A couple of days ago my friend Patricia came over and we went crazy baking. We made these two beauties. The one on top is an apricot-pistachio tart.  We are both not big fans of pistachios so we made it with my sister in mind, who loves pistachio anything.  Turns out it was delicious, tart and juicy. The honey cream dollop on top was a nice addition to the nutty flavors of this tart.

Our second creation was a chocolate mocha cake with raspberry filling from unegaminedanslacuisine.com. Sadly the filling did not come together as smoothly as it should have. So we whipped heavy cream and raspberry jam together to serve as the filling, which turned out to be a light contrast to the heaviness of the chocolate cake. We also decided to omit the frosting because it seemed a little too complicated and we were running out of butter. I would recommend this cake for a birthday because it had that rich and satisfying taste that we all look for in a birthday cake.

I am going to share the recipe for the apricot-pistachio tart here. It comes from a cook book that I have been enjoying a lot lately. My only tip for this recipe would be to adjust the amount of sugar to how tart the apricots are. The recipe for the chocolate cake can be located at unegaminedanslacuisine.com. Enjoy!

Apricot-Pistachio Tart (from Home Baked Comfort by Kim Laidlaw)

In a food processor pulse 1/2 cup unsalted and shelled pistachios (reserve extra to sprinkle on top of the tart) and 1/4 cup sugar until finely ground. Add 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1/2 tsp. kosher salt and pulse until combined. Add 1 stick of unsalted butter cut into chunks and 1 large egg yolk and pulse until the dough is crumbly. Scrape the dough into a 9 inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Scoop out 1/2 cup of the crumbly dough and set aside. Press the dough over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 375F.

In a large bowl, toss 8 ripe but slightly firm pitted and sliced apricots with 1/2 cup sugar, then squeeze 1/4 of a lemon over the apricots. Stir in 1 tbsp. cornstarch that has been mixed with 1 tbsp. cold water before. Pour the apricot mixture including the juices into the lined tart pan. Sprinkle the reserved crumbly dough and extra chopped pistachios over the top of the apricot mixture.

Bake until tart is golden brown and bubbly, 45-50 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely. In a small bowl beat 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup heavy cream and 2 tbsp. honey until thick and fluffy. Serve wedges of the tart with dollops of the honey cream.