The weather is suddenly warm and a little sticky in New York, so it’s time for a refreshing drink.

Ok, this is basically a recipe for a wine cooler, but keep reading.  It really isn’t the sort of thing that underage girls drink in 711 parking lots.

It’s something you should drink with brunch (in place of the ubiquitous mimosa), or before dinner on a warm evening, or at a festive lunch.  The bright, fresh flavors of raspberries, mint and lemon (fortified with vodka) mingle with the complexity and effervescence of sparkling wine, and the result is light, refreshing and sophisticated.  It’s easy to make in advance, so it’s good for groups too.  But make a lot — it’s a crowd pleaser.  And keep an eye out for those underage girls.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups vodka

12 oz (or so) of frozen raspberries (you can use fresh, of course, but they’re often pricey, and frozen taste just well here.)

a handful of fresh mint sprigs

juice of two lemons

3 tablespoons sugar, or more to taste

1 750ml bottle of dry sparkling wine, such as a Spanish Cava, an Italian Prosecco or a Champagne-style wine from California. (This probably isn’t the highest and best use of fine Champagne.)

Instructions

1.  Put all of the ingredients except the sparkling wine into a bowl.  Crush the mint and the berries well with a muddler or a wooden spoon.  If you have the time, let the mixture sit for an hour or more.  (If you don’t, no worries — it’ll still be delicious.)

2.  Strain the berry mixture into a bowl, pressing on the solids with a spoon or spatula to extract all of the liquid.  Discard the solids.

3.  Pour the raspberry/mint/lemon vodka into tall ice-filled glasses, top with the sparkling wine, and garnish with mint.  The exact ratio is up to you, of course, but I’ve found that something like one-third vodka to two-thirds sparkling wine works best.

Cheers!

This upgrade to the childhood classic chocolate sundae was actually the result of a total dessert failure.  A couple of years ago, I offered to bring dessert to a dinner party in San Francisco hosted by my friend Marta.  She had requested a lemon tart with a chocolate-lined shell.  Overconfidently, as it turned out, I tackled the project without a proper recipe.  It was a disaster.  The crust was tough, the chocolate was hard and waxy, and the flavor of the lemon curd didn’t marry well with the others and left a weird metallic taste on the palate.  Yuck.

Out of time, I searched the pantry for inspiration.  I found a jar of excellent dark chocolate sauce made by the San Francisco artisan chocolatier Michael Recchiuti.  I also had some delicious Marcona almonds from Spain, toasted and bathed in olive oil (one of my favorite snacks).  I quickly ran to the heavenly Bi-Rite creamery on 18th Street to get some vanilla ice cream to make sundaes with these ingredients.  My first taste test yielded good results, but the sweetness was a little cloying.  A generous pinch of flaky Maldon sea salt proved to be the missing ingredient, though, bringing the flavors into a delicious, grown-up balance.  Now this emergency sundae is probably my most requested dessert.

Recipe

Ingredients

Dark chocolate sauce.  Buy the best you can find –Recchiuti and Fran’s are my favorites.  Hershey’s won’t do here.

Marcona almonds.  If you can’t find them, toasted regular almonds are fine if you toss them in a little good extra virgin olive oil.

Vanilla ice cream (the best quality you can find)

Flaky sea salt such as Maldon

Instructions

1.  Chop the almonds very coarsely.  Marcona almonds are sold two ways –drenched in olive oil and dry.  If yours are dry, toss them in some of your best extra virgin olive oil before chopping them up.

2.  Warm the chocolate sauce in a saucepan of simmering water, but only until it’s just lukewarm.  Any warmer and it will melt the ice cream too quickly.

3.  Spoon some warm chocolate sauce over scoops of the ice cream, top generously with the chopped almonds and finish a generous pinch or two of the salt.  Serve immediately.

Obviously, this recipe is all about the ingredients.  Recchiuti chocolate sauce can be found in some good grocery stores and online at www.recchiuti.com.  At $10 for 8oz, it’s expensive, but a little goes a long way.  And it’s worth every penny.

Fran’s chocolate sauce is available in many good grocery and specialty stores for about $8.50, and it’s for sale online at www.franschocolates.com and www.amazon.com.  Again, expensive, but intensely flavored and worth it.

Maldon sea salt is widely available at good grocery stores and online at www.amazon.com for about $7 for 8oz.  It’s also excellent on fresh sliced tomatoes and grilled meats.

Spanish Marcona almonds are increasingly available at good grocery stores such as Whole Foods.  If you can’t find them at your grocer, www.tienda.com has a good selection of Marcona almonds and other Spanish foods.

What can I say?  They’re beautiful.

And, apart from having good taste in friends, I can’t take any credit for them.

The flowers were for a cocktail party at our New York place last weekend to celebrate Spring and, surreptitiously, David’s birthday.  The occasion called for something very special, and so I called our good friends at Zeze Flowers.  As usual, all I told was some basic information about the occasion, and they did the rest.

The main hall set up for the party with a temporary bar at the end.

Some color for the dining table

An extravagantly lovely bouquet for the cocktail table in the living area

Eva enjoyed them too.

I love a hot appetizer –something warm, fragrant and tasty to eat as I sip my cocktail and get in the mood to relax and enjoy the dinner ahead.  Makes me happy.

As a host, though, turning out a warm cocktail snack in the late stages of cooking dinner can be a little stressful.  For me, at least, it’s got to be something quick and simple or I’m risking a charm-challenging spike in my blood pressure.

Fortunately, my love of the hot app has led me to some reliably no-sweat solutions like mini grilled cheese sandwiches and gougeres.  And here’s a new favorite.  It’s a warm twist on the tried (tired?) and true shrimp with “cocktail” sauce that uses Vadouvan, an exotic yet accessible toasted Franco-Indian spice blend to flavor the dish.  You can pretty easily make a batch of Vadouvan yourself or you can buy it already prepared online or at specialty spice stores, but either way it’s a great thing to keep on hand to easily add special flavor to soups and stews, chicken dishes, eggs (amazing) and seafood.

This recipe uses brown butter infused with Vadouvan to simply sauté shimp.  The butter is fast and simple to make and keeps for months in the fridge so you can use it for more batches of shrimp, and for things like frying eggs or drizzling over plain couscous to create an amazing side dish in no time at all. (Recently I learned that a dinner guest was vegetarian –as I was clearing the salad plates and pulling the leg of lamb out of the oven.  In a real life “Quickfire Challenge,” I used some Vadouvan brown butter I had stashed in the fridge to sauté some vegetables dress some instant couscous to make a tasty vegetarian entree in about 7 minutes.)  Once you’ve got the butter made (which, of course, you’ll want to do in advance), the shimp take about five minutes to cook, leaving you with plenty of time and psychic energy to enjoy one with your own pre-dinner drink.

Recipe

For the Vadouvan Brown Butter

(adapted from Mourad New Moroccan by Mourad Lahlou)

Ingredients

2-3 tablespoons Vadouvan

1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter

Instructions

1.  Melt the butter in a saucepan with high sides.  Simmer over medium heat until the solids that form on the bottom of the pan turn a caramel color (and not until they’re dark brown), about 10 minutes.

2.  Turn off the heat, add the Vadouvan and stir.  The butter will foam up (which is why you need the high-sided pan).

3.  Set aside for at least an hour before using.  (There’s no need to strain the butter.)

Vadouvan brown butter will keep in the fridge for several months, so you’ll want to make a full batch to keep on hand.

To make Shrimp in Vadouvan Brown Butter

Ingredients

Vadouvan brown butter

Large shelled and deveined shrimp

Chives (for optional garnish)

1.  Warm enough Vadouvan brown butter to amply cover the bottom of a skillet over medium heat for about two minutes.

2.  Add the shrimp and cook, turning once, until they are cooked through, about 5 minutes total.

3. Garnish with chopped chives, parsley or cilantro, if desired, and serve immediately with extra Vadouvan brown butter on the side for dipping.

This dish also makes a delicious light lunch or first course for dinner served over salad greens dressed with a simple lemon vinaigrette.

A couple of months ago, I posted about my project to pull together our dreary master bedroom in Southampton.  It’s a nice room, but the furnishings, linens and accessories are all left-overs from moves and remodels, and they don’t work together.  Many of you offered very useful advice, a common thread of which, I think, was to be bolder in my thinking.

So here’s where I am now.

I’ve decided on a bright yellow-green and blue color scheme over the more subdued options I was considering at the time of the post.  The room is on the darker side of the house and can feel a little cold, so warm, bright colors seem like the best choice.  The paint I like is Benjamin Moore’s “Wasabi”(AF-430), a nice bright yellow-green that I’ve used before.  It’s lively but fairly soft and doesn’t take on an acid green edge in bright light.

I loved the vintage ceramic lamps I bought for the room, but I’ve decided to use a pair of vintage blue Bitossi lamps we already had, shown here in a bedroom in our last New York apartment.  The rust, green and orange lamps (below) have found a happy home in our New York guest room.

For the bed clothes, I think I’m going to use the classic 1960s Marimekko print on the left side of the montage above.  It’s called “Melooni” and comes in a very large and a smaller scale print. The smaller one might be great for a duvet cover, and maybe the large one will work for shams. I also like the stripe from Les Toiles du Soleil.  Maybe I’ll make it into bolsters or a slip cover for the headboard, or both.

I still need to sort out the bedside tables, and probably get a reading lamp to place near the lounge chair, but I’m going to buy fabric and paint this week. Memorial Day is fast approaching.

The warming weather has me thinking of Julia frolicking on the beach, planting the vegetable garden in Southampton, dinner outdoors and light desserts of berries and cream.  In New York, that’s all still many weeks away, but this airy and elegant dessert is a delicious way of reinforcing that lightening mood.  Its flavor is subtle –not too sweet and based on the harmonious pairing of orange zest and ground almonds, accented by the unexpected but refreshing flavor of lavender. (Lavender, usually in the form of ice cream, is one of my favorite flavors to complement fresh summer fruit.)

Best of all, this fancy dessert is much easier than it looks to make.  Yes, there are three components –the cake, the filling, and a flavored syrup– but all come together quickly.  And unlike some roulades I’ve made (with varying degrees of success), this one is pretty forgiving:  the cake is spongy and easy to handle without cracking or tearing, and the filling is stabilized with a touch of gelatin so it won’t go all soft and runny on you while your back is turned.  In fact, for me assembling a roulade is quicker, easier and less stressful than icing a layer cake, and the results are just as impressive.

This cake does require a couple of special ingredients, but both are inexpensive and relatively easy to come by.  Culinary lavender buds (as opposed to those used to scent your underwear drawer) are available in some good supermarkets, at specialty stores and from spice resources such as www.kalustyans.com. Almond meal or almond flour is increasingly available at good supermarkets and at health food stores, I buy mine fresh ground from Kalustyan’s.

Recipe

(Adapted from Lavender-Almond Roulade in Mourad New Moroccan, the Cookbook, by Mourad Lahlou.  Serves 8.)

Ingredients

For lavender sugar:

1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender buds

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

For lavender syrup:

1/2 (120 ml)cup water

1/3 (80 ml) cup granulated sugar

3 pinches lavender sugar (from above)

2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest

For lavender-almond cake:

6 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup (120 ml) granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Pinch of cream of tartar

1 cup (235 ml) plus 2 tablespoons finely ground almond meal or almond flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon lavender sugar (from above)

1 tablespoon grated orange zest

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoons powdered sugar

For lavender cream filling:

1 1/2 tablespoons cold water

1 1/4 teaspoons powdered gelatin

2 cups (475 ml) heavy cream

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon lavender sugar

Blackberries, strawberries or raspberries to garnish.

Instructions

1. To make the lavender sugar, combine the lavender buds and sugar in a clean spice or coffee grinder or a blender and grind to a find powder.  Set aside.

2.  To make the lavender syrup, combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and warm over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar.  Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.  Set aside.

3. To make the cake, preheat the oven to 275F (135C).  Line the bottom of a baking sheet with four raised (about 1-inch) sides with parchment.  Butter the bottom and sides of the pan or spray them with non-stick cooking spray.

4.  Put the egg yolks and 1/4 cup (60 ml) of the sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium speed for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture is thick, pale yellow and fluffy.  Transfer to another bowl and then wash the mixing bowl and whisk thoroughly.

5.  Put the egg whites, salt and cream of tartar in the mixing bowl and whisk for about 1 minute a medium speed, until the whites are foamy.  With the mixer running, pour in the remaining 1/4 cup (60 ml) of sugar and beat for another 4 or minutes or so, or until the egg whites form stiff peaks.

6.  Combine the almond flour, cornstarch, lavender sugar and zest in a large bowl and fold in the egg mixture.

7.  Fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture a third at a time.

8.  Using an offset spatula (if you have one), spread the mixture evenly into the prepared pan and bake it for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the cake is a light golden color and a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean.

9.  To unmold the cake, first turn a baking sheet upside-down and cover it with a piece of parchment.  Combine 3 tablespoons of powder sugar with 3 tablespoons or cornstarch.  Spoon the mixture into a fine mesh strainer and generously dust the parchment with it.  (This will prevent the cake from sticking to it as it cools.) Then, run a knife around the edges of the cake and invert it onto the prepared parchment.  Let cool completely (which won’t take more than about 20 minutes.)

10.  When the cake has cooled, peel off the top layer of parchment and dust the exposed surface with your non-stick powdered sugar mixture.  Top with a clean sheet of parchment and set another baking sheet (probably the one you baked the cake in, right-side-up) on top of it.  Then, grabbing hold of both baking sheets by their edges, flip the whole works over again, so the cooled cake is again top-side-up.  Remove the top baking sheet and parchment and slide the cake and remaining bottom sheet of parchment onto a work surface.  (This is all easier than is sounds.)

11.  Generously brush the cake with the lavender syrup, reserving the leftovers.

12.  To make the cream filling, put the water in a small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over the top, gently shaking the bowl to dampen all of the gelatin.  When the gelatin solidifies (which will just take a few minutes), peel it out of the bowl and roughly chop it into about 1/4 inch (6 mm) pieces.

13.  Pour 1/4 cup (60 ml) of the heavy cream into a small saucepan and heat to just below a simmer.  Remove from the heat and whisk in your chopped-up gelatin until they have melted.  Cool for about 10 minutes, or until it’s about body temperature.

14.  Meanwhile, combine the remaining 1 3/4 cups (415 ml) of cream with the two sugars in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.  Beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes, or until soft peaks form. Add the gelatin mixture and whip for another 1 or 2 minutes, until stiff peaks form.

15.  To assemble, spread the cream filling over the cake in an even layer about 1/4 inch (6 mm) thick, reaching just to the edges.

16.  Carefully but deliberately roll the cake up, checking as you go to make sure that your roll is tight and even.  When you reach the end, continue to roll the cake until the seam is on the bottom.  Using the parchment, slide the cake onto a serving platter and refrigerate it for at least an hour to set.

17.  While the cake is chilling, toss the berries in about a teaspoon of the lavender sugar and let them macerate at room temperature for about 15 minutes.  Taste and add more lavender sugar, if necessary, before serving.

18.  To serve, slice off the ragged ends of the roll and eat them immediately.  You’ve earned it.

Slice the cake and serve with the berries and a spoonful or two of the lavender syrup on the side.  Garnish with a mint leaf or a few fresh lavender flowers if you’re lucky enough to have them.  Find a way to modestly work into the conversation that you made this elegant confection yourself.  Enjoy the praise and tuck into your own slice.

Last week for Julia’s spring break we traded the hustle, glamour and grime of New York for the laid-back charms of Hawaii.  (It’s odd to be suddenly back on a school holiday schedule at my age, but it makes for a nice excuse to take a vacation.) We stayed at a lovely resort on the Big Island and did little except lounge, swim, eat and drink.

I’ve learned not to get my hopes up about resort food, but we ate very well on the property, the restaurants of which featured lots of fresh local fish and produce. As did the bars, which is a nice idea, unless you want a real Mai Tai.  Not an Island-grown Lililoi Mango Mai-tini (although the real coconut shell cup was a nice touch), but the genuinely inauthentic boozy floozy of a drink poured at legendary tiki lounges like the (dearly departed) original Trader Vic’s and the (nearly departed) Tonga Room.  And we sure did.

So we took matters into our own hands, aided by our good friend Marta, who has long ties to Hawaii –and to Trader Vic’s.  This is her recipe, which makes the very most of the ingredients we could pick up at the nearest strip-mall liquor store. With access to better booze, I’d probably upgrade the golden rum.  But I’d keep the rest, including the pineapple chunk and maraschino cherry garnish, which I think contributes nicely to the Frannie Halcyon-does-Tiki-Night mood of the proceedings.

Recipe (for one drink)

1 1/2 oz dark rum (such as Myers)

1 1/2 oz golden rum

1/2 oz Orgeat (almond syrup)

1/2 oz orange liqueur, such as Cointreau, Grand Marnier or Orange Curacao.

Juice of 1 lime

Stir all ingredients in a pitcher filled with ice and then serve on the rocks with a chunk of pineapple, a maraschino cherry and an optional mint leaf for garnish.

I’ve made this dish more times than I can count, and it’s become a family favorite that’s also special enough for a full-fledged dinner party.  It tastes rich and luxurious, but it’s quick and nearly foolproof.  The recipe includes a quick homemade stock, but if you’re short on time (or patience), you can substitute a good low-salt chicken stock and still make a delicious dish.

The secret ingredient here is the Franco-Indian spice blend Vadouvan, which adds a mysteriously warm, dark and smoky flavor to the dish.  You can find the recipe for Vadouvan in my post here, for a light squash soup flavored with Vadouvan here, and for my favorite cauliflower soup with Vadouvan here.  Like the soups, this dish is also delicious without the spice blend, but the Vadouvan really makes it memorable.  Again, a viable shortcut is to buy a prepared Vadouvan from a specialty spice store such as Kalustyan’s, but the half hour or so of active time it takes to make a batch of your own is well worth it, particularly since you can keep the ample leftovers in your freezer for months.

Recipe

(Adapted from Paul Grimes’ Fricassee of Game Hen with Creamy Leeks and Vadoum, Gourmet Magazine, September, 2008.  Serves six.)

Ingredients

For stock:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 cups cold water

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

1 celery rib, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

3 large thyme sprigs

1 whole clove

1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf

1/8 teaspoon black peppercorns

For fricassee:

2 small chickens (less than 3 pounds each, if possible), quartered, backbones and wing tips removed with kitchen shears

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 leeks (about 3 pounds), greens reserved for stock

1/2 cup dry white wine

2/3 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup Vadouvan

Instructions

Prepare the Leeks.

Leeks are notoriously dirty and often have grit hiding deep in their leaves, so it’s important to wash them thoroughly.  First, trim off the bushy tops of the leeks and then separate their dark green and white/light green parts.  The whites go directly into the dish, and the dark greens will be used for the stock.

Halve the leeks lengthwise, and then chop in about 1 inch pieces, keeping the whites and greens separate. Rather than rinsing (which might not dislodge dirt deep inside), float the leek pieces in a large bowl of water and swish them around with your hand.  The dirt and grit will fall to the bottom of the bowl.  Scoop the leeks out of the bowl and set them aside, and then drain the water, rinse the bowl, and repeat.  If there’s any dirt in the bowl this time, wash them again. Reserve about 3 cups of the greens for the stock.

Make the Stock.

Shortcut:  Using Prepared Stock. This chicken and leek stock comes together pretty quickly and makes a delicious base for the sauce.  As a shortcut, though, it is possible to use a good commercial chicken stock and still get good results. Start with 4 cups of low salt or unsalted chicken broth, boil it until it is reduced to two cups and proceed with the recipe for the fricassee below.   It is very important to use low salt or, preferably, unsalted stock.  Regular chicken stock will make the dish unbearably salty.  Even if you use low salt stock, do not add any salt to the sauce until you finish it.

1.  Heat oil in a heavy medium pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Cook backbones and wing tips until well browned on all sides.

2.  Add water and bring to a boil, skimming froth. Add remaining ingredients and boil, uncovered, 30 minutes.

3.  Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing on and then discarding solids. Boil stock until reduced to about 2 cups.

Make the Fricasee.

1.  Pat the chicken parts dry and lightly season with salt and pepper (about 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.). Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet or saute pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Brown chicken in batches (without crowding), turning once, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer to a plate.

2.  Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet, then cook leeks with 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (omit if using commercial stock unless it’s completely unsalted) and 1/4 teaspoon pepper over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally and scraping up brown bits, until leeks begin to soften, about 5 minutes.

3.  Add wine and bring to a boil. Stir in stock, cream, and Vadouvan. Nestle the chicken, skin sides up, into leeks. (Unless you have a very large skillet, you’ll need to split the dish into two pans at this point.  Any skillet or saute pan will do.) Cover (with a lid, parchment round or foil) and gently simmer for 15 minutes. Remove cover and simmer for about 15 minutes more, or until chicken is tender and cooked through. Transfer chicken to a platter, adjust the seasoning and simmer the sauce to thicken slightly if desired.

This is a great make-ahead dish as it can be made a day in advance, stored in the refrigerator and gently reheated on the stove before serving.  I like to serve it with rice and a fresh green vegetable.  I’ve pictured it above with a deliciously nutty flavored Chinese black rice (available at the remarkable Kalustyans and other specialty food stores), and I think American wild rice and basmati rice would also be nice on the side.  For wine, I think a dry Riesling or Gewurtztraminer pair well.

I’ll start with this:  they’re worth it.  The contrast between the rich, creamy chocolate filling (like the chocolate pudding of your childhood, but better) and the flaky chocolate crust that cradles it is sublime, and the garnish of fruity olive oil and sea salt complements both in deliciously unexpected ways. When I serve them, the table goes silent until they’re gone (except for three year-old Julia who looked up from her plate and said, “Wow, Papa, this is really delicious!”).

But I also have to tell you that they’re kind of a pain in the neck to make.  As you’ll see below, there are lots of steps –melting, mixing, straining, baking, chilling, etc. –to making both the pudding filling and the blind-baked crust.  And the filling needs to cool completely to room temperature and then chill in the fridge for six hours before you can use it, so it’s difficult to make and serve this dessert in the same day.  So save this recipe for when you’re in the mood for a full-on pastry project, and make at least the filling a day or two before.  You won’t be sorry.

Recipe

(Adapted from Chocolate Budino Tartlets with Sea Salt and Olive Oil in A16 Food +Wine by Nate Appleman and Shelley Lindgren.  Serves 12.)

Ingredients

For the filling:

7 ounces (200g) bittersweet chocolate (60-70% cacao), coarsely chopped

1 1/2 ounces (45g) milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk

1/2 cup (120 ml) sugar

five egg yolks

2 cups (475ml) heavy cream

For the tart shells:

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon heavy cream

1 3/4 cups (415ml) all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (120ml) unsweetened cocoa powder

7 ounces (200g) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup (120ml) sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

To garnish:

Extra virgin olive oil and unrefined sea salt

Instructions

For the filling:

1.  Preheat the oven to 300F (150C).

2.  Place a heatproof bowl over a large saucepan containing barely simmering water.  (Make sure that the bowl does not touch the water.)  Put both chocolates in the bowl and leave them to melt.

3.  Warm the milk in a small pot over medium heat just until it begins to simmer.  In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar, and then gradually whisk in the warm milk.

4.  When the chocolate has melted, remove it from the heat and stir it until it’s smooth.  Strain the egg mixture thought a fine-mesh strainer into the melted chocolate and stir until combined.

5.  In a small pot, heat half of the cream over medium heat just until it begins to simmer.  Remove from the heat and gradually stir the warm cream into the chocolate mixture.  Then stir in the remaining cream.

6.  Pour the filling into a small (about 8 inches or 20c) baking pan or dish.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil.  Place the pan in another, larger baking dish and fill half way up the sides of the pan containing the filling with hot tap water.  Carefully transfer to the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the edges appear set, but the middle remains loose and runny.

7.  Remove the dish or pan from the water bath and whisk the filling until smooth.  Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into another shallow dish,  allow to cool completely and then cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, or overnight.  Do not stir the filling as it cools or you will change the texture.  (The filling can be held covered tightly in the fridge for at least 3 days, although watch out for pudding thieves.)

For the tart shells:

1.  In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and cream and set aside.

2.  In another bowl, sift together the flour and cocoa powder and set aside.

3.  In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix on medium speed the butter, sugar, vanilla and salt until creamy and smooth, about 3 minutes.

4.  Stop the mixer, add the flour mixture all at once and then mix on low speed until barely incorporated, about 1 minute.

5.  Drizzle in the yolk mixture and mix briefly.

6.  Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and kneed for a couple of minutes until it comes together completely.  Form it into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or for up to 4 days.

7.  Lightly butter twelve tartlet pans 3 1/2 to 4 inches (9-10c) in diameter and about 3/4 inch (2c) deep.  On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough about 1/8 inch (1/3c) thick and cut out 4-inch (10c) rounds.  (I found that a standard plastic quart or pint storage container makes a perfect cutter.)  Press a round into each pan starting from the center and working your way to the edges; trim away the excess at the rim.  (Tartlet pans with non-stick surfaces and/or removable bottoms are nice to have, but the plain cheap ones work fine here too.)

8.  Preheat the oven to 350F (175C).  Transfer the pans to the freezer for at least 20 minutes before baking (to minimize shrinkage).

9.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until dry and firm to the touch.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely and then gently remove the cooled tart shells from the pans and set aside.  (If you can, make a couple extra — I always seem to break at least one.)

To assemble:

Spoon the filling into each tart shell and smooth with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.  There’s no need to serve immediately, but serve them within, say, three or four hours of assembly for best results.  The shells (in an airtight container) and the filling (in the fridge) keep well for several days, though, so you can get the fiddly work done in advance and/or stage a repeat performance of this extraordinarily delicious sweet.

When it’s time to serve, drizzle each tart with a generous teaspoon of your best, fruity extra-virgin olive oil and then sprinkle with a generous pinch of coarse sea salt.

“Well, it’s big.”  That’s about all David could say about the master bedroom when we first toured our new loft in Chelsea.  In truth, it had other virtues as well:  nice brick walls, large windows that let in lots of light and, if not a true view (a sliver of river to the left and the top third of the Empire State Building to the right), a nice outlook including old warehouse buildings of West Chelsea and lots of sky.

Before

But mostly it was just big.  Too big, in fact, to comfortably furnish as a cozy bedroom, even with a king bed and generous seating area.

And with all that room, it was still short of closet space.  There was one walk-in, but it was smaller than it looked at first, and inefficient.

The room also had the same awkward soffits around the ceiling and Hobbity door heights that afflicted the whole apartment.

The first step was to correct the flaws in the architecture.

The room got the same dark floors as the rest of the apartment.

Then we removed the soffits and rationalized the ductwork and plumbing that they concealed.  After that, we raised the door heights, narrowed the closet opening and moved the opening to the master bathroom from smack in the middle of the room to inside the walk-in closet.

Probably the most dramatic change we made was adding a partition about two-thirds of the way into the room. In front of it we would put the bed, and behind, closets space.  This gave us much needed storage and made the proportions of the sleeping area much more comfortable.

Still, the room was large, and needed a strong focal point.  I worked with the talented and helpful (and patient) folks at Flavor Paper in Brooklyn to create a custom colored version of this bold wallpaper to wrap around the new wall behind the bed.

After

Behind the new wall, we finally have truly enough space to hang our clothes and store our shoes.

The small walk-in closet became a dressing room with plenty of storage for folded clothes, accessories, and a discreet entrance to the master bath on the left.

The sleeping area is smaller than before, but it still feels bright and roomy, even with the king-sized walnut bed we moved from Southampton.

And there’s room for a sitting area to relax with a good book.

I always struggle to choose bed clothes.  So far we’re keeping them clean and simple.

Because most of the time they end up like this.