row, row, row your boat

The benevolence of food bloggers continues to astound me.


After I commented on the uniqueness of her cute tart tins, the glorious Nic of the spectacular blog Cherrapeno promptly and generously offered to send me some! From England!

Once they arrived, I set to work immediately, and even though I’ve not used miniature tart tins very often, I was excited to try. I made the same sweet dough recipe that Nic used and filled my little tartlets with some cinnamon-spiced vanilla pudding (my first made-from-scratch batch!). To top 'em off, I nestled straight-from-the-freezer raspberries decoratively into the fluffy stuff.


You can still see the ice crystals! Don't fret, dears--they thawed in no time.

These creamy canoes were quite tasty, and I owe it all to Nic. Thanks again--it's great to have a friend across the pond!

Spiced Vanilla Pudding
(based on this recipe)

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter

Combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. Heat milk in a saucepan over medium heat until bubbles form at edges. Pour dry ingredients into the hot milk a little at a time, stirring to dissolve. Continue to cook and stir until mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Do not boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and butter. Pour into serving vessels and chill before serving.