Chocolate-Hazelnut Tart

This is another Giada recipe. She cut this into squares instead of wedges and served them for tea. Sarah ate it with milk and thought it was very similar to the pecan pie bars that I make at Christmas.

1/s cup sugar

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

3 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups peeled, chopped and toasted hazelnuts

8 oz. semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips (about 1 cup)

1 cup corn syrup

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 tsp. vanilla extra

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pie-crust to fit 8-inch pie place

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

2. In a large bowl mix together the sugar and the flour. Add eggs, hazelnuts, chocolate chips, corn syrup, butter, vanilla and salt. Stir well.

3. Pour the mixture into the pie crust. Bake for 1 hour.

4. The tart has to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

Note: I used a mixture of light and dark corn syrup.

Lemon Coffee Cake

If you like lemon, you will love this coffee cake. The last time I made this, I actually served it as a dessert during National Library Week. I cut it into finger sized servings, dusted some powdered sugar, placed the pieces on a cake stand and it was good enough for dessert.

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 can (15 3/4 oz) lemon pie filling

1. In a mixing bowl, combine sugar and oil and mix well.

2. Add eggs, one at a time and beat until light and lemon-colored.

3. Combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add to the egg mixture and mix well.

4. Pour half of mixture into a greased 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Drop spoonfuls of pie filling over batter and gently smooth out. Top with remaining batter -- I use a teaspoon and spread teaspoonfuls of the batter over the lemon pie filling.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until a beautiful golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

6. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.