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frangipane

Steamed Mussels & A Buttermilk Frangipane Cake

Steamed Mussels With White Wine & Key Limes


I hope that everyone had a great holiday break and celebrated the New Year as they wished. Quietly or with lots of fireworks and revelers. I don’t know about you but even if I don’t make resolutions I truly enjoy this feeling of starting clean that comes with January. Twelve new months, yours for the taking. Yours to create, get inspired, start, accomplish…There is something exhilarating about the new year.

Personally, it gives me an even greater wish to leap, with all my fears at times, or without any at others. It also fills me with the desire to reset the clocks, just like we do with a new calendar. Internal clocks, personal clocks, work clocks. Setting priorities and goals. Making inspiration and mood boards.

Beach


It’s been good to dive back into creating recipes, writing the stories around them and thinking about their photographs. There are lots of fun blog projects in the planning. In the middle if all these "happy new year moments", my family suffered another great loss yesterday. Once again, without my family being close enough to hug and comfort, I turned to the only things I knew to do at the time. Clearing my head, getting inspired and cooking.

Beach


Anchoring feeling of loss to the present, to tangible things I could do and explain, I took my camera and headed to the beach. I observed quietly. My fingers got numb gripping my camera straps so hard. But the colors, the quiet empty beach before me…blues, grays, reds… They put my mind at ease. The waves crashing at my feet truly reminded me that life is "it". It’s full if we make it so. It’s not perfect because we make it so. There is life inspired in everything.

Beach


On my way home, I stopped at the fish stands at the end of island and got a bag of fresh mussels. My comfort food. It was close to lunch time. Convenient to start cooking. Like most of us, beside being a necessary act of survival, food is also part of our story. My food stories involve every member of my family. They include many friends. They are full of laughters, jokes, pranks, animated discussion, etc… They are full of life.

Fangipane Cake


Deeply aware that every part of me was now bursting with energy and inspiration, I cooked and photographed. I found my rhythm in the things I knew to be my constant. After a much needed break over the holidays it felt good to be back in it. Normalcy coming back little by little.

Key Limes


Steamed mussels are pretty much my go-to super fast dinner or lunch. They really take very little time and are super flavorful when cooked with some white wine, garlic and parsley and finished off with a spritz of lime juice for example. Ok, they are a bit messy but that little imperfection is part of their charm. Just like the beaten up Key limes I got at the store (in the reject box where overdue fruits are sold for pennies to the pound). I am founding imperfection really soothing lately.

Frangipane Cake


The cake was an experiment that did not turn out the way I hoped for but which did not take away any of the wonderful taste or aroma. I had made a small galette des Rois over the weekend and had a half quantity of frangipane left. I layered it with the cake batter and swirled it, hoping it would create a nice design when cut through. I apparently did not swirl hard enough. Imperfect result. Perfect taste. Paired with a cold glass of milk and I suddenly felt my entire body relax.

As cliche as it may sound, food truly has magical powers. Well…cake does…!

I truly wish you the happiest of New Years. Live fully. Play hard. Leap and take chances. Tiny or big. Do what makes you truly happy.

Fangipane Cake



Steamed Mussels:
1 pound fresh mussels
1 cup of white wine
1/3 cup seafood stock (or water)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
lime or lemon juice (I used a Key lime)

Clean the mussels by scrubbing them under cold water and remove the little fuzzy "beard" that hangs on some of them.
Place a large skillet over medium heat and add the white wine, stock and garlic. Bring to a strong simmer, add the mussels all at once. Cover the pan with a lid (or if you are like me, lid-less, another skillet of the same dimension). Let the mussels cook 6 to 8 minutes. Thrown in the parsley, toss with the mussels. Discard any that did not open and serve immediately with some of the an juices and a spritz of lime or lemon.

Buttermilk & Frangipane Cake:

Makes two 8-inch loaves

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (125ml) buttermilk
1/2 cup (125ml) sour cream
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup (125ml) olive oil
zest and juice of one lemon
2 cups (280gr) Jeanne’s gluten free all purpose flour mix (or 2 cups regular flour)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 portion frangipane filling (recipe follows)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Position a tray in the middle. Grease two loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Place the pans on a baking sheet. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, sugar and eggs until pale (takes about 2 minutes). Add the oil and lemon juice and zest and mix until well blended. Add the flour mix and baking powder and whisk about 50 strokes until the batter is smooth. Divide half the batter in between the two pans. Top each pan with the frangipane filling over that first layer. Divide the remainder of the cake batter in between the two pans to cover the frangipane.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes (on convection) to a hour (regular) until a knife inserted in the middle comes free of raw batter.

Frangipane:

Ingredients:
1/2 stick (55 gr) butter, softened
1/4 cup (25gr) sugar
1/2 cup (50 gr) ground almonds (blanched, slivered, whole, your call)
1 egg
2 tablespoons (30gr) heavy cream

Directions:
Place the butter, sugar, ground almonds, and the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth (can also be done in a food processor). Add the cream but stir in it instead of whisking not to emulsify it or it will rise while baking.

Pear & Almond Frangipane Tartelettes

Pear & Almond Frangipane Tarts


It’s been a week of catching up here since New Year. Catching up on family, catching up on friends, emails, snail mail, thank you notes, love notes. The holidays have been so busy and wonderful that every bit of everyday is truly dedicated to organizing. At the end of the day, feeling both mentally spent and elated, we welcome a little break and a treat.

It does not have to be anything fancy or sweet. Sometimes it’s just a slice of bread and some honey, a couple of cookies, a piece of bread and a cracker, etc… Sometimes, it’s a treat I made specifically for a tea break. Sometimes, like the other day, it was pulling ends and pieces together to make something utterly scrumptious: Pear and Almond Frangipane Tartelettes.

Pears


On New Year’s day I made all the traditional Southern foods since my in-laws were coming over such as ham, black eyed peas, collard greens, biscuits, etc..I also added one of my family’s traditions by making a galette des rois with gluten free puff pastry. I know I was a few days early, but that’s how it goes in my family because of everyone’s travel and work schedule during the holidays. At least, we make time to gather, eat a piece of galette and have a glass of Champagne to toast the new year.

This NY Day, I made more frangipane than I actually used in the galette so I parked it the fridge. I did consider eating it with a spoon as it was if you must know. There is something about frangipane that is just creamy enough and rich enough to make me forget reason…

Eggs


It took a couple of extra days and I had all the elements necessary to make proper (read dignified) use of the frangipane. Some very ripe pears, some pastry dough saved over from making quiche and these little tartelettes were born. We barely waited until they were cool enough to share one during a little mandatory work break.

I am just very sad we are both starring at the last one right now! Have a great weekend!

Pear & Almond Frangipane Tarts



Pear and Almond Frangipane Tartelettes:

Makes six to eight 3.5-inch tartelettes or one 9-inch tart

For the crust:
5 tablespoons (70gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 egg yolks
pinch salt
1/2 cup (80gr) superfine rice flour
1/2 cup (60gr) millet flour
1/4 cup (30gr) sorghum flour
1/4 cup (40gr) corn starch (or tapioca flour)
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup cold water or milk

For the frangipane:
1 stick (115 gr) butter, softened
1/3 cup (115gr) honey
1 cup (100 gr) ground almonds (blanched, slivered, whole, your call)
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60gr) heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon cardamom

3 medium pears, cored, halved and thinly sliced (I left the skin on but feel free to peel them before hand)

Prepare the crust:
In a mixer, whip the butter on medium speed until light and airy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time and beating well after each addition. Mix until incorporated. Add the salt, and all the different flours, and mix briefly. Add some water or milk, one tablespoon at a time if the dough feels too dry. Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured (use more rice flour) board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
Preheat oven to 350F and position a rack in the center.
When the dough is nice and cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board or in between two sheets of plastic to fit your prefered pie pan or eight 3.5-inch tart rings. If the dough tears while you roll or/and transfer into the pan, just patch it with your fingertips. Line the dough with a piece of parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dy beans and par bake for 10 minutes until almost partially baked. Remove the weights and parchment paper. At this point you can refrigerate the baked crust for up to 5 days before using. Let cool while you prepare the filling.

Prepare the frangipane:
Place the butter, honey, ground almonds, and the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth (can also be done in a food processor). Add the cream and cardamom but stir in it instead of whisking not to emulsify it or it will rise while baking.

Assemble and bake:
Divide the frangipane among each tart rings, add a few slices of pears right on top (no need to push them through) and bake for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

We like ours with creme fraiche and a bit of vanilla sugar.

Mirabelle Plums & Almond Frangipane Tart

Tarte Aux Mirabelles


I have not been here a week yet and my heart is already replenished and my eyes filled with beautiful memories. I keep catching myself throughout the day thinking "I can’t believe I am here". It’s good to go home and see all my cousins for a joyous occasion for once. I’ve been enjoying my mom’s wonderful cooking, let my nose take me to the cheese box and renewed my love affair with the most fragrant cantaloupes, Saturn peaches, and tiny mirabelles. I’m in complete bliss.

On Saturday my grandfather gathered the family for a celebration of his 100th birthday. As he said, never in his life did he imagine that the family that he and my grandmother started at 2 would grow to an intimate (!) group of 50 – children, grandchildren, great grandchildren (and their spouses). That’s us. We as a whole function as a giant tribe composed of many smaller clans. It’s joyous. It’s loud. It’s everywhere and all at once. It’s tensed and climatic. It’s pretty darn awesome when I get to be there (and so grateful my uncle took this photo!).

Tarte Aux Mirabelles


When you think that there are exactly 100 years between my grandfather and his last great granddaughter, well you are slightly inclined to smell the roses and open up the bubbly! And celebrate we did! My cheeks hurt so much from laughing and smiling as I looked over my shoulders to see my cousins now all grown up and parents of their own.

As I said, my heart is full. Even fuller now that I got to spend quality time with my brother’s children for a few days. Because of their age difference we were able to take full advantage of both their rhythms and while Camille was napping, Lea and I spent time baking and chatting about life and other “very serious things” (her words!).

Tarte Aux Mirabelles


We did have a little baking spree last Thursday afternoon and kept the oven quite busy while filling my parents’ home with the most captivating scents of cardamom, mirabelles, honey, almonds,… A perfectly golden Tarte Aux Mirabelles was the reward of an afternoon of rolling, mixing and whipping.

Perfect sun gold tiny mirabelles from a neighbor’s garden with soft as silk pulp and just enough juice to keep you busy licking your fingers clean. Time to pit the mirabelles literally flew by as we talked and laughed. While I was taking care of the fruit, Lea rolled the remainder of a pate sable my mom had made a few days prior and I started on the almond filling. I noticed that my love for stone fruits and frangipane is a family thing. Lea was all about it too. Of course! She’s my niece…ehehe!

Léa


We are leaving the cool weather of Paris tomorrow for the sunny terrain of the Hautes Alpes and Provence and where I grew up and finally taking a little detour to go to Toulouse in the South West to be with my brother on his turf for a couple of days. It’s going to be a few packed days of driving and visiting!

I want to walk up and down my old street once more. I want to stare at the mountain Sainte Victoire again, sit under the tree where I used to watch the old guys play “la petanque”, drink a menthe a l’eau in the shade and bite into a pompe a l’huile one more time.

Can’t wait to show you more of the gorgeous scenery and foods of the South of France.

Tarte Aux Mirabelles



Tarte Frangipane Mirabelles – Almond and Mirabelles Tart

Serves 8-10

Note: you can substitute mirabelles with any stone fruit that you favor. If you are not baking gluten free, replace the rice, millet, sorghum flours and cornstarch with 1.5 cups of all purpose flour and omit the xanthan gum.

For the crust:
5 tablespoons (70gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 egg yolks
pinch salt
1/2 cup (80gr) superfine sweet white rice flour
1/2 cup (60gr) millet flour
1/4 cup (30gr) sorghum flour
1/4 cup (40gr) corn starch
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup cold water (optional if the dough seems too dry)

For the filling:
1 stick (115 gr) butter, softened
1/3 cup (115gr) honey
1 cup (100 gr) ground almonds (blanched, slivered, whole, your call)
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60gr) heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1-2 cups pitted mirabelles plums (or your preferred stone fruit)

Prepare the crust:
In a mixer, whip the butter on medium speed until light and airy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time and beating well after each addition. Mix until incorporated. Add the salt, and all the different flours, and the xantham gum and mix briefly. Add some water, one tablespoon at a time if the dough feels too dry. Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured (use more rice flour) board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
Preheat oven to 350F and position a rack in the center.
When the dough is nice and cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board or in between two sheets of plastic to fit your prefered pie pan. If the dough tears while you roll or/and transfer into the pan, just patch it with your fingertips. Line the dough with a piece of parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dy beans and par bake for 10-15 minutes until almost completely baked. Remove the weights and parchment paper. At this point you can refrigerate the baked crust for up to 3 days before using.

Prepare the almond filling and mirabelles topping:
Place the butter, honey, ground almonds, and the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth (can also be done in a food processor). Add the cream and cardamom but stir in it instead of whisking not to emulsify it or it will rise while baking.
Arrange the mirabelles halves at the bottom of the pie crust and pour the cream over them. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350F. Drizzle with a bit of extra honey if desired when still warm.

Apricot Almond Tart – Tarte Abricots Amandes

Apricot Almond Tarte


I have started this post about five or six times and erased them all. I have no idea how emotional I am going to get writing this but here goes. There would not be an Apricot and Almond Tart in my life without my grandmother, Mamie Paulette. There would not be a lot of things in the way I work, live, eat and breathe without my grandmother (beside the obvious being born thing). She did not teach me how to cook or bake but she certainly gave me the basics of what restaurant kitchens would finess years later.

I have talked about her and my grandfather many times before. My grandparents were married 71 years before my grandmother passed away and would have celebrated their 76th anniversary this year. They are truly the glue to our whole family. As my grandfather reaches 100 years old this year, I feel the glue getting more fragile than ever. It’s just good old (and stupid) family dynamics but remembering my grandparents through writing and posts is my way of keeping things together in my mind.

Apricots


Nearly every Sunday, you can bet that there was family visiting, an unplanned lunch and table setting growing by the minute, followed by an afternoon watching the French tennis open, a soccer game or a Formula 1 race. Mamie Paulette loved to get people together and just visit, chill, laugh and have a good time. I inherited that trait from her by doing the same thing here with our friends here. And just like my grandmother I don’t really care about how crazy the day can be or how much it can rain as long as there is a ray of sunshine.

I know she would have loved it here.

Apricot Almond Tarte Ingredients


When friends of ours living on an island nearby stopped by the house with a couple of handfuls of perfectly ripe and juicy apricots, I knew exactly what would become of their fate. The first apricot almond tart of the season! One we could all share together around a tall glass of iced tea, complaining talking about our families.

There is nothing complicated or fancy about this tart. A simple crust filled with an almond cream and topped with deliciously ripe apricots. A drizzle of honey, some time in the oven, a couple of friends and you’ll want to make the hours slow down for a long while. What I love about it is that any stone fruit will work perfectly well with it and you will still get the same tingle down your toes as you bite into it. Plums, peaches, mirabelles, nectarines, etc…

Apricot Almond Tarte


Come to think of it, any fruit will work with this tart! More reasons to make it throughout the year and gather friends and family on a sunny afternoon.

Papi & Mamie



Apricot and Almond Tart:

Serves 6 to 8

Notes: if you are not baking gluten free, replace the rice, millet, sorghum flours and cornstarch with 1.5 cups of all purpose flour and omit the xanthan gum.

For the crust:
5 tablespoons (70gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3 egg yolks
pinch salt
1/2 cup (80gr) superfine sweet white rice flour
1/2 cup (60gr) millet flour
1/4 cup (30gr) sorghum flour
1/4 cup (40gr) corn starch
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup cold water (optional if the dough seems too dry)

For the filling:
1 stick (115 gr) butter, softened
1/3 cup (115gr) honey
1 cup (100 gr) ground almonds (blanched, slivered, whole, your call)
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60gr) heavy cream

8-10 apricots, halved and pitted

Prepare the crust:
In a mixer, whip the butter on medium speed until light and airy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time and beating well after each addition. Mix until incorporated. Add the salt, and all the different flours, and the xantham gum and mix briefly. Add some water, one tablespoon at a time if the dough feels too dry. Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured (use more rice flour) board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
Preheat oven to 350F and position a rack in the center.
When the dough is nice and cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board or in between two sheets of plastic to fit your prefered pie pan. If the dough tears while you roll or/and transfer into the pan, just patch it with your fingertips. Line the dough with a piece of parchment paper, fill with pie weights or dy beans and par bake for 10-15 minutes until almost completely baked. Remove the weights and parchment paper. At this point you can refrigerate the baked crust for up to 3 days before using.

Prepare the almond filling:
Place the butter, honey, ground almonds, and the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth (can also be done in a food processor). Add the cream but stir in it instead of whisking not to emulsify it or it will rise while baking.
Arrange the apricots halves at the bottom of the pie crust and pour the cream over them. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350F. Drizzle with a bit of extra honey if desired when still warm.

————————————————————————————

Tarte Abricots Amandes:

Pour la pate:
70gr beurre mou, non sale
3 jaunes d’oeuf
pincee de sel
80gr farine de riz
60gr farine de millet
30gr farine de sorghum
40gr de maizena
(ou de 210gr de farine blanche)
1/2 cc de gomme de xantham

Pour la creme aux amandes:
115gr beurre non sale, a temperature ambiante
115gr de miel
100gr d’amandes en poudre
60gr de creme entiere liquide

8 a 10 abricots, coupes en deux et denoyauttes.

Preparer la pate:
Dans le bol d’un mixer, battez le beurre pendant 1 minute. Ajoutez les jaunes d’oeufs un a un, tout en melangeant bien apres chaque jaune. Ajoutez le sel et les farines sans gluten, le sel et la gomme de xantham. Melangez brievement et verzes le contenu sur un plan de travail. Ramassez en boule et metter au refrigerateur pendant une heure.
Prechauffez le four a 180C et positionnez une plaque au milieu.
Etalez la pate sur un plan de travail legerement farine (farine sans gluten de preference), ou entre deux feuilles de papier sulfurise. Foncez en un plat a tarte, mettre une feuille de papier sulfurise dans le fond, et des pois/riz. Faire pre-cuire 10-15 minutes. Sortez la tarte du four et laissez refroidir.

Preparer la creme:
Dans un grand bol, melanger le beurre, le miel et les amandes en poudre. Ajouter les oeufs et melanger bien. Ajouter la creme et ne pas melanger longtemps ou la garniture gonflerait trop pendant la cuisson.
Positionner les abricots dans le fond de la tarte et verser la creme aux amandes. Cuire 2530 minutes at 180C.

A Late "Galette Des Rois" – Almond and Pistachio Frangipane Galettes

Galettes Des Rois


Time flies like mad these days! I really thought this week would be calmer than the ones ahead. I even said it outloud. With a satisfactory smile on my face and a head full of light hearted things to do. So you can guess what happened. It got a wee bit crazy. One night that I was trying to sort it all out, my dear B. sat next to me with mugs of tea and a couple of tartelettes. I knew we were simultaneously feeling how wonderful it is to be able to rely on the simplicity of seasonal baking when there’s combobulation around.

As my family back home was gathering around my grandfather to celebrate Epiphany, we were virtually sharing the moment with individual "Galette des Rois", the traditional frangipane filled puff pastry tarts served for the occasion. B. is well aware of my family’s "must dos" and how they translate into my baking and cooking as definite advantages for him even this far away, like truffles at Christmas and galette or brioche for Epiphany.

Galettes Des Rois


Like in many a French person, galettes des rois are a big deal. A lot of families take this opportunity to gather together one last time towards the end of the holidays, have a glass of Champagne and wish one another a Happy New Year before things go back to their usual "metro-boulout-dodo" (commute-work-sleep). Since most years we were visiting my grandparents in Paris for the holidays, we would have "galette des rois" there and, once back home in Provence, we would have "brioche des rois". And sometimes both which was perfect for the gourmande in me!

When I mentioned the possibility of not baking any galette this year, you should have seen the look on my husband’s face. As if I was taking his favorite toy away. My symptoms have been so greatly improved by removing gluten entirely from our diet that I did not really want to make a full batch of puff pastry and galettes. I can’t stand being that selfish either but from the previous results I’d had turning puff pastry gluten free, a complete gf galette des rois was not going to happen. So I made them anyway, the regular way. I only had one bite too many to know I shouldn’t have but he was happy and that makes up for a lot of things.

Galette des Rois


Back in September, I tried a couple of times to come up with a gluten free puff pastry for a Daring Bakers challenge but none of the attempts left me satisfied. I came up with a ratio for the flours I wanted to use, ran it by Shauna for confirmation and was elated to see my dough was flexible enough to roll and to fold and bake into beautiful crispy layers. Each time though I had the same problem: too much butter if I followed traditional ratios and, as Shauna pointed out, not enough protein. Shauna, Danny and I are actively working on that project again and more decided than ever to come up with a gluten free puff pastry so good and fluffy you will be proud to point out it is gluten free.

The most traditional filling for these tarts is almond frangipane (almond cream) but it’s never a bad thing to change things up so this time around I replaced half the almonds with pistachios and it could well be my favorite flavor so far for these. I used tart rings to form and bake them so the filling would stay neatly encased but you can most definitely make these free form as long as you keep careful to seal the edges tight.

I prepared and baked the tarts, set the tray to cool on the countertop and just starting giggling like a child. It came to absolutely no surprise to my dear husband that I completely forgot to sneak inside that little ceramic trinket designating the King or Queen of the day. I declared him King anyway and we happily cut into a warm frangipane galette right away.

Galettes des Rois


Twitter people might already know this but I must tell you of an awesome event planned by Jen, event planner extraordinaire and writer of the blog Devour The World, Rachael of La Fuji Mama and Gaby, personal chef and author of What’s Gaby Cooking. They have arranged to fly me out to Los Angeles and secure enough space and time for me to teach two macarons classes at the Academy of Culinary Education on Friday March 5th and Saturday March 6th. Zoink!

So, if you live in the area and have always wanted to know how to bake the perfect macaron here is your chance to do so in a professional but relaxed atmosphere. I just can’t wait to be there and be able to help 1 on 1. Come join us! Please email Rachael rachael{at}lafujimama {dot}com for all the details as I hear both classes are filling up rather fast. Working also on another surprise for that trip…

Thanks for the positive feedback on giving out the recipes in both English and French. Starting with a salad was quite easy and I almost said "forget it" when I realized I would have to translate a recipe for puff pastry on this post but there it is after the jump!

Have a great weekend!

Galette Des Rois:

Makes four or eight 4-inch tarts

Notes: I hope you’ll try your hand at puff pastry soon. It sounds harder than it is. Really. But I understand and you can get very close by using a simpler Rough Puff Pastry.

For the puff pastry:

3 cups (420gr) all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
3/4 cup (105gr) cake flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (7 gr)
4 tablespoons (60gr) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, well chilled
1 1/4 cups (300ml) icy cold water
1 tablespoon (14gr) all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks)(405gr) unsalted butter, well-chilled

Make the dough package:
In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours with the salt. Scatter butter pieces over the flour mixture; using your fingers or a pastry cutter, incorporate butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.
Form a well in center of mixture, and pour the water into well. Using your hands, gradually draw flour mixture over the water, covering and gathering until mixture is well blended and begins to come together. Gently knead mixture in the bowl just until it comes together to form a dough, about 15 seconds. Pat dough into a rough ball, and turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Wrap tightly, and place in refrigerator to chill 1 hour.

Make the butter package:
Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon flour on a sheet of waxed or parchment paper. Place uncut sticks of butter on top, and sprinkle with remaining 1/2 tablespoon flour. Top with another sheet of paper; using a rolling pin, pound butter to soften and flatten to about 1/2 inch. Remove top sheet of paper, and fold butter package in half onto itself. Replace top sheet of paper, and pound again until butter is about A inch thick. Repeat process two or three times, or until butter becomes quite pliable. Using your hands, shape butter package into a 6-inch square. Wrap well in plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator until it is chilled but not hardened, no more than 10 minutes.

Assemble and roll the dough:
Remove dough package from refrigerator, and place on a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, gently roll dough into a 9-inch round. Remove butter package from refrigerator, and place it in the center of the dough round. Using a paring knife or bench scraper, lightly score the dough to outline the butter square; remove butter, and set it aside. Starting from each side of the center square, gently roll out dough with the rolling pin, forming four flaps, each 4 to 5 inches long; do not touch the raised square in the center of the dough. Replace butter package on the center square. Fold flaps of dough over the butter package so that it is completely enclosed. Press with your hands to seal.

Using the rolling pin, press down on the dough at regular intervals, repeating and covering the entire surface area, until it is about 1 inch thick. Gently roll out the dough into a large rectangle, about 9 by 20 inches, with one of the short sides closest to you. Be careful not to press too hard around the edges, and keep the corners even as you roll out the dough by squaring them with the side of the rolling pin or your hands. Brush off any excess flour. Starting at the near end, fold the rectangle in thirds as you would a business letter; this completes the first single turn.Wrap in plastic wrap; place in refrigerator 45 to 60 minutes.
6/ Remove dough from refrigerator, and repeat process in step 5, giving it five more single turns.Always start with the flap opening on the right as if it were a book. Mark the dough with your knuckle each time you complete a turn to help you keep track. Chill 1 hour between each turn. After the sixth and final turn, wrap dough in plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before using.

For the frangipane filling:
1 stick (110 gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100 gr) sugar
1/2 cup (50 gr) ground almond
1/2 cup (50 gr) ground pistachios
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60ml) heavy cream

Place the butter, sugar, almond powder and the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth (can also be done in a food processor). Add the cream but stir in it instead of whisking so as not to emulsify it or it will rise while baking. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

To assemble the tarts (4 at a time).
Divide the dough in half and keep one half refrigerated.
Preheat the oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper or a silpat.
Roll the puff pastry to about 1/4 inch thick on a lightly floured countertop. Using a 4 inch tart rings, cut out 8 rings into the dough. Place four dough circles into 4 tart rings. Top with about 2 tablespoons of the frangipane filling. Top with 4 dough circles and seal the edges well by pressing your fingertips inside the rings onto the dough edges.
If you wish to use the rest of dough and filling right away, just repeat those steps or you can refirgerate both for a week or freeze for up to 3 months and thaw overnight in the fridge.
Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until the tarts are golden brown.

————————————————————————————-
Le P’tit Coin Francais:

Pour 4 a 8 tartes.

Pour la pate feuilletee:
420gr de farine
105gr de farine a gateau (fine)
7gr de sel
60gr de beurre non sale, tres froid et coupe en petits des
300ml d’eau tres froide (glaciale a la limite)
405 gr de beurre non sale bien froid

Faire le paton:
Dans un grand bol. melangez les deux farine et le sel. Ajouter le beurre et servez vous de vos doigts ou de deux fourchettes pour incorporer le beurre au farines jusqu’a ce que le melange ressemble a de gros grains de sable.
Formez un puit au milieu et ajoutez l’eau. A l’aide de vos mains, commencer a ramener la farine vers l’eau jusqu’a ce que la masse devienne homogene. Ramassez la masse en boule assez vite de facon a petrir le moin possible. Couvrez d’un linge ou de film plastique. Refrigerez la pate pendant une heure.

Faire le bloc de beurre:
Saupoudrez une feuille de papier sulfurise avec la moitie de la farine restante. Deposez-y le beurre et saupoudrez du reste de farine. Placez une 2eme feuille de papier sulfurise au dessus du beurre et avec votre rouleau a patisserie, frappez le beurre de facon a le ramollir et l’aplatir sur une epaisseur de 1.5cm environ. Levez la feuille de papier du dessus, et a l’aide de celle du dessous, rabattez le beurre sur lui meme. Remettez la feuille de papier au dessu et recommencez l’operation 2 a 3 fois jusqu’a ce que le beurre soit bien maleable. A l’aide de vos mains et en vous aidant des feuilles de papier, formez un carre de beurre d’environ 15cm. Refrigerez le pendant 10 minutes (pas plus).

Assembler la pate:
A l’aide de votre rouleau a patisserie, etalez la pate en un cercle de 23cm de diametre. Placez le beurre au centre du cercle et a l’aide d’un couteau fin, deligner l’emplacement du beurre sur la pate, sans faire de coupure directement dans celle-ci. Enlevez le beurre et mettez le de cote. Demarrez de chaque cote du carre et roulez la pate pour obtenir 4 grandes oreilles d’au moins 10 a 12 cm de long. Vous devez obtenir un petit carre plus epais au centre de cette facon. Placez y le beurre et rabattre les oreilles dessus. Pressez du bout des doigts pour bien enfermer le paquet de beurre.
Etalez la pate a intervals reguliers de facon a bien distribuer le beurre jussqu’a ce que la pate soit de 2cm d’epaisseur environ. Farinez votre plan de travail si necessaire au fur et a mesure. Etalez la pate en un rectangle de 23 cm de large et 50cm de long, en gardant le cote de plus court pres de vous. En partant a peu pres du milieu, pliez la pate en trois de facon porte-feuille. (1er tour) Refrigerez la pate pendant 45min a 1 heure.
Apres ce premier temps de repos, repetez l’operation 5 fois de plus pour un total de 6 tours. Refrigerez entre chaque tours au moins une demi heure. Une fois le dernier tour effectue, refrigerez la pate pendant au moins 4 heure, toute la nuit si voud pouvez.

Pour la frangipane:
100 gr de beurre non sale, et a temperature ambiante
100 gr de sucre
50 gr d’amamde en poudre
50gr de pistache en poudre
2 oeufs
60ml de creme entiere liquide

Dans un bol, melangez au fouet le beurre et le sucre jusqu’a ce que le beurre soit pale et aere. Ajoutez les amandes et melangez. Ajoutez les oeufs un a un et bien melangez au fouet. Ajoutez la creme et donnez quelques coups de fouet ou de spatule pour rendre le melange homogene.

Assembler les galettes:
En supposant que l’on se sert de 4 cercles a tarte individuels a la fois.
Prechauffez le four a 350F/175C. Preparez une plaque de cuisson avec une feuille de papier sulfurise.
Quand la pate feuilletee est prete a etre utilisee, divisez la en deux, gardez une moitie au refrigerateur et etale l’autre moitie sur un plan de travail legerement farine. Servez vous de 4 cercles a tartelette de cm de diametre et decouper 8 cercles. Deposez un cercle dans chacun des cercles. Deposez une grosse cuilliere de frangipane. Ajoutez un cercle de pate et du bout des doigts fermer bien les bords. Laissez les tartes dans les cercle, et les placez delicatement sur votre plaque de cuisson. Repetez l’operation avec le reste de pate et de frangipane.
Faites cuires les tartes pendant 20 a 30 minutes jusqu’a ce que le dessus soit bien dorer.

Bananas Foster Tartelettes & A Giveaway

Bananas Foster Tartelettes


I like to think I am fairly organized. I mean, there is logic to whatever battle is taking place on my desk. Or in my head. Like most of us, I get pretty psyched about being a step ahead and I was darn happy for having posts in drafts right before I left for BlogHer food in San Francisco. David says he has 40 stories or so in drafts at all times. I giggle when I have one ahead of the game. I am however excited when “the” one is these Bananas Foster Tartelettes. Things got busy then and things got busier this week but these were too good to wait any longer to post.

Whenever I travel, I try to leave a few easy things for B. to reheat for dinner knowing too well he’d end up eating at his parents or be invited here and there. He tends to skip meals when there is no one to call him to the table. I know he can boil water for pasta. I’ve seen it. I even happen to know he can make awesome steamed clams.

This time was no different as I labeled containers of food and even took him on a guided tour of the fridge and pantry. It’s just not his thing. I was tempted to post-it the entire house but refrained. However, as previously mentioned, his eyes got stuck on all the desserts left on top shelf from my zealous attempt at getting prepared. This is his thing.

Caramel


After describing what the tarts were made of, he exclaimed “oh! Kind of like bananas foster without the fire flambéing action!” Precisely. We tend to have a surplus of bananas in the house, and after making banana donuts last month, I still had plenty to use up, hence the tarts (and a few loaves of banana nut bread).

The tarts start with a crispy shortbread base and are filled with a hazelnut and almond frangipane before being topped with fresh banana slices and a (generous) drizzle of salted butter caramel sauce. I am all over banana and nuts and I am all over salted butter anything, so the combination was pretty much a no brainer. However, it all came together out of the necessity to use all the tidbits ingredients in the fridge, pantry and freezer.

I had leftover shortbread dough in the freezer from a previous tart making day as well as a jar of salted butter caramel sauce, a handful each almonds and hazelnuts in the pantry, a knob of butter and a tiny bit of cream in the fridge. And of course a good many banana giving me the sweet eye.

As I have said before, I hate waste. Having worked in a restaurant kitchen for many year, I pretty much nailed down the recycling issue. If you don’t recycle, re-use or force yourself to use items bought on a whim, you are likely to drive your place to the pits. I have the same mentality when it comes to the kitchen. Being on a tight budget, I can’t allow us to waste, even less impulse buy certain items. Everything these days is budgeted, accounted for and used to the max. More than ever before I am aware of what I have. Time, the ability to cook, develop recipes, a wonderful mother- in -law who unexpectedly drops by with supplies, etc…

Bananas Foster Tartelettes


Some of us are not that lucky. I do my best but some can’t. In that spirit, I really like what Macy is doing in their campaign Come Together to fight hunger to raise awareness and money to feed 10 million of people suffering from hunger, and they will match donation dollar for dollar.
When Macy’s got in touch to spread the word last week, I immediately agreed. There are 3 different ways you can get involved in this great campaign:

1) You can host dinner parties and ask that instead of bringing traditional host gifts, guests make a donation to Feeding America.

2) You can donate $1 directly at any Macy’s register, one dollar provides dinner for seven.

3) You can shop at any Macy’s and get special savings in-store on October 17 (today). A portion of the $5 in-store ticket sales will benefit Feeding America.

Macy’s also provided me with two $25 gift certificates to give to my readers. All you have to do is leave a comment (multiple entry will automatically be deleted) before Tuesday october 20th midnight eastern time, for a chance to win. My better half will select the winners at random from the comments left on this post. Even if Macy’s does not ship internationally nor has stores outside the US, everyone can enter. You can always use the gift certificate to do your Christmas shopping for friends or family here and continue to spread some good spirit.

Good luck!

Bananas Foster Tartelettes:

Serves 8

Sable Dough:
1 stick (113 gr) butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (95 gr) powdered sugar (unsifted)
1 large egg
1 1 /2 cups (190gr) all purpose flour
2 tablespoons (20 gr) cornstarch
pinch of salt

For the almond-hazelnut frangipane filling:
1 stick (115 gr) butter, softened
½ cup (100 gr) granulated sugar
½ cup (50 gr) ground almonds
½ cup (50gr) ground hazelnuts
seeds from half a vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60gr) heavy cream

Remaining ingredients:
3-4 bananas, thinly sliced
Salted butter Caramel sauce
Vanilla Ice Cream

Prepare the shortbread rounds:
In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy on medium speed, 2-3 minutes. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt and mix briefly to incorporate. Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Do not work the dough while in the mixer or it will toughen up. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
You will need half the amount of dough to make the tartelettes. The other half can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days or frozen, well wrapped for up to 3 months.
Preheat the oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
When the dough is nice and cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board or in between sheets of plastic wrap to about ¼ -inch thick. Cut out eight 3-inch rounds with a pastry ring or cookie cutter. Place them on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool.

Prepare the filling:
Place the butter, sugar, ground nuts, vanilla bean seeds and the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth (can also be done in a food processor). Add the cream but stir in it instead of whisking to prevent emulsifying it or it will rise while baking. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Place 8 baked rounds of dough in 8 pastry rings of the same dimension, divide the cream evenly among the rings and bake 20 minutes at 350F. Let cool. Once cooled, remove the tarts from the rings and arrange the banana slices decoratively on top, drizzle the caramel sauce on top. Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.

Muscadine Grape Frangipane Clafoutis

Almond Frangipane and Muscadine Grapes


There is rarely a post without a story around here. I know I had a story for today. Had to have one. As my dad would say "I did not say it was good, I just said there was one". Simple and straight to the fact, which is not how these Muscadine Grapes Frangipane Clafoutis came to be but the result with our friends at dinner last night was actually just that. Simple and straight up good. Oh wait! They are the story. The dessert, the grapes.

A friend wanted me to teach her and her husband how to make souffles. We immediately turned this opportunity to see them into a dinner with a larger group. In return I asked that she helped me out with the huge cross stiching I’ve been working on for years. Yes, I decided one day to cross stich one famous Charleston street filled with gorgeous ante-bellum houses, and it feels like I have been at it for an eternity! After the first tray of souffles went in the oven, she gave one look at my cross stiching and exclaimed "Well, looks like you have a problem staying within the lines". I gave her the biggest smile and said "Doh! It’s me we’re talking about. Of course I can’t stay within the lines!" She quickly fixed my issues and we proceeded to round two of the souffles lesson.

After the third tray, I could see they both had the hang of it and we moved on to other things. We had made small batches all along and realized we would not have enough desserts for everyone, especially after all the sampling and testing we had done as the lesson progressed. I quickly glanced at the pantry and fridge and decided to assemble another dessert. I was in the mood for clafoutis, Bill was in the mood for something with frangipane. I had bought some really juicy red and green muscadine grapes, the firsts of the season, and decided to add some to my clafoutis-frangipane mix.

Muscadine Grapes


Muscadine grapes are big grapes with somewhat of a thick skin which makes them happily snap and pop when you eat them. Just like with kumquats, it’s best to take the time to seed them but luckyly there are little of them inside and they are pretty easy to discard. The season is usually September through October but it looks like our crops here have already started to be bountiful. Happy me! Much like kumquats I just love to pop them in my mouth for a snack but I discovered by pan searing them in honey that they are absolutely wonderful warm on vanilla ice cream. Happier me!

As we were fixing dinner, setting the table, getting drinks and nibbles ready I realized I was not paying attention very well and had completely forgotten to add the green grapes in there and we were munching on the reds I had saved to top the clafoutis-flan-whatever-we were-going to call-this. Improvise, devise. Quick! Alright, so we would bake the dessert and quickly pan sear the green muscadine grapes in honey and top the frangipane clafoutis with those. Ok, that would work. Reds inside, greens outside. Guests in the driveway!

Here is what we were not expecting: when I took the tray out of the oven all the frangipane clafoutis ressembled souffles. It was like the never ending souffle making oven! We gathered around the island and started counting, absolutely sure they would deflate within seconds. One, two, three…ten, thirty. Nothing moved. The beautiful golden crust on top remained puffy and upright.

Almond Frangipane and Muscadine Grapes


Hmmm…where to put those pan seared green grapes now? Bill took the back of a spoon, smashed the tops down as the rest of us looked horrified and spooned the green and saucy grapes in the middle. He looked at me all happy and said "That works! See I can do stuff in the kitchen!"

He was absolutely right! It worked perfectly, except we had no idea how to call what I had just baked so for now it’s just Muscadine Grape Frangipane Clafoutis. I am leaving the souffles part aside because I have no idea if the effect will reproduce itself if I make these again or if you decide to try this recipe. I knew the method would make them rise, I did not know ours would never fall!

Almond Frangipane and Muscadine Grapes



One year ago: Lemon Balm Infused Berries with Almond Tuiles.

Muscadine Grape Frangipane Clafoutis:

Serves 4

For the clafoutis:
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
1 oz (30gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, separated
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup (50gr)ground almonds
2 tablespoons (15gr)all purpose flour
pinch of salt
a dozen red Muscadine grapes, halved and seeded

For the pan seared grapes:
1-2 teaspoons unsalted butter
1 cup green Muscadine grapes, halves and seeded
3 tablespoons of honey (or to taste)

Prepare the frangipane clafoutis:
Preheat the oven to 340F and position a rack in the center. Lightly coat 4 ramekins with cooking spray or a dab of butter and place them on a baking tray. Set aside.
In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, butter and the egg yolks until the mixture is a smooth paste. Add the heavy cream little by little. In a separate bowl, stir together the almonds, flour and salt, add this to the egg yolk mixture and whisk until well blended. In a very clean bowl, whip the egg whites until stiff and gently fold them into the almond mixture. Divide evenly among your ramekins (make sure to fill them only 3/4 of the way up) and place 3-4 grape halves on top of the batter. Bake for about 25-30 minutes. Top with the pan seared green grapes.

Prepare the pan seared grapes:
In a large skillet melt the butter over medium high heat. Add the grapes and sear them for about 5 minutes or until they just start to soften. Deglaze the pan with the honey and remove from the heat.

Cherry Bakewell Tartelettes With Cherry Pit Ice Cream Milkshakes

Bakewell Cherry Tarts & Cherry Pit Ice Cream


June has definitely been a strange month starting by my baking the latest Daring Bakers challenge the first week it was revealed. That has not happened in almost two years but there are too many work deadlines this month to monkey around with all forms of important business. Work and Daring Bakers that is. These Bakewell Cherry Tarts served with Cherry Pit Ice Cream Milkshakes don’t monkey around either.

Oh yes, even after all this time I still take my DB very seriously!! Our challenge this month was to make this traditional British tart and beside the three key components of the shortbread pastry crust, preserves and frangipane filling, we were pretty much let loose to do as we desired. If you have been catching my latest Daring Bakers challenges, when I am given this much freedom, my mind goes in overdrive and the kitchen turns into super porduction for a few hours. All around me usually rub their hands knowing there will be an abundance of desserts for the next few days while B. sighs as he approached the scene of the crime.

Bakewell Cherry Tarts


This time, I decided to throw myself a real challenge. To only make one possibility. How did I do? Well, I thought everything was groovy, sticking to my one idea of cherry preserve and almond frangipane. Then my brain got a little looser and I had this urgent craving to make cherry pit ice cream while pitting a few boxes of cherries for jams. Summer is here, I am jamming people and stone fruits are definitely high on my list. I like to get the darkest one I can find for jams, makes the finished color really pretty.

Having made Bakewell tarts before, I wanted to fiz things up a bit and serve them with tiny milkshake shots. I have had cherry pit ice cream on my mind ever since Shuna from Eggbeater posted about it last year. I am not going to get into the whole controversy of using pits in ice creams (or jams for that matter). Shuna wrote three very detailed posts about it so please read them well if you are interested in the topic.

All I can say is I did not hear a peep out of my guests when dessert came around. I think that means they’ll be back, ahahah!

Bakewell Cherry Tarts


The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart… er… pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800’s in England.

Cherry Bakewell Tartelettes:

Notes: The only change I made to the recipe given by our hostesses was to prebake the tart shells before filling them with jam and frangipane. The high ratios of butter in both the crust and filling can hinder the crust from baking all the way through while your filling overcooks.

Makes ten 3-inch tartelettes.

Sweet shortcrust pastry:
225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Frangipane:
125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds (or other nut of your choice)
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Jam or preserve of your choice
Prepare the dough:
Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.
Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Prepare the frangipane:
Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Assemble the tartelettes:
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it’s overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pans, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Place the tarts on a baking sheet line with parchment paper and chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Position a rack in the center of the oven.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish.

For the milkshakes: process about one cup of the cherry pit ice cream (or you favorite one) in blender with enough milk to achieve milkshake consistency. Serve in glass shots alongside the tarts.

Poached Pear and Quince Frangipane Tartelettes

Poached Pear And Quince Tartelettes


On this eve of a brand new year, (edit: I was writing this last night) I have spent a good part of this last week reflecting on the year gone by while helping our best and dearest neighbors move. We dealt with it the only way we have handled life in the past three years on our street: a long table in the backyard, lots of oysters and a bucket of cold beers, all hurdled around a big fire, watching the kids run around, the dogs chase each others and the adult pretend they were still twenty and carefree. No, it wasn’t all rosy but not everything is and as we went around the table and gave personal highlights of the year passed, I exclaimed "It’s been a pretty fantabulastic year!".

Professionaly for sure as I am currently buckling down in finishing the manuscript for the cookbook and working on a couple of surprises for you. But looking at all these friends gathered around the table hugging, laughing and reminiscing, my heart was soring for having formed stronger ties will all of them and all of you in the past year. I love and live hard and you listen…

Forelle Pears


As a last get together in the tradition of 2008, we each brought our own specialty and as you can imagine, I brought dessert. We decided to go all out and have a pre New Year’s Eve celebration since much like Christmas our little nucleus would be spread out on Wednesday night. Candles and garlands were hung around the yard, Champagne replaced beers and toast and smoked salmon replaced chips and dips. In my family, we share a slice of Galette des Rois on New Year’s Day but I decided to change things around keeping the main components of the galette, puff pastry and almond frangipane cream and layering poached quince and pear slices that I had in the freezer. I did tuck in a little ceramic figurine inside one of the tartelette as the tradition calls for and one of us was indeed crowned king that night. Good cheer and good fun.

Poached Pear And Quince Tartelettes


Poached Pear and Quince Frangipane Tartelettes Recipe:

Serves 6

For the puff pastry:
1/3 puff pastry (recipe here)

On a lightly floured board, roll the puff pastry into a 15×6 rectangle, cut out 6 rectangles (5×3). Prick them with a fork, lay them falt on a parchment lined baking sheet and refrigerate while preparing the fruit and the frangipane.

For the poached pear and quince:
1 quince, peeled, cored and sliced
1 pear, peeled cored and sliced
4 cups water
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
6 cloves
2 star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
2 teaspoons lemon zest

In a large saucepan set over medium high heat, place the quince only and the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for about 45 minutes, or until soft. Remove the quince from the liquid and let cool to room temperature. Proceed the same way for the pear but only cook it for 15-20 minutes.

For the frangipane cream:
1 stick (115 gr) butter, softened
1/2 cup (100 gr) granulated sugar
1 cup (100 gr) ground almond
seeds from one vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60gr) heavy cream

Place the butter, sugar, almond powder, vanilla bean seeds and the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth (can also be done in a food processor). Add the cream but stir in it instead of whisking not to emulsify it or it will rise while baking.

To assemble:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Evenly spread the frangipane cream over the puff pastry rectangles and layer the quince and pear slices over it. Sprinkle with chopped almonds or pistachios if desired. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Happy New Year! Bonne Annee!


I am looking forward to 2009! You might see some new and familiar faces come and tend the fort while I wrap things up writing. They illustrate what 2008 has been for me: discovery after discovery of talents, creativity and friendships. A year in which the support and art of others have pushed me to get better, live better, breathe stronger.

You all have made 2008 a wonderful year for me and this site. I will continue to give back to you the best way I can through baking and photographing it of course but also by being more regular on your blogs as soon as things calm down a bit.

So cheers to you in 2009! Wishing you the best 🙂

Apple Frangipane Tartelettes With Cheesecake Ice Cream

Apple Frangipane Tartelettes And Cheesecake Ice Cream


When I was a little girl I had quite a few nicknames. I will spare you the ones my dear and gentle (hmmm…) brothers gave me but my family gave me two that are still around today: Tartelette and Reine des Pommes. The first one is obvious as I love to make tarts and they were probably my first venture in the kitchen. The second needs a little French idiom explanation. It’s not that I ate that many apples but " une pomme" is also a person with a kooky or funky personality. I was just that as a child, coming up from my day dreams just long enough to breath some fresh air, realize the world out there was not that great and going back deep into my fantasies.

Whenever something was wrong I’d find comfort eating some of my mother’s apple cake while reading a Charles Perrault’s fairy tale. A slice of my grandmother’s apple pie was also enough to transport me into a magical world of brave knights and pretty princesses. Yes, just from one slice. One of my favorite fairy tale was indeed Snow White, so Pomme quickly became my nickname. Even today B. calls me his "petite pomme" and I know he does not mean his "little airhead" as the idiom is sometimes used too. No man in their right mind would call his dear wife that when she is holding a plate of his favorite cookies right under his nose!

A couple of times before I have written here about our friend M. who is facing the biggest battle of her life right now. On the weekends, we go visit M. and her husband and try to help as much as we can. I do a little grocery shopping for her on my way there and try to fix a couple of dishes for the week. B. and her husband work in the same department so they talk shop or fix something around the house. I usually end up reading some pages to M. while she rests or tries to eat something. Last weekend she did not feel like reading from her current book. "Why don’t you tell me one of your stories?" she asked instead. "A fairy tale", she added. "Allright, but we need apple tartelettes for that!" I replied.

She was a little caught off guard by my response and I quickly explained the pomme nickname, the childhood day dreams, the apple desserts and Snow White. Her request was perfect as I had brought some freshly made apple tartelettes to have for dinner with them. I remembered they liked theirs with ice cream so I also made a fresh batch of cheesecake ice cream to change from vanilla. Nothing wrong with that, I just wanted something a little different. We sort of forgot to tell the men we were digging into the dessert and sat on her bed with our tartelettes and ice cream while I proceeded to tell her a fairy tale.

Yes, she was the heroin, defended by her valiant King, conquering the villain Cancer Witch with the help of Little Pomme and her wonderful Prince Pomme and their two fearless and giant dogs (hum..hum..). I know M. I know I can come up with stories like that and not make her depressed or sad. Indeed, she cracked up and felt invigorated by this little tale proving my parents they were wrong to tell me that day dreams are useless. You just have to know when to use them, that’s all.

The tartelettes are built in ring molds, starting with a sable breton base (shortbread), filled with a layer of frangipane (almond) cream and topped by slices of honey roasted apples. If you do not have ring molds, you can of course build the tartelettes into regular individual molds, they may not be as tall. The cheesecake ice cream is so easy to make and delicious I wish I could have some everyday for breakfast. Well, I could….I can….day dreaming again…oops! It is not too sweet and a nice change from vanilla ice cream. I like to add some graham cracker crumbs when I serve it on its own but I left it plain this time as they were already plenty of crust to go around. I used 3 inch round molds bought at the local craft store (Mickael’s). Same store where I get the cupcake liners (Wilton brand) that some of you asked about in the previous post. The ribbons were added with a piece of thin double sided tape.

Apple Frangipane Tartelette


Apple Frangipane Tartelettes With Cheesecake Ice Cream:

Serves 8

Sable Dough:
1 stick (115 gr) butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (93 gr) powdered sugar
1 large egg
1 1 /2 cups (188gr) flour
2 tablespoons (20 gr) cornstarch (makes for a lighter crumb)
pinch of salt

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix until combined. Add the flour, cornstarch and salt and mix briefly to incorporate. Dump the whole mixture onto a lightly floured board and gather the dough into a smooth ball. Do not work the dough while in the mixer or it will toughen up. Flatten the dough into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
When the dough is nice and cold, roll it out on a lightly floured board or in between the sheets of plastic. You will need half the amount of dough to make the tartelettes. The other half can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days or frozen, well wrapped for up to 3 months. Cut out rounds with a 3 inch pastry ring. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes. Let cool.

For the Honey Roasted Apples:
4 medium apples
1/2 cup honey

Preheat the oven to 350F. Peel core and cut the apples in thin slices. Lay them on a couple of parchment paper lined baking sheets and drizzle at will with the honey. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden. Let cool.

For the Frangipane Cream:
1 stick (115 gr) butter, softened
1/2 cup (100 gr) granulated sugar
1 cup (100 gr) ground almond
seeds from one vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup (60gr) heavy cream

Place the butter, sugar, almond powder, vanilla bean seeds and the eggs in a large bowl and whisk until smooth (can also be done in a food processor). Add the cream but stir in it instead of whisking not to emulsify it or it will rise while baking. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Place 8 baked rounds of dough in 8 pastry rings, divide the cream evenly among the rings and bake 20 minutes at 350F. Let cool. Once cooled, remove the tarts from the rings and arrange the apple slices decoratively on top.

For the Cheesecake Ice Cream:
2 cups (50cl) whole milk
1/3 cup (10cl) heavy cream
3/4 cup (170gr) sugar
2 egg yolks
4 oz cream cheese (120gr)

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar. In a saucepan set on medium heat, bring the milk and the cream to boiling point, slowly pour a small amount on the egg yolks to temper. Pour the remaining over the yolks and sugar. Stir well then pour back in the saucepan and cook over medium low heat until the cream thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream cheese until completely melted and incorporated. Cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until cold. Process in an ice cream maker according to your machine’s manufacturer’s instruction. If you do not have an ice cream machine, follow the directions laid out in this post.

Apple Frangipane Ice Cream And Cheesecake Ice Cream