Cake Aux Fruits Confits

Allright, it's a fruit cake. Hold on before you run away! This one is far away from the mass produced and displayed ones you see on grocery store shelves or given to you by your dear Auntie and that you try to pass on to your not-so-dear neighbor. This one is good, light and airy, buttery, soft and studded with only a reasonable amount of candied fruits. They always made me think of little gems and I have loved them since I had whole candied fruits and traditional Provencal Epiphany cake where I grew up in Provence.

When I moved to the US, I brought along with me a little black notebook filled with recipes that both my mother and grandmother would make on a regular basis as well as some of my favorite cake recipes, including this one. I forgot about it for a while because I quickly discovered pumpkin, sweet potatoes and pecan pies, cornbread and biscuits. As the holidays approached I grew a little homesick and I became really excited when I found fruit cake at the grocery store. I bought one, and decided to have a couple of slices with my afternoon tea. I got anxious upon cutting it, kinda dense.... when I put the slices on my plate it was a big disappointment: where was the cake? All I could see was a big mass of candied fruits and nuts barely needing cake batter. I made it my mission to make the one I used to have at home.

I made three that first time, one for roomie and me, one for the two guys downstairs and one for Isabel. It took a little convincing but they tried it and loved it! When B. and I spent our first Christmas together, I then used womanly persuasion and he agreed to try it, he liked it so much that now he calls me from the grocery store as soon as he sees candied fruit on the shelf. I have already made 3 this week and the neighbors want more. Even if you think you don't like fruit cake, I think it is worth a try. My sister in law can't stand it so we make it with almonds instead, I guess the batter is really good on it own.

I believe my mother got the recipe from a magazine many moons ago claiming that it came from the Lenotre Patisserie. I cannot validate this statement but I would not be surprised if it did as all their confections and desserts are scrumptious.

Candied Fruit Cake, adapted from Lenotre:

4 oz. butter
4 oz. powdered sugar
3 eggs
5 1/2 oz. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup rum
8 oz. candied fruits

Soak the fruits in the rum while you prepare the batter. Cream butter and powdered sugar together. Add the eggs one at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Add the flour and baking powder. Drain the fruits and add to the batter with 2 Tb. of the rum. Pour into a loaf and
bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes. The top will get brown quick so make sure the cake is dry in the middle (insert knife) before you remove it from the oven.

Cake Aux Fruits Confits, adapte de chez Lenotre:

120 gr. beurre
120 gr. sucre glace
3 oeufs
165 gr. farine
10 gr. levure
4 c.s rum
240 gr. fruits confits

Faire tremper les fruits avec le rum pendant la preparation du cake.
Reduire le beurre en pommade avec le sucre glace. Incorporer les oeufs un a un, en melangeant bien apres chaque addition. Ajouter la farine et la levure. Egoutter les fruits confits, les ajouter a la preparation avec 2 cs. du rum. Mettre dans un moule a cake et faire cuire a 180 C pendant 20 a 30 minutes.

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Chocolate and Praline Tart

This tart was really a spur of the moment "what is in the fridge" kind of dessert. As I mentionned the other day, we never really don't know how our saturday gatherings with the neighbors are going to be like or if we'll have one altogether (holidays, weather, ...) Around 4pm, I got a call from the bachelor next door asking me if I had a good recipe for clam chowder. I looked around at all my cookbooks and realized with a good laugh that 99% of them were baking/dessert related ! I have a couple of French cooking "bibles" and a collection of southern recipes in case B. wants gumbo and biscuits... you get the point... the neighbor was ringing the wrong person. I did not want to shatter his image of me being a great chef (hm, hm) so I quickly went online and found one that sounded fairly easy for him to make. That's when the inevitable question followed: what was I going to bring to the party?

I had made a Banana Poundcake from Dorie Greenspan's latest book but I wanted to keep that more for breakfast or snacks. Dang! Quick come up with something that has time to bake and cool! As I said previously, sometimes leftovers are a good thing: I remembered I had a batch of tart dough in the freezer and leftover ganache from the macarons. A chocolate tart! I added 1/2 cup of crushed up pecan pralines (nut toffee of any knid would work too) to the ganache and there it was, dessert, on the fly.

Chocolate Praline Tart:

One recipe "pate sucree":
In a food processor, combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 stick of butter, pulse until it ressembles coarse meal, add 1 egg yolk and pulse until combined into a ball. I flattened it into a disk in between sheets of plastic wrap, refrigerated it and rolled it out to cut rounds big enough to fit into my mini tart pans. The dough gets soft very fast so you can flour your fingertips to push it up and down the sides and bottoms of the pan. Cover with parchment paper, add pie weights (I use dry beans) and blind bake at 350 degrees until the crust is completely baked through. Let cool.

One recipe chocolate ganache:
In a saucepan, heat 1 cup of heavy cream to scalding point, remove from heat and add 1 1/2 cups good quality chocolate. Let stand 2 minutes and slowly stir until well incorporated. Add 1/2 cup of crushed up praline or toffee. Pour the ganache in the tart shell, let cool 15 minutes and refrigerate until the ganache is completely firm.

I have a tendency to cut small slices because it is almost like eating a big truffle, nothing wrong with that I know. It is easy to put together even if you don't have all the ingredients beforehand, and it goes real well with a nice cup of coffee.

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Key Lime Squares

You must be in the same situation I am: you read blogs everyday, your mouth waters at gorgeous pictures and great recipes. You copy them, you print them and your collection keeps on growing. I have binders full of recipes I see on blogs and it ususally takes me longer than a few days to get around one of them, but these were the exception. When I saw the original recipe on Mary's blog, I knew I had to make them almost immediately. I love anything lime or lemon as much as I love chocolate.

I made them last week, early saturday afternoon, you know, in case of a snack attack, and I had no idea that they would part of our weekly saturday neighborhood gathering. You probably think we live on Wysteria lane the way I talk about my block, but take away some of the drama and you are not far from the truth. There are bachelors and young couiples, plenty of kids, cats and dogs. It is a fun and crazy mix. The doors are wide open, the kitchens shared and ingredients travel from one pantry to the other. No phone required, just step out on the balcony.
Around 4pm, there is an oyster roast or a clam chowder in the making, ribs and vegetables on the grill, finger foods being set out as well as am assortment of drinks to be passed around.
Around 6pm, the kids gather under my balcony and want to know what is for dessert. Tonight it was something chocolate but last week it was Key Lime Squares.

I altered Mary's recipe a little and the bars still came ou perfect. For starters, I did not have Meyer lemons but a big supply of Key lime. I also baked the crust in a bigger pan and tripled the filling quantities. These bars or squares are close to perfection. The filling has that perfect balance of tartness and sweetness. The crust is buttery but never soggy or too hard. This recipe is already part of "my favorites" binder.

Key Lime Squares, adapted from Mary at Alpine Berry:

Crust:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/8 tsp salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2 inch pieces

Filling:
6 large eggs
3 cups superfine or bakers' sugar
6 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt2 Tb finely grated key lime zest
3/4 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice


Preheat oven to 350F. Butter and line a 13x9-inch square pan with parchment paper.
To make crust:Combine flour, confectioners' sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Add butter and pulse until the mixture is pebbly. Press evenly into the bottom of your prepared pan. Bake until lightly golden, about 18-20 minutes. Set aside crust.

To make filling:In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Whisk in lime zest and juice until well combined. Pour over crust (it's okay if crust is still hot). Bake until filling is just set, about 15 to 18 minutes. Cool completely before serving. Dust with confectioners' sugar if desired.

Thank you Mary for sharing such a great recipe! Tonight's installment with our weekly gathering was not bad either, but that post will have to wait.

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Orange and Cranberry Muffins

I started wondering if people thought we only have egg yolk omelettes and macarons for breakfast given my sunday SNAFU, and decided to make a proper breakfast item. I read throughout the blogosphere about some wonderful foods and flavors of Fall but I have to tell you I am having a difficult time getting in the mood for pumpkin, persimmons, pomegranates and other items when it is still 75-80 degres and I am still in short sleeves. I don't even want to think about turkey! I know most of you want to throw me a stone right about now and tell me to count my blessings because it is either rainy or cold where you are but seriously all I want right now is a juicy piece of watermelon.

Back to breakfast. One of the things we enjoy a couple times a week, especially when B. is late for work is a good scone or a couple of muffins. Easy to eat on the go, in the car, in a rush or if we have time enjoyed on the deck wishing the leaves would fall. I decided to give myself a little pep talk the other day and finally put a couple of pomegranates and a bag of dried cranberries in my cart (ok, they were also on sale).
There are so many great cranberry recipes out there right now it was difficult to settle on just one. I found one with so many good reviews that I decided to go for it and tweak it to our taste.

Orange Cranberry Muffins, adapted from allrecipes:
Yields: 12 servings

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup butter, room temp
1 egg, beaten
1 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease and flour muffin pan, or use paper liners.Sift together flour, salt and baking powder. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar together until light. Add egg and beat until smooth. Add orange juice and grated zest. Add flour mixture and stir just until mixed. Fold in cranberries.
Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 20-25 minutes.

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No Eggs For Breakfast

And there you have it...these macarons are the reason why we did not have eggs left for or breakfast sunday morning...that and the lime squares I took to T&D for dinner that night.
I am a little late in catching the macarons bug but now I don't wish for a cure. They have become very enjoyable to make and after the fear of the first batch I have spend many hours dreaming of different flavor combinations. Some I came up with were interesting, not to say weird and some complemented the arrival of fall and its chilly days. I have to dream of chilly weather because here it is sill 82-85 degrees (!)

I use the same basic recipe everytime and vary either the topping or the flavor. This time I made plain ones dusted with cocoa powder and filled with a raspberry ganache, vanilla flavored ones with coarse brown sugar topping with a rum ganache and coffee ones with a hazelnut praline ganache. I made a firm ganache as I was going to package some for D. as a hostess gift and wanted the texture to withstand the car ride. Basically, 1/2 cup of heavy cream for one cup of chocolate. Also remember that for every ounce of liqueur, you have to increase the chocolate of one ounce also or you will end up with a runny texture.

Lisa, I have not forgotten your wish and I promise to send you some very soon!

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Note: maman, Arnaud et les reste de la smalla, n'hesitez pas a laisser un commentaire si le coeur vous en dit!

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Applesauce Spice Bars...Another Great One From Dorie

Apparently I like the book! I have tried some of the recipes and so far there has not been one we did not like. It is a great read for novice bakers as it contains all sorts of basics from breakfast treats, cookies, bars, cakes, ice creams and more. It appeals to the intermediate cook who wants to broaden his/her repertoire with all the variations Dorie gives on the sidebar of the recipes. It is full of homey, uncomplicated delights for the seasoned chef who wants to return to the basics or does not want to fuss with complicated techniques and hard to find ingredients.

Sunday afternoon, the boys were working on the boat and given that the weather was a little bit in the chilly side I thought that a batch of these apple bars with a nice cup of coffee would be totally appropriate to make them take a break. The bars are rich but not heavy, you can play with the kind of apple you use as well as the amount of spices. The recipe called for raisins but B. has a childhood aversion to them so I used dried cranberries instead and it worked even better (at least in my book). I also used Calvados instead of applejack because that was what I had on hand.

Applesauce Spice Bars, adapted from Dorie Greenspan:

For the bars:
1 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tb. applejack
1 baking apple, peeled, cored and finely diced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped pecans

For the glaze:
2 1/2 Tb. heavy cream
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp. butter
1 tsp. light corn syrup
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Butter and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan. Preheat the oven to 350.Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the brown sugar and stir until smooth. Remove from the heat.Still in the saucepan, whisk in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well until blended. Add the applesauce, vanilla and liqueur until smooth. With a spatula, add the dry ingredients, cranberries and nuts and mix until combined.Scrape into the pan and bake 20 -25 minutes.
Let cool and prepare the glaze in the meantime.

In a saucepan, whisk the cream, sugar, butter and corn syrup over medium heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minuts. Remove from the pan and stir in the vanilla.
Remove the bars from the pan and set on a wire rack positioned on top of a sheet pan to catch the drips. Pour the glaze over the bars and let set, cut as desired.

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