So remember how I said I would not only post my success on here but also my failures? Well I’ve had a couple of those lately, both involving grapefruit.

I’ve been a bit obsessed with grapefruit lately. As a kid I remember finishing Saturday and Sunday meals with a half of a grapefruit sprinkled with sugar. These days the amount of sugar is less and I eat them whenever I feel like it.

I decided I wanted to translate them into a sweet and tried two variations.

The first was a beautiful grapefruit tart, topped with vanilla bean whipped cream. The tarts were actually very good, just not quite what I was going for. I made grapefruit curd to fill these tarts. I think what I was picturing in my head was more of a grapefruit pastry cream. I was more impressed with the lightly sweetened speckled with vanilla seeds, whipped cream. I ate it by the spoonful.

The next failure came in the form of candy. Pâté du fruit to be exact. Or for those of us only wishing we lived in France, jelly candies. I followed a simple recipe I found online, knowing candy is more scientific and not wanting to wing it. What I ended up with we’re gorgeous looking little fruit gems. The taste was perfect too. The consistency however, was not. They didn’t get as firm as they should. A good jelly candy should show teeth marks when you bite into it. These seemed to turn to liquid upon hitting your mouth which for me was a somewhat unpleasant tactile sensation. I’m guessing it was the fact that the recipe didn’t call for using a candy thermometer to ensure you heat to the proper temperature. I will be attempting jellies again, this time with a more husband friendly flavor and using the recipe from my beloved French Laundry cookbook. I’m fairly certain they will turn out the way I want.

So I had some flubs. I still had fun making them, and really as far as kitchen failures go, these were pretty minor. They still tasted good, they just didn’t live up to my high standard of perfection.

I’ll let you know when I perfect them.