To keep the surprise, the plan was 1) buy the groceries on Saturday and hide the champagne, 2) to go to Yasmeen's on Saturday to prepare all the desserts and 3) to send Mommy & Daddy to the Galleria while we cooked. Even though mommy didn't suspect a thing, she was everywhere she shouldn't have been ;).
A few hours before we went to Pearland, Tina and I made the Rugelah dough because it needs 4 hours in the fridge. We forgot the dough at home and had to remake it at Yasmeen's. I guess we're only waiting for 2 hours on this batch. It wouldn't be a big deal, but we were racing the clock. Mommy and Daddy were coming over, so we had to hurry and hide all traces of the dessert.
While everyone was working on the chocolate-dipped oranges, I busied myself with the Tart au Chocolat from Dulce Delight. It had been on my blog's Possibilities page. I was anticipating it anxiously... maybe too anxiously. I kept making little booboos instead of reading the recipe all the way through. The base was almond brittle and Nutella. Instead of waiting for the brittle to harden and then mix with nutella, I mixed the nutella into the caramel mix. The filling was 70% cocao, heavy cream and 2 eggs. Instead of tempering the eggs with the hot heavy cream, I threw everything in together. In fear of making a chocolate omelette, I stirred frantically. It seized. Out of continued panic, I gave up. Tina came to the rescue and reminded me of the time that I fixed her ganache with more cream. it did the trick and somehow the tart was perfect and beautiful.
Moral of the story: Maybe desserts aren't as tricky as they seem.
Somehow, we made it with time to spare. Then what happens... Tina posts a photo on Instagram & Facebook of our cute little chocolate-dipped oranges. The first thing mommy says as she walks through the door is, "Where are the little oranges?" *Mean eyes to Tina* Luckily, Tante Hala covered for us.
Who like surprises anyways?
At Home
With the Charafeddine's and Tina
