“Now my life is sweet like cinnamon… I finally found you,” Lana Del Ray croons on her latest track Radio. The scintillating pop-tart’s lyric simultaneously sets my heart a-flutter and inspires an intense hankering for cinnamon.
I first heard the song while making an impromptu lunch for my mom. Mom is in the midst of an overwhelming renovation, and I wanted to surprise her with a leisurely homemade lunch. Under the guise of needing tax forms that were mistakenly mailed to my family home, I convinced her to come to San Francisco. I ran to the grocery store to pick up what I needed to make roast lemon chicken with croutons, butter lettuce salad with French vinaigrette, and a butternut squash bisque. Mom is an ardent chocolate devotee, so I grabbed her favorite cocoa nib gelato for dessert.
Back at home, I raced to get the chicken in the oven as it takes almost two hours to roast. With the task completed, I prepared the bisque and made the vinaigrette. Everything was on schedule. A rarity in my world.
Then Lana Del Ray happened. I loved the song so much that I put it on repeat. As the beautiful sun-drenched morning fell victim to San Francisco’s infamous inclement weather, my cinnamon hankering grew. I started perusing cookbooks, and came upon a delicious cinnamon apple pie that looked like the perfect antidote to my craving! I had to have it.
Apple pie is imbued with certain qualities that have stood the test of time, but executing the dessert is not something that happens last minute. I searched my kitchen for ingredients to make something similar. Shockingly, I had everything that I needed to make Barefoot Contessa’s French Apple Tart. Though her recipe doesn’t call for cinnamon, it was easy to add.
Within thirty minutes, the tart was in the oven. Just in time for my mother’s arrival. While we devoured our lunch and chatted about the remodel, the scent of apples bathing in caramelized sugar and brown butter teased us. We were so impatient waiting to taste it that we almost skipped the apricot bourbon glaze that tops the tart post-bake.
Thank goodness we didn’t, because the completed tart was worth the wait. Though Miss Del Ray surely wasn’t referring to French Apple Tart when she penned Radio, I’m thrilled that I interpreted it that way. xx tt
FINISHING TOUCHES…
t+tTIP: While we’re on the topic of apples, you won’t regret getting your hands on the iconic company’s latest invention - the iPad mini. According to insiders, the revolutionary tablet is the coolest thing since sliced bread. Or apples, as it may be.