Pear tart (with a base)

This is my mum's recipe, I tend not to use a base on my tarts, but that was a special request of my friend Lilanthi who tasted the dessert when we visited my parents.
Again, an easy and very French dessert.

Ingredients:
- Shortcrust or puff pastry
- 120g almond powder
- 2 eggs
- 25cl cream
- 100g sugar
- 4 pears

Method:
Precook the pastry in the tart mould till slighly golden.
Mix well eggs, sugar, add the almond powder and the cream.
Cut the pears in slices and arrange them on the pastry.
Pour the mix over the pears Cook at oven 180 degrees for approx 45 minutes

Source: recipe from my mum and photo from me.

Self-saucing chocolate cake

You know how chocolate cakes can be same-same...

Well, I found a very original one, in my favorite cake book: 'Cakes Bakes and desserts triple tested by Australian Women's Weekly'. They generally have recipes you can be confident about, but this one in particular is absolutely brilliant, it contains absolut gems...

Dieters abstain, of course!

It's one of these I had not made yet, and I was wondering about the result, slighly sceptical I suppose.
I reduced the sugar content as I am not a sweet tooth and also to make the dessert easier to remember, and I increased the cocoa coontent:

-60g butter
-125ml milk
-vanilla extract
-5 tblspoon 100% cocoa powder
-5 tblspoon 100% cocoa powder extra
-150g caster sugar
-150g self raising flour
-150g brown sugar
- 500ml boiling water

Grease a small oven dish, and preheat the oven if necessary at 180 degrees.
Melt the butter with the milk in a medium milk pan,
Remove from the heat and mix in the caster sugar and the vanilla extract,
Then add the sifted flour and cocoa.
Pour the mix in the oven dish.
Sift the brown sugar and extra cocoa pwder over the mix.
Pour very gently (you can use a turned up spoon to make the pouring more so) the boiling water over the cake - yes I know this part is weird!
Then cook in the middle of the onen at 180 degrees C for 40 minutes.

Wait 10 min approximately before serving (you don't want to burn your guests'tastebuds, do you?).

I am very pleased with this cake. Apart fromn being a brilliant party trick to finish a meal, it is a doodle to make, and takes no time. I was very impressed with the self saucing effect, and the sauce comes out tasting similar to the french chocolate pots from my youth.

So a big thumbs up for that one, and especially to my favorite book. I have no commission on it, but I do highly recomment getting it :)

Source: recipe, Australian Women's Weekly, Photography, myself.

Exotic summer cake (no baking )

Another dish inspired by mango, because they are very tasty at the moment.

And again, it is an 'on the spur of the moment' cake. It fits the bill as well: easy, very quick to make, and very tasty, refreshing in the summer...

It is based loosely on tiramisu and Charlotte.

You will need:
- 6-7 small brioches each cut in three pieces in the length (slices)
- 1 pot of mascarpone
- 1 ripe sweet mango cut in slices
- 3 heaped tablespoon sugar
- 2 big splashes of cherry alcohool (or another alcohool if you don't have any)
- 1 passion fruit

Lay on the bottom and sides of a medium sized dish the slices of brioche. sprinkle with a dash of the cherry alcohool.
Mix the mascarpone with the sugar, then pour half of it on the brioche as a flat layer.
Lay the mango slices on top as a layer.
Pour the remaining mascarpone on top as a layer again.
Sprinkle the passion fruit pulp evenly on the cake.
Place in the fridge for two hours.

Eat and Enjoy.

Recipe and photography: me

Cherry Bakewell pudding

I have always disliked the Kipling's Bakewell tarts, too sweet, no flavour, and I don't really like the thick icing that tops it. So how did I get to make a Bakewell tart you'll ask?
Well, I saw a brief explanation of what a Bakewell tart was on the 'Economy, Gastronomy' programme on BBC TV (great series by the way...), and I decided to implement the idea (my way of course).

I checked up on the internet and discovered that the name comes from a town called Bakewell in Derbyshire in the Peak District, and [Wikipedia] 'The name is believed to have come from a customer who decided that the tart was "baked well" thus the inn called it their "Bakewell" tart, a pun on the town of Bakewell and a well baked tart. Two shops in Bakewell offer what they both claim is the original recipe pasty :
- The Bakewell Tart Shop & Coffee House sells a "Bakewell Tart", while
- The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop sells a "Bakewell Pudding"'

I also discovered the difference between a Bakewell tart , a Bakewell cake and a Bakewell Pudding which according to Wikipedia is the following:
Bakewell tart: a shortcrust pastry shell, spread with jam and covered with frangipane.
Bakewell Cake: also known as a Cherry Bakewell is a variation of the tart where the frangipane is covered with a top layer of icing and a single half glacé cherry.
Bakewell Pudding: The recipe still used in The Old Original Bakewell Pudding Shop consists of a puff pastry shell with a layer of jam, covered with a filling of eggs, sugar, butter and almonds.

So here is My version of the cake:

INGREDIENTS
- The pastry: I decided to use puff pastry as I think it lighter than shortcrust pastry, also less sweet (I am definitely not a sweet tooth..). I used a ready made one (the best ones are the ones sold as squares in the frozen section, and yes you have to roll it yourself, but it's worth it).
- The frangipane: I used the recipe I am used to making for the French 'Galette des rois' (See my previous post) as I know it to be fluffy, moist and light:

• 150g ground almond
• 75g soften butter
• 80g sugar
• 3 eggs
• a few drops of orange blossom water
  

Mix the butter and the sugar until the mix whitens, then add the beaten eggs and the ground almond, mix well.

-The filling: I used a canned fruit filling, since getting hold of fresh cherries at this time of year and at a reasonable price is not an option here (and jam is way too sweet for me):
This filling is again, not too sweet and tastes nicely of cherries.
- The decoration: icing sugar and a few glace cherries.

RECIPE:
Lay the puff pastry in a tart mould, place in the oven at 180 degrees for 8-10 minutes (less if you use a metal mould as opposed to silicone), in order to pre-cook it (it prevents the pastry to go soggy with the filling.

Spread the filling at the bottom of the mould, then top and cover with the frangipane. cook for 10 min at 200degrees then 10 more minutes at 180degrees approx.

When the pudding has browned, take it out of the oven, sprinkle icing sugar on it and arrange a few glace cherries cut in half.

The texture was absolutely superb, the frangipane was moist with a delicately cracking surface under the tooth. It was not too sweet, and very easy to make, very flavoursome too. The puff pastry made it lighter and added to the texture, softly crackly. Nothing comparable to the awful Kiplings Bakewell tartelettes, and a recipe I will make again and again and again....

Bon Apetit!

Source: Info from Wikipedia articles, photos from myself, and recipe a British traditional favorite interpreted by myself.

Malva Pudding

The other day, I was having lunch with a friend and we orderer the soup of the day which happened to be a South African soup called Sousbountje, a hot and sour soup made with tamarind, mustard seeds and red kidney beans (I migh try to make this one at some stage!).
We both loved the soup and started on that subject. My friend then mentioned a dessert he'd tried in South Africa. He seemed so enthusiatic that I asked him if he knew the name, as I might like to look into it. He said: better, I can get you the recipe! So he sent a text to a friend and tadaaa... In the afternoon he emailed me the recipe.

One day later, I made the recipe...
The quantities were all in strange units, so I had to adapt them which was not too hard.

This recipe serves 2
For the Pudding
- 1/2 coffee cup of sugar
- 1 egg
- 25g butter
- 2 spoons smooth apricot jam (I used Mirabelle plum jam - Mirabelle is a round and yellow type of plum quite common in France and a specialty of the region I come from)
- 1 coffee cup of flour (I used soya flour, which is gluten free) flour
- 1 coffee cup of milk
- 1 tablespoon vinegar( I used white wine vinegar)
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

For the Sauce
- 50g butter
- 1/2 coffee cup sugar
- ½ coffee cup water
- 1 coffee cup cream or milk (I chose the evil option: double cream - I don't regret it!)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Making the Pudding:
1) Mix the sugar, egg, butter and jam together well
2) Add the flour and milk. Mix well
3) Add the bicarb and vinegar and mix again
4) Pour in earthenware, bake at 180°C, covered, until set

Making the Sauce:
1) Melt together the butter, sugar and water
2) Add the cream or milk and bring to the boil
3) Remove from the heat and add the vanilla essence

Once the pudding is baked, remove from the oven and pour the warm sauce over the pudding.

Enjoy as is, or serve with custard or vanilla ice cream.

My verdict? ok, my friend told me how good it was, but I did not expect it to be THAT FORMIDABLY great, not a diet cake for sure, but now ranking sky high in my favorites. It was absolutely delicious, the texture is a bit like a sticky toffee pudding and the taste is, well let me find the word,.. UNEARTHLY!!!!
And it is a doodle to make, so easy!

Yes I will do it again, and no later than wednesday as I have friends over!

Other useful info from wikipedia: 'The pudding's name is derived from Malvacea wine from Madeira. The dessert and dessert wine used to be served together after main course at Cape tables. It is of distinct Cape Dutch origin with many unique additions which my differ from one area to the next eg. ginger, apricot jam. There are also many variants of this dessert namely the Cape Brandy Pudding which also include brandy and dates and the Tipsy Tart which contains only brandy'

Source: Cheryl Labuschagne

Chocolate Birthday cake

Ok the rule is, if you make a Birthday cake, forget diet, and make it as chocolaty as you can.
Beyond that, I found this great recipe that fits the bill for a guy, and is moist, flavorsome, easy, quick to make. Humm yes indeed, this is the perfect cake! So yes how lucky are you, I am sharing the magic Birthday cake recipe with you:

Ingredients:
-200g plain dark chocolate
-125g soften butter -100g sugar
-50g flour (use soya flour for coeliacs)
-3 eggs

In a pan, place the chocolate broken into pieces with a tblspn of water, and a 25g of the butter.Let it melt on low heat.

In a bowl, mix the eggs with the sugar till the mix whitens, add the soften butter, mix well.

Add the flour, mix well, then add the chocolate.

I use silicon moulds now so no buttering and flouring, but do so if you use an old fashion mould. Pour the mix in the mould, place in oven at 150degC for 25-30 minutes.

Let the cake cool down, take it off the mould, decorate it, and there you are, a very successful chocolate cake! Easy no?

Source: www.linternaute.com (I modified the recipe)

Flat French apple tart

Yes. flat. just like that, and why not?

Anyway, down to the serious stuff,you'll need
- to make a french pastry as described in the previous post, use an alternative to butter for vegans, and soy flour for coeliacs
- to core two apples and slice them very very finely
- Granulated Sugar

Flatten the pastry,

dispose the apple slices on top, from the outer to the inner so that it forms a 'rose', sprinkle generously with the sugar because apples end up quite acidic otherwise (however good the apples).

Place in the oven at 200 degreeC for approx 20 minutes

Et voila, une French tart - yes yes flat, yes! -
Too easy really...

Source: Moi moi moi!

Hong Kong Style egg tarts

Egg tart, originally uploaded by Christ tell.

When I go for dim sum, I usually get the egg tarts at the end of the meal, and they come still warm, with this crazy smooth gooey consistency and these gorgeous texture, smell and flavour, brittle puff pastry , aaaaaaah.. They are not too sweet either..I know, I am raving, but hey, they ARE gorgeous.
So I wanted to try them at home. No idea how they are made. Ah. Let's google it. humm, the ones I want to make are those that people take pictures of at the bakeries and restaurants hence no recipe.
On the wiki I could find a recipe for Portuguese egg tarts, but no, not what I want..

You know me, I would nott have stopped at that, so yes I improvised!
And guess what? the result was rather close, I'm very proud of myself.Yes it must be said.

So I prepared a french pastry, and also used puff pastry I bought (never done puff pastry, somehow it clashes with the title of my blog..).

for 6 egg tarts:

French pastry (for the equivalent of one big tart = twelve little tarts):
- 30 to 40g soften butter (no British butter allowed there, please use the French one, they taste very different!)
- 250g flour (Coeliacs use soya flour)
- 1tblsp sugar
- hot water (about an espresso cup worth)

crumble the butter into flour and sugar, when homogeneous, add the water, and work into a smooth ball, but do not knead and work as least as possible: the more you work it the hardest it will come out once cooked.
Cut and place in moulds.

The egg tart filling:
- 1 egg
- soya milk (ahem, no I did not measure, sorry... but think in proportion more than you would use in a quiche)
- vanilla essence, a few drops

Mix and pour in the pastry

Place in oven at 200 degrees for 15 minutes, then watch for the next 5 minutes, I figured from the look of the egg tarts I get at the restaurants that the filling should not cook too much, and the tart should look glazed.

Eat whilst it's hot please!
These egg tarts are still different from the ones I had in the restaurants, despite being close, and after making them I kept looking on the internet.
I fould this recipe(by Easy Recipe) and that one (by My Kitchen Snippet)and the Portuguese ones (by Leite's culinaria) that seemed closest. I will try it another time to see how they compare.
In any case, getting the puff/flaky pastry like I like it is possibly mission impossible...
At first glance it seems a bit more complicated/long. Anyway, if you have a recipe for it, please pretty please tell me!

Verdict: I will make these again, because they were so simple and tasty, and yes, the consistency was great...

Ode to Nutella

Just a mini post to make you hungry, a heart shaped puff pastry with a slap of Nutella on top.

Hungry yet?

Half apple half chocolate tarte

Here's a sweet post for you, sprinkled with little sugar hearts and cinnamon.

Could not be easier, but could be healthier, ok.... It's a yin yang concept, one side is healthy, the other side could give you a heart attack, let your guest choose what suits them!

In a hurry as your guests will arrive in a short time:

For the pastry:
(I have tastier ways to make it, but this recipe is for the last minute emergencies)
250g flour (coeliacs use soya flour)
1 espresso cup vegetable oil (or soften/melted margerine or butter)
1 espresso cup hot water
salt
1 pinch salt

Mix all together as quickly as possible, do not knead it or manipuilate too much or the pastry will come out too hard, the dough should not be elastic.
spread the dough and lay it in a tart mould.

For the Chocolate topping
25g butter
200g dark chocolate
a dollop of nutella (optional)
a small dollop of double cream

Melt the butter with chocolate, stirr well and add cream at the end.

For the apple side:
4 apples (steam them for 10 min if you can whilst you prepare the pastry)
1 pinch cinammon
a sachet of vanilla sugar
a sprinkle of sugar hearts

Assembly:
In the tart pastry, arrange the apples cut in thin quarters in half the tart making a dam in the middle as a future barrage for the chocolate sauce - you can make it look like a yin yang, but if you are in a hurry it won't happen, will it..! -, sprinkle with the vanilla sugar, the cinnamon and the sugar hearts.
Then pour the chocolate on the other half, and
Place in the oven for 15-20 min at 200degC (a bit less if you steamed the apples)Et voila!
A fun and fast chocolate and apple tart, and believe me, there can't be anyone who does not like one or the other!!

Vegans, skip cream and butter and use alternative (soya?) it should do the trick easy

Source: me

Crepes (French pancakes)

It is getting cold here and it's around the corner from Mardis Gras and shrove Tuesday, so nothing better than lovely crepes to warm up and feel better about it!

I tend to eat savoury crepes more than sweet ones, but the great thing about it is that the possibilities are infinite!

I love my crepes very very thin, and I have for that a large cast aluminium pan that is absolutely perfect for that. I haven't really got good pictures yet, as crepes are veeery difficult to take pictures off, they tend to disappear very quickly indeed! So I will have to make them for my camera and nobody else!

Crepes are easy in theory, but experience makes them perfect I'm afraid. i have tried to share some of mine in this article...

For 12 crepes

- 125g flour (1/8 of a kilo, really...)
- 25g butter (the president or a good french butter one gives the best results tastewise), melted
- 2 eggs
- 30dl milk (half a pint)
- water to adjust the consistency (must be very fluid but sticky) try one crepe, adjust.

It is advised to leave the dough to rest for 1 hour, but I tend not to as it's always a last minute decision to cook crepes.. And to be honest, it does not make a huge difference.

Pour the flour in a recipient, make a well, pour in the beaten eggs, mix well to avoid lumps, add the molten butter and then the milk little by little. adjust with water (quite a lot required actually... but you'll see that)

Use a very hot pan at first. you should not need to grease the pan after the first crepe. And in france, we always say that the first crepe is for the dog (I don't think cats like them!). You will need a flat and large spatula, to flip the crepe if you don't master the hand flipping yet. You will know when to flip the crepe when the rim of the crepe becomes cooked and a bit brittle, and stops sticking to the pan. Flip the crepes, and wait for the other side to be cooked, all this is a natter of minutes only...

Remember that if the dough is too thin and the crepes are breaking, adding an egg will bring some elasticity back.

Now the toppings: If you prepare the crepes before your guests arrive, you need to have a large plate ready with a foil cover. Slip the crepes on the plate and make sure you cover it with the foil straight after. And if you need to reheat them for the toppings, make sure they are undercooked.

I must apologise for the terrible unique photo, it's an old one taken with a 2Mp camera. As soon as I have some proper shots, I shall make a swap.....When I will post the photos, I'll make sure to take a picture of all the folding options too...

Shopping list for savoury toppings:
- Cooked Mushroom - Roquefort
- Ham - Bacon - Grated Emmental
- Fresh chive - walnuts - Philadelphia
- Cooked Chicken - cooked Zucchinis- Fresh ginger
- Fresh Tomato - Feta - lettuce
- Crème Fraiche or lighter: greek yoghurt
- ...
I tend to love mine with ham and gratted cheese preferably gruyere (place the ingredients on the flip side of the crepe, so that that are hot too), a few leaves of lettuce, a small dollop of greek yoghurt, and very important, fresh chives! Forget the salt as the cheese is plenty salty already.

Shopping list for sweet toppings:

- Sugar - Lemon/lime - Fresh ginger
- Chantilly - Nutella - melted chocolate - Warm pear in syrup
- Maple syrup - Apple compote - fruit coulis - Lemon grass
- Cocoa Powder - Thinly cut Crystallised ginger/citrus zest
- Jam (quince, raspberry, blueberry) - Fresh chillies
- Bananas - Raspberries, other berries...
- ...

A french classic is lemon juice and sugar, or just sugar...And for the drink, French cider of course!

Other random tips you can apply to your liking:
- you can beat the egg whites, it makes interesting light crepes
- 1 pinch of bicarbonate of soda added will help digestion
- instead of adding m y ca aromatised water: Boil about 1l of water with the peel, or slices of lemon and oranges (preferably organic) and use cold. - add a bit of cointreau or orange blossom water
- you can replace 1/2 the milk by the same quantity of beer

Source: initially my mum, then my mad wanderings and experimentations... to end up with the ultimate crepe, inclusive of years of regular crepe experience!

Light Waffles

Waffles are a great treat on a par with crepes, and I decided to make some for the visit of a friend who loves sweet treets.
They are easy to make, but you need the waffle machine I'm afraid... However, the machine is convertible as a grill or croque monsieur maker, so it's worth having it.

Waffles are easy and quick to make, and these are lighter than normal ones as the milk is replaced by beer - yes beer!-. The beer is incredibly discreet, but it makes the waffles lighter and fluffier.

Here's my recipe for 4 people:
- 500g flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 50g powdered sugar
-1/2l water
- 3 eggs
- 100g butter, melted
- 1/2 beer or cider (or milk if you want to go traditional)

Mix flour, sugar, salt and make a well, pour in the middle the eggs yolks beaten and the water and start mixing with a fork, slowly eroding the well.
When mixed, add the butter and mix thoroughly for 10 minutes until the mix is smooth. the mix should be a bit elastic and slightly liquid.
Then add the beer and mix well, Incorporate the beaten whites. The mix should be rather liquid
Preferably leave for about 2 hours, but if you don't have the time ahead, just make the waffles directly.

Making the waffle:
Pour a small laddle in the waffle machine already heated up, close the upper part of the machine press well for 10 sec then turn the machine around, leave for 2 min, turn around again, and wait for2 minutes (Obviously the time will depend on your machine, read the manual if in doubt). Open and detach the waffel (it should be very easy, if not, grease the mould in the machine with a brush.
Repeat for each set of waffles!
It is traditional to powder the waffles with icing sugar, and top it up with chantilly crea (or whipped cream). Beyond that, everything is allowed, melted chocolate, jam, babana slices, ice cream, etc...

Bon apetit!

Galette des rois (Kings cake)

On the 6th January, Epiphany day, the Northern French prepare the "galette des rois", a frangipani core encased in puff pastry. This cake is only baked around that date and is eagerly waited for. In the frangipani is hidden a 'feve', a trinket in the shape of a little ceramic figure (originally it was a coin or a bean). In Britain where people are a bit too safety conscious, I use a whole almond.

The person who finds the trinket is crowned a king with a golden paper crown these days! Epiphany day has its roots in the pagan world that predates the biblical changes. Local customs vary in the different European regions.

A lot of French people now buy it from the baker, but it tastes best homemade, and it is so easy that it's worth the bother.

Ingredients 
- 2 sheets ready rolled of puff pastry for the laziest, or a ready-made frozen slab for the more courageous or even for the bravest, homemade puff pastry. Buy  gluten free puff pasty - it is now readily available in supermarkets (in the UK anyway)
- 140g ground almond 
- 100g soften butter 
- 100g sugar 
- 2 eggs + 1 white
- 1 yolk  + a spoon of milk for the eggwash

- 1tspn orange blossom water (or rum) (+ 2 drops of vanilla extract optional)

- 1 whole almond (or a trinket if you have one)

Mix the butter and the sugar until the mix whitens, then add the beaten eggs and the ground almond, orange blossom water, mix well.

In the middle of the first sheet of puff pastry, pour the mix. Lay the second sheet on top, and roll the sides of the sheets together towards the inside to seal the galette.

With a knife, draw diagonal lines in both direction (so that they cross each other) to create the pattern. Then with a brush, spread the yolk on the whole cake to give it a golden colour.

Put in an over for 30 minutes at 200 degrees Serve hot, but it is excellent cold too. Maybe you will find the trinket and be the king, like I was today!....

Variation on the Charlotte theme

I have been eating lots of pomegranates, and I have been using it too cook as well. This came naturally to mind as I use raspberries for this charlotte, usually. Instead, I peeled 1 pomegranate (you can buy the seed ready but you've been warned, it's not cheap and possibly not as fresh..), half crushed the seeds, added a little bit of sugar (to taste) and used it instead of the raspberries in a can.

To peel the pomegranate efficiently, chopp the top and the bottom, and cut lines through the skin with your knife from the cut top to the cut bottom at the places where you see the white line of the separation membranes. Separate the quarters created, and peeling the seeds off will be a child's play!

Also, instead of using the sponge fingers, I used the 4 trifle sponge bits remaining from when I last made tiramisu for 2. They make nice portions if you use 2 per persons, and they present really well.
- Dip a trifle sponge like you'd do for my normal charlotte and place it in the desert plate sugar face up
- add on top a layer of total yoghurt beaten with a little bit of sugar (not much) and the juice produced when you crushed the pomegranate.
- add the pomegranate crushed

Then repeat the operation so that you get a double decker. Prepare one per guest.

Keep in the fridge for at least an hour, the longer the better the results. For the decoration (see main picture on the right), I used one of these glazed german little Christmas marzipan stars that I bought ready made, but intend to make myself one day.

It goes down a treat and looks fantastic! (and you hardly spent any time or efforts on it!)
Source: my improvisation

Raspberry mess

Dispose some meringues in a plate, open a can of raspberries, pour the liquid in a glass, then cover the meringues with raspberries, pour single cream on top, sprinkle with roasted almond flakes and a few slices of lemongrass. Could not be easier.
Et voila!

Meringues

I seem to be into making sweet things these days, even though I do not have a sweet tooth. This time, I have tried myself at meringue, to use the egg whites from the tiramisu (although the whipped whites can also be incorporated in the mascarpone).

This recipe works every time, all you need a bit of patience, really...

PREPARATION TIME: 5 min
COOKING TIME: 2 to 10 hours
INGREDIENTS:
- egg whites
- 80g of sugar per egg white
optional:
- a bit of salt
- a few drops of lemon juice

PREPARATION:
Pre-heat the oven at 100-110^oC
Add the lemon&salt to the egg whites and beat a little with a fork.
Whip the egg white until very firm.
Slowly add up the sugar whilst still whipping until the mix becomes very white and very shiny.
Keep adding the sugar whilst you keep whipping.

Lay some baking paper in the oven and deposit quantities of the mix - the quantity depends of the size of meringues you want to end up with).

Cook for 2 hours at 100-110^oC then 2h at 90^oC.

If you want the meringues to be hard to the core, cook them at 90^oC for up to 10 hours.

SERVING:
If you want to serve these as a dessert, create them so that the centre is concave, and when you serve them, fill the centre with raspberries (tinned raspberries are fine, you can use the juice too) and cover with single cream.

TIPS:
- Cook the meringues immediately, do not make the mix wait. - egg whites can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days, or longer (4 months) if in the freezer. Strangely enough, the older the egg whites, the better the meringues. - the egg whites must be at ambiant temperature when you whip them up - You can add almond flakes on the meringues, or cocoa, pine nuts. coconut powder, hazelnet powder... or you can also add some taste, like coffee, vanilla, orange blossom, liquor... - If you want your meringues to be super shiny, srinkle them with ice sugar before cooking them - If your meringues stick on the paper, you need to evacuate some humidity by leaving your oven door slightly open - If the over is too hot, the meringues will change colour (well, personally, I do like a bit of colour)
Source: my experimentation

Tiramisu: Fast 'slow food'

Here's a great dessert, and so easy to make too..I got the recipe from a friend who's boyfriend was an Italian chef... and I reproduced it many times, it's so yummy!

For 2 hungry people
PREPARATION: 10 minutes maximum

INGREDIENTS:
- 1 pot of mascarpone
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 teaspoon of sugar (the sponge fingers will bring the sweetness)
- 1 packet sponge fingers (for the small version on the photo I used trifle sponge):
- 100% cocoa powder (very important, do not use the odd cocoa powder: although you won't need much, the flavour will be very important)
- 1 espresso or strong coffee (but fresh, it wont be as good with granules coffee)
- Amaretto (or other alcohol that agrees with coffee and mascarpone)

MAKING IT:
Mix well the mascarpone with the yolk, put aside.

In a shallow dish, put the espresso, a small dash of Amarett, and top up with water (it should not be too strong)

Dip one by one the sponge fingers in the espresso mix (quickly enough so that they are not soaked), and dispose them neatly and tightly one by one in the final dish to cover an area with half the packet (a bit less) of sponge fingers.

Cover this first layer with half the mascarpone, then cover again with the rest of the sponge fingers, then another layer of mascarpone.

Sprinkle the whole with cocoa powder to cover with a thin layer.

Keep in the fridge for a few hours, it gets better with time.

TIPS :
And remember: the simpler, the better. You might be tempted to add a few things: like vanilla flavour, etc… but try it like that first, you'll realise quickly adding more ingredients won't make it better.

Also, no sugar is required in the mascarpone because the sponge fingers arre already sweet enough...

Et voila!

Source: a friend who's boyfriend was an Italian chef taught me a few years ago

Tiramisu Christmas log: Buche de Noel au tiramisu

The log is a very traditional french Christmas dessert. A lot people buy it nowadays, and it used to be made traditionally with butter cream, which although very tasty, is not the lightest of dessert after a meal.
These days there are many variations to be bought, based on other cakes, or totally new creations. French patisseries have gorgeous logs for sale, but I do tend to like a good homemade log.

And I have a very simple and rather fast recipe for you, a tiramisu log. A great success in the family. It was born from teamwork with my mum, she provided the rolled biscuit recipe, and I provided my tiramisu recipe, that I learnt from a Turkish friend, who herself obtained it from her italian boyfriend who was a cook.

...Anyway, it's very easy, and very tasty!

For the rolled biscuit you need:
- 4 yolks
- 4 egg whites
- 75g+1tsp cassonade (raw, unrefined sugar, with a 'blond' colour)
- 50g butter
- 25g sugar
- 75g flour

Beat the yolks with the cassonnade until the mix is white and creamy. Add the flour and mix well.

Beat the egg whites

Add the melted butter to the mix, and incorporate the white delicately.

Place cooking paper on the oven plaque, with the sides covered. Mark the corners with your thumbs. Pour the mix in, make sure the corners are filled. Cook between 12 and 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 degrees centigrade (thermostat 4).

Take the biscuit out when it has raised and is slightly golden and still supple. cover it with a moist cloth. Let it cool down a little. Remove the cloth.

Sprinkle cassonnade on a large baking paper sheet and turn the biscuit over it quickly. Humidify the baking paper the biscuit cooked on, and separate it from the biscuit slowly and delicately. use a round patisserie knife if you need to.

Now, whilst the biscuit was cooking, you prepared the filling:
- 2 tubs of mascarpone
- 2 tblspn of sugar
- 100% cocoa powder
- 1 fresh espresso
- water
- a swig of Amaretto (or else if you don't have this alcohol)

Mix the mascarpone with the sugar
in a shallow dish, mix espresso, alcohol and water down. Sprinkle on the biscuit evenly to avoid making it soggy, or it would make it too fragile for the next phase.

Spread 2/3 of the mascarpone the biscuit, and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Then proceed to roll the biscuit delicately:


To make as if it was the stump of a cut branch you can cut the end of the log and place it on top for decoration, so that it looks like a real log. I am generally not too fussed about details like that, as it means wasting a bit of this precious time I so lack. And anyway, the eaters don't care very much, they are already very happy with it as it is. But it is up to you indeed and how much you want to impress your guests!

When it is rolled, cover the log with the rest of the mascarpone and make marks with a fork.

Then sprinkle it with the cocoa powder so:
Keep it in the fridge for 1 hour or more before eating! Done

Bon appetit!

Christmas in the south of France...

Source: my mother and I, as a creative and happy team