Florentine Lace with Fruit

Barbary Coast and pirates. Or something Renaissance , perhaps a medici treat? I don't know, but I keep hearing those echos when I look at this and when I was painting it. I also thought of Portugal but I don't know why. The Moors? Am I channeling a long forgotten art in the dark class? Mostly I am reminded of a long ago bakery on Magazine Street that made the best Florentine Lace cookies ever. Golden crisp and chewy too. My brush just slurped up the paint for this one. The fruit was glazed and succulent. Inside there is a huge dollop of fresh whipped cream and underneath in the bowl is deep chocolate that seeps out of the lace. It was taste treat after taste treat. The fruit was at its prime, bountiful.I would love to play in the shadows again with this. Maybe there's the pirate connection- naughty, hidden surprises, slightly decadent, gold doubloons and lace, and not the usual fare. Argh.