French Coconut Pie with Dark Chocolate Sauce

 

I've been wanting to dedicate a post to Paris for a while now, but just never got around to it. I didn't know what to make, since most of what I ate when I was there was cheese and fruit and more cheese. Then finally it dawned on me: the first night we were there we ate at Le Café du Marché near the Eiffel Tower, and although our dinner was rich and kind of "meh", we split the most delicious coconut pie with the darkest, blackest chocolate sauce I'd ever tasted.

My friend (and then roommate) Christina and I went on a little trip to Paris in September 2011 to celebrate finishing our theses and finally being done with school. As soon as we stepped off the train, I immediately understood what all the fuss was about. Paris is magical. I was swept off my feet.

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Sour Cherry & Almond Tarts

Once I get the first whiff of spring, I immediately want to do the following, all day every day: 1) stroll along Whyte Ave, coffee in hand; 2) sit on a patio, any patio, and get day-tipsy; and 3) go to the farmers' market, namely the Old Strathcona Farmers Market. The Strathcona market is great because it's indoors, so even if you have premature spring fever and it's still -10 degrees outside, you can get that lovely market experience without freezing your buns off. 

We went to the Strathcona market a few weeks ago, and it was packed with equally eager market-goers. Among the goodies I picked up was a bag of frozen sour cherries from Rainbow Acres farm. I can never find cherries in the grocery store that aren't candied or swimming in sugar, so this was exciting. Real cherries are such a rare treat. Plus these were already pitted! Since then I've browsed what feels like hundreds of cherry recipes, until I finally landed on this cherry almond tart from the Joy of Baking. It was a tough decision, but someone had to make it. 

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