and the water in a small, heavy saucepan. Bring to a boil, brush down the sides of the pan with water, and boil for 8 to 10 minutes, or until caramelized. The sugar will be fragrant and a deep amber color when it is caramelized. Remove the pan from the heat and dip the bottom into an ice water bath for a second or two. Slowly stir in the milk. Return the pan to low heat and stir until smooth. Increase the heat to medium and heat to a simmer.

Meanwhile, whisk together the cornstarch and remaining 1 ounce of sugar in a medium bowl. Whisk in the egg and yolks. Continue whisking while adding the hot caramel mixture in a thin stream. Transfer the mixture back to the saucepan and cook, whisking constantly, over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, or until it thickens and just comes to a boil. Immediately strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl and stir in the butter and vanilla. Press plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate.

Makes about 2 ½ cups. A delicious alternative to the usual vanilla pastry cream—try it in cream puffs, éclairs, Napoleons, tarts, or between cake layers. For a light-as-air filling, fold in some whipped cream. Keeps for several days in the refrigerator. The plastic wrap pressed directly onto the surface of the pastry cream will prevent a skin from forming.

Sweet Tart Crust

I love to make tarts. They’re as wonderful to look at as they are to eat, and they make any occasion special. Here’s my favorite no-fail sugar dough recipe.

Pâte Sucrée Tart Crust
Printable Recipe

5 1/3 ounces powdered sugar
11 ounces (2 ¾ sticks) cold unsalted butter, diced
1 pound all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 large egg

Combine all of the ingredients in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low for about 3 minutes, or until the dough just comes together.


Transfer the dough to a work surface, bring together into a ball, and cut into thirds. Form each portion into a ball and then flatten into a disc. Wrap each disc separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about half an hour or freeze for up to 1 month. (Thaw frozen dough overnight in the refrigerator and let soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.)

On a lightly floured surface, roll out a disc of dough to a 13-inch wide, 1/8-inch thick circle.


Roll the dough up on the rolling pin.


Transfer it to a 9-inch loose-bottom tart tin.


Ease the dough into the edges of the tin.


Roll the pin across the top edge of the tin to trim the excess dough.


Patch any cracks or tears in the crust with a bit of the scrap dough and reserve the remaining scraps at room temperature. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Refrigerate for about 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350ºF.

For a partially baked crust, bake for about 20 minutes, or until set and just beginning to brown around the edges.


Let cool slightly before filling. Patch any cracks in the crust with a small amount of the scrap dough.

For a fully baked crust, bake for about half an hour, or until golden brown.


Let cool completely before filling.

Yields 3 9-inch tart crusts. Of course, you can use this dough to make any other size or shape tart, too. Work quickly and with a light touch to prevent the butter in the pastry from melting.

Now, what to fill it with?