Sweet Singles: Cookies, cakes, tarts and other delicacies for the solo cook
Why Sweet Singles? I love to cook. I have a sweet tooth. I want reasonable portions (not really, but when it comes to sweets I can’t eat just one . . .), but every dessert recipe I own makes enough for the neighborhood. One solution is to overload my freezer with leftover cookies and cakes, but they tend to grow permafrost before I get around to eating all of them. And not everything freezes well. What about desserts that have a twenty-four hour shelf life? Do I make a souffle or mousse for six, eat one serving and throw the rest out, hearing ca-ching! each time expensive ingredients hit the trash can? And if I make a pie that serves eight, even if it doesn’t get stale or start growing an alien population around the edges before I can finish it, is that the only thing I want to eat all week?
With some recipes, even a second grader can do the math to halve or quarter a simple cookie recipe so that you end up with five or six buttery sugar cookies to nibble over the next two days instead of forty-eight. But key lime tarts, bombes, crème brulee, bread pudding, deep dish apple pie? I decided I don’t have to invite six friends for dinner as an excuse to make a new coconut cake recipe, or resign myself to a lifetime of store bought goodies because I cook for one, when I have a passion for making delectable desserts. I am going to turn my favorite sweet treats into singular creations. I run with the herd when it comes to using fresh, organic and unprocessed, unadulterated ingredients. But I have learned a few things in my career creating heart-healthy recipes and I’m not above using an occasional Egg Beater assist when I need to halve an egg for a mocha cheesecake for one. I use my noggin when it comes to Sweet Singles as well as my freezer. For instance, it makes sense to prepare a standard batch of pastry dough, then freeze what you don’t need, instead of getting out the slide rule to come up with the coordinates for a coaster size flakey pie crust.
Join me in indulging in Sweet Singles as I toss out the Oreos and reawaken my taste buds with freshly baked brownies, fruit tarts, and cobblers.
