A cycle that repeats.  Healthy, healthy, healthy all week long then BAM the most indulgent of treats to celebrate the weekend! Like these pear frangipane tarts topped with salted caramel sauce & earl grey ice cream I made two weekends ago. Supple pear slices atop a moist and nutty frangipane filling baked inside a crunchy tart. That's an impressive dessert right there.  But why stop there?  For an off-the-Richter impressive dessert, top it with salted caramel-y love and homemade Earl Grey ice cream because what pie or tart didn't get 1000x better with the a-la-mode treatment?  None, that's what.  

Today is the last day of August.  The hazy warm days of summer are still with us but there is no denying the trend of shorter days, fading summer blooms and a mounting dread of what is to come.

Winter is coming.  Pleck.

The only solace is the few months of Autumnal pleasures we get to enjoy before that, like pumpkin spice everything, over-the-knee suede boots, crisp cool days and good-bye to the summer bedtime debate with the children why they have to go to bed before Mr. Sun does.

This recipe was loosely inspired by a popular beverage served in Hong Kong cafes which combines HK-style milk tea (strong brewed black Ceylon tea + evaporated or condensed milk) with a smaller amount of strong black coffee. It is called 'yuan yang' in Chinese - the name, a nod to the Chinese philosophy of balance & harmony or 'Yin Yang' i.e. the bitterness of coffee balances the creamy roundedness of the milk tea.