08 janvier 2007
Happy New Year
Happy New Year to everyone!
Mouelleux au chocolat
After 2 sunny weeks away in Central North Island, I am unfortunately back to work this week. Just before going away I baked - yes baked! - little yummy Xmas chocolate pudding.
Do not trust its colourful look because it is as fatening as it is delicious , you have been warned!
The below recipe has been adapted from an "All Chocolate" French cookbook I received for Christmas last year:
225 g bitter chocolate,
240 g butter,
180 g sugar,
6 eggs,
120 g flour
A dash of liquor, eg rum or Sherry is also very welcome
Combine eggs sugar and sifted flour in a large bowl. Melt chocolate and butter over low heat, mix energically to the egg/flour mixture. Gently oil 4 ramequins and fille them in with the batter. Bake at 180 degrees C for 11 minutes.
Let the cake cool and sprinkle with funky toppings. I used chocolate ganache and marshmallows.
Enjoy!
30 novembre 2006
Drinking up summer
I told you about NZ blogging by mail and my attempt at making brownies for the occassin. My fear of failing again was overwhelming!
I got a recipe from an all chocolate cookbook and followed meticulously, I really gave it my best shot. All that to end up with a compact layer of fudgy chocolate flan. Nothing like a brownie at all, I don't know where I went wrong. So I apologise in advance to the person who will get the parcel, not many homemades goodies.
Let's face it, I just don't have THE gift. I have decided to give up baking totally and FOREVER... which is quite a big call since my biggest dream was to be able to make a "Cerise sur le Gateau" just like Pierre Hermé.
Anyway I surrendered, made myself a cheerful cocktail and raised my glass to my lost dreams of being a wonderful pastry chef.
Ingredients:
-Pomagranate
-250g fresh, sun ripened strawberries
-Raspberry vodka to taste
-20g brown sugar
-Slice the strawberries and toss in sugar. Leave for a few minutes until it combines and forms a nice syrup.
-Halve the pomagranate and remove the seeds but turning the fruit face down on to a bowl and beat the top with a wooden spoon.
Blend Strawberries, pomagranate seeds and vodka in a blender with a cube of ice. Push through a sieve and serve chilled
Isn't it wonderful?
09 juin 2006
Winter Treats
Heart shaped self saucing puddings
Winter has finally kicked
in. Temperatures are nosediving. I was trying to drink a glass of Bordeaux yesterday but my
lounge was freezing. The wine was far too cold for the aromas to develop. Far too cold to be fully appreciated.
I miss warmth and I miss
summer food. Times like that call for emergency comfort. To rise spirits up,
nothing beats the warmth and cuddliness of chocolate cakes – especially when
we’re talking heart-shaped gooey chocolate cakes.
I tried Bill
Granger’s recipe instead. This is the first time I tried
one of his recipes and I was not disappointed, I had the result I was hoping
for; except for the white chocolate one. It was not self saucing at all but
still delicious and terribly soft and chocolaty.
I baked my cakes for a
little shorter than indicated in the recipe because my moulds are not tall.
They are not very heart-shaped either...
21 mars 2006
A sweet comeback
Grapefruit Tarragon Millefeuille
First: Sorry for having been away for so long. 2006 brought some happy and unexpected twists and turns. All in all I have not been able to log on internet very often.
The above is my miserable attempt to make a 'Grapefruit-Tarragon millfeuille' as per Su Good Eats recipe. I learnt a valuable lesson, though: When it comes to assembling millefeuille, the thiner the layers the better. Mine were completely oversized and make my cake look like a very ugly "Tower of Pisa". A very ugly cake but yum! The quirky sounding association of tarragon, grapefruit and white chocolate turns out to be truly delicious.
A Pavlovian reflex causes me to associate tarragon to "bearnaise sauce" ONLY. Sweet Tarragon sound like a culinary blaspheme! Interestingly enough, the somewhat sour flavour of the grapefruit reminds of the sourness of 'Bearnaise" and balances tarragon very well. White chocolate brings a creamy sweetness to the cake. It is sumptuous.
The base of shortpastry is pleasant but not necessary. My next attempt will exclude it and include thiner layers of white chocolate. It will be crunchy and quickly melt in mouth.
27 février 2006
Back from holiday
My first has a Japanese feel
My second shines summer
And my all is a little tartlet
Shortbread tartlets with Anko and summer fruits
First, time I head about Red bean custard, I was somewhat disgusted. I pictured the type of red beans used for chilies and a tonne of sugar - not the ideal combination. Then, a handful of friends and I were brave enough to try it in a Japanese restaurant and we were all surprised and happy to find out it was so delicious. The type of bean used is actually Adzuki, a japanese bean - which make it quite tricky to spot because all packets were labelled in Japanese in the shop. I was confused and did not know what packet to chose!
In the above tartlets, I replaced the fatening "cream patissiere" by the oh so light and yummy anko (japanese red bean puree). Together with cherries, it was the perfect match. I slightly quickly the cherries in sherry.
I also made another mini-tartlet and garnish with frozen strawberry shavings. Delicious.
07 février 2006
Essence of summer
Last
week in Auckland was rather overcast and rainy. Days are getting
shorter. It's becoming harder to find strawberries in fruit and vege
stores..... Summer is slowly fading away
I then decided to make the most of summer flavours while it's still possible.
The
above layered cake is a decadent celebration of summer sweetness: Mango
cream, coconut custard and melon mousse stand high and proud in between
layers of soft sponge cake. Flavours and textures melt in your mouth in
a firework of tropical extravagansa.
I loved it, a really superb dessert.... but once again, I had no one to share this delight with
25 janvier 2006
SHF # 15 - Light as a cloud
Sugar Low Friday
White Sesame Mousse on pain d'épices and caramelised apricots.
My
first entry in a foodblog competition... I'm rather anxious. Reading
about sugar low Friday early January got me very excited, I had to be
part of it!
I had just came back from France then,
after two weeks of intense eating and drinking. Intense consumption of Foie Gras, chocolates
and wine had its impact on me... I was feeling like a diabetic
whale. This is why this challenge appealed so much to me.
Why sesame? well, I incresingly became a sesame fan over the past few months. Not savoury sesame, though. I think their biscuit-like flavour suits desserts better. I tried sesame panna cotta, sesame custard, sesame ice cream with nearly any combination of fresh fruit coulis. It has always been a winner.
Sesame adds a Japanese feel to the dessert. Japanese cuisine is always first in mind when dealing with low-fat,
low-sugar yet flavoursome and healthy desserts. It's also summertime
here in New Zealand and finding beautiful ripe fruits is a piece of cake, oops... watermelon.
I
like this mousse, it's very light and virtually fat free, which gives
it quite a melt-in-your-mouth, cloud-like texture. Delicious.
It's freely adapted from a custard recipe from Pierre Herme (Plaisirs Sucres). I swaped sugar for honey and cream for rice milk.
Basically the mousse is made of a sesame infused custard and whipped egg whites. (Sugar free).
I added a base of "Pain d'épices" (gingerbread) to the dessert. It is not necessary but it adds some texture to the mousse and its flavour works well with the sesame. It's free of "industrually engineered" sugar. Maple syrup gives a sweet note to the biscuit.
For a cup of custard you'll need:
-20cl of milk
-15cl of rice milk
-Sesame seeds
-2 teaspoons of honey
-2 eggs yolks
Toast sesame seeds until fragrant, add honey, leave for a minute or two, to caramelise. Then pour in milk and rice milk, bring to the boil and remove from heat. Let the flavours infuse for 1/2 hours.
Take the eggs yolks and whisk until thick.
Sift the liquid, discard sesame seeds and fold into eggs mixture. Place on very low heat and stir for 5/6 minutes or until the custard thickens. Remove from heat and stir slowly for another 5 minutes then pour into a bowl. (This bowl should be placed in a bigger bowl full of ice). Refrigerate overnight.
Mousse:
Beat eggs whites with a pinch of salt
untill peaks form on the surface. Take 1/3 and whisk vigourously into
custard. Add the rest a little bit at a time and fold gently. Place
mousse in fridge for at least 5 hours.
*Pierre Herme suggest the custard should warmed up before combining with the eggs whites.
Ginger Bread
-125g flour
-10cl milk
-Maple syrup
-Ground spices: Ginger, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon
-1 teaspoon baking soda (Dissolved in a little water)
-Olive oil
On low heat, melt maple syrup and milk.
Off heat add flour, mix well.
Add baking soda and spices and oil.
Bake on medium heat, 150°C for 30/35mins
Serve chilled with fruit coulis and/or caramelised fruits.
Thanks to Becks and Posh for this inspirational idea.
10 janvier 2006
Back for good
White Chocolate and Praline Mousse
I got back from France a few days ago. I had a great time, it was so good catching with my family and friends.
On
Boxing day, the temperature dropped to -7 degrees c to later reach a
freezing -16!! I did not have much chance to go food shopping under
these circumstances and only managed to bring back 2 bottles of
Champagne. (My parents live in Champagne).
Fortunately, I got a box
of praline coated in white chocolates for Christmas, I used to be
addicted to them. Leaving in New Zealand must have caused my taste buds
to change because this time I could not appreciate their taste so much.
I found them too sweet.
Back home I took some and slowly melted
them in rice milk. I then whipped the white of an egg and carefully
folded it into the white chocolate mixture (once it was nice and cold).
I ended up with a nice foamy texture that I poured in two ramequins and
placed in the fridge overnight.
I had a mousse for breakfast the
following morning. I was so pleased with the result: A nice light
texture, nutty flavour tinted with hints of white chocolate. Mouthfuls
of heaven!
12 décembre 2005
Chocolate Macarons
Here are the chocolate macarons I made for our photo shoot marathon on
Sunday. The macarons themselves don't look as good as the blackcurrent
ones I made last time but they tasted better: I reduced the amount of
sugar, they tasted of almonds and chocolate. As expected, the outside
was crispy while the center was soft. The filling is a white chocolate
ganache, orange flavoured. A very Christmassy dessert.
This photo is so nice, thank you James.
08 décembre 2005
An Angel at My Table
More Macarons!!
Theses ones are Ribena (blackcurrent)
flavoured and filled in with whipped white chocolate ganache. I followed the
below recipe to achieve this result. Each attempt makes me quite
nervous, it is still not a process I master.
This time I ended up with an amazing result, I'm thrilled.
I had a quick look at Pierre Herme's surreal PH10 (Oh Excalibur!). He seems to use humongous amounts of eggs whites and sugar... you're more likely to end up with an industrial production of macarons. My recipe roughly uses the same proportion of ingredients in smaller quantities.
- 100 g almound ground
- 125 g icing sugar
- 10 g starch
- 15 g castor sugar
- 2/3 (80g) egg whites
- A pinch of salt
- flavour. Use 20g bitter unsweetened chocolate powder for Chocolate Macarons
Let the egg white at room temperature for 24 hours.
Sift almond powder, add icing sugar and starch, sift again.
The mix should be very light. If it seems to be too moist, place it
into the oven for a few minutes to dry it. Extra dryness is the key to
sucess!
Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat until
foamy. Add a third of the castor sugar while beating and then,
gradually add the rest and increase the beating speed. Stop whipping
when the whites are firm and shiny.
Carefully add the almond
mix, little amounts at a time. Don't overmix, it will cause the batter
to be runny. And a runny batter means the macarons will not rise in the
oven, they'll just flatten and crack!!!
Be extremely careful, this is a crucial step: The batter should be dense. Picks should disolve slowly at the surface.
Tranfer part of the batter into a piping bag and form little
nut-like shapes on to a thick baking tray covered in baking paper. (If
the baking tray is too thin, the base will cook too fast, it'll be all
burnt and chewy).
Leave enough room between the macarons for them to expand.
Let them sit for at least 1 hour. Their surface will slightly dry out.
*From
what I read you could also put the macarons straight away in a very hot
oven and decrease the temperature:The outside is supposed to cook and
dry fast leaving the inside moist and soft. Well, let me tell you it
does not work in my little domestic, non-industrial oven. The macarons
flatten and look like large cookies. Not too mention that their pretty
crown base does not form.
Bake for 10/12min (140°C). Use the fan-bake option, if N/A, leave the over open using a wooden spoon and rotate the tray at half time.
When cooked slide some cold water under the baking paper, it'll help you taking the macarons off.
Pair macarons by size and sandwich with fruit coulis or chocolate ganache and refrigerate for 3 hours.