La bergamote, souvenirs sucrés – Tarte aux pommes, à la bergamote et confiture de framboises

I didn’t want to feature another dessert, but it was just impossible due the circumstances and to the encounter with an amazing citrus. I found the wonderful bergamot at my favorite store, which I never thought it was possible to find in the US. I am infatuated by bergamot scent and deeply in love with it. I just want to bathe in its scent and rub its peel all over my body.

Bergamot is quite famous in Nancy, my hometown… bergamot candies made with bergamot oil are a symbol of the city and the recipe is impossible to find, it’s somehow kept secrets among local “confiseurs” (specialists in making confiserie which include candies or any specialties made out of fruits, sugar or any sweet ingredient). They also make bergamot soaps that smell ridiculously good, you just want to eat them.

Bergamot scent is a pure delight, but very few eatable products contain that flavor, only Earl Grey tea, and some bergamot jam you can find locally in Nancy.  Bergamot is mainly used in perfumes, scents, essential oils, for healing purposes, etc.. and I am wondering why its use in cooking is not that popular, since its a citrus that looks like a big lemon with a smell and flavor that is pure delight. I know in some Moroccan dishes they used preserved bergamot instead of lemons, but that’s the extend of its use in the culinary world.

It ’s very easy to get addicted to bergamot once you taste it, so be careful to not sink into it and turn into a bergamot junkie, like I am.

These tarts are superb, flavorful, citrusy, a tiny tarts and slightly bitter but so “parfumées” it’s like eating your favorite perfume in a mouthful. Imagine your eating your favorite Chanel or Dior perfumes…Besides, there’s little sugar, so they’re very light. I used a standard mixed flour crust whose recipe you can find here. You have to try bergamot, but the side effects are dangerous, you might develop a strong addiction to it.

Ingredients for 10 tartlets

For the crust, recipe here

For the filling

• 1 bergamot juice and zest
• 6 medium apples, peeled and sliced
• sugar (to taste)
• 2 tbs raspberry jam

Preparation

For the crust follow recipe.

In a mixing bowl, mix apples slices with juice of one bergamot and zest. Add sugar. Mix well and let it infuse for about 2-30 minutes.

Roll crust and cut in about 10 cm diameter circles. Remove slices from bowl, drain and kee the juice. Set the juice aside. Place apples slices on the dough circles. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F for about 30 minutes or until the bottom is golden brown.

Remove from the oven and let it cool but keep lukewarm.

Add raspberry jam to the bergamot juice you saved. Mix well to obtain a smooth mixture. Place one tsp of raspberry/bergamot mixture on top of the apples. Serve lukewarm.

Desserts apple tart, bergamot, Dessert, nancy, raspberry jam, tarts

Une ancienne tarte – Tartelettes sucrées au pavot

This tart is an old specialty from Lorraine, to be more precise, the city of Toul (a very small town near Nancy), which no one in the US probably knows where it is nor how to pronounce it…nothing wrong with it, since most French people don’t know it either (as far as the location is concerned). What is Toul famous for? probably some Gris de Toul, a dry white wine, and its cathedral.

Originally this dessert has another layer of dough on top, so technically it’s a tourte instead of a tarte, a tourte is somehow the equivalent of a pie, because of the top layer of dough. Poppy seeds are supposed to help with digestion, and its use is quite common in Alsace-Lorraine, Austria, Hungary, and Central Europe’s cuisines. Some poppy seed tarts are savory, mixed with cheese, but the use of poppy seeds is very common in sweet desserts also. The original recipe has no sugar, due to the fact that in the last century, sugar was considered to be a luxury ingredient among peasants, and no one could afford it. Even though poppy seeds tend to be naturally sweet, I just could not imagine a so called “sweet” tart without sugar, so I added some in the filling and also I sprinkled it with orange sugar when cooked.

The poppy seeds need to be crushed into some sort of a paste, that’s the only way you get to taste the subtlety of the poppy seed flavors and its beautiful blue color. I crushed it, but still wanted to keep a bit of the crunchy texture, so in this case it’s a semi-paste.

In the past, poppy seeds were also used as herbal mixture to make some sedative and calming drink, then due to many fatal mistakes in dosage when given to babies, they decided to stop its use.

I made a regular dough of 300 g that is enough for a large tart for 6-8 people, since I only made 4 tartlets, I had leftover dough. You can adjust quantities accordingly or use the extra dough for some other fruit tarts.

The crust is a mixture of various flours which is something I usually do, it gives the crust a very distinct and subtle taste, I stopped using just plain white flours in crusts.

Ingredients for 4 tartlets

For the crust (enough for 8 tartlets)

• 5.29 oz (or 150 g) white flour
• 1.76 oz (or 50 g) almond flour
• 1.76 oz (or 50 g) quinoa flour
• 1.41 oz (or 40 g) sugar
• 3.52 oz (or 100 g) butter, diced
• 1 yolk
• some water

For the filling (for 4 tartlets)

• 4.23 oz (or 120 g) poppy seeds
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 5 tbs almond flour
• 6 tbs sugar
• 5 tbs crème fraîche or heavy cream
• orange sugar for sprinkling
• sliced almond for sprinkling

Preparation

For the crust

In a mixing bowl, combine all flours together, add sugar, mix well. Add yolk, butter and water (the equivalent of what you removed in the white part of the eggs), mix well but not too much, in order to form a nice ball. Wrap in a plastic film, and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 min.

For the filling

Boil milk and pour on top of poppy seeds. Soak the seeds in milk and let them absorb the milk. Crush them using a mortar. You need to get somehow a semi-paste.

Place seeds in a mixing bowl, add sugar eggs, almond flour and cream. Mix well.

Roll dough and place in individual tartlet molds. Fill with the poppy seed mixture and cook in a pre-heated oven at 365-370F for about 25 minutes, until the bottom of the crust is golden brown, but make sure to not overcook the filling, or it will dry out.

Remove from the oven. Let them cool, and sprinkle with orange sugar and sliced almonds.

Desserts almond, Dessert, poppy seed tart, toul, traditional dessert

Pour faire vivre les traditions – Gâteau au chocolat de Metz

I doubt that anyone living in the US knows the city of Metz (pronounced Mess, even the majority of French people pronounce the “T” which is incorrect)…I know it because I went to school there and it’s located 50 km from Nancy where I grew up, and very close to the German border.

Basically, Metz and Nancy are rivals in almost everything, from their soccer team, to their opera house, to their architecture, their “green city” title, etc…They’re 50 kilometers apart and yet very different architecturally, each city is very unique, and has a different feel to it. The funny thing is that they hate each other, and Messins (people from Metz) and Nancéiens (people from Nancy) can argument that their city is much better than the other one with a violent passion.

In my opinion and without being biased, Nancy is brighter with its Art Nouveau, and École de Nancy style, Stanislas Square, Vielle ville (old town) etc…Now Metz has pretty architecture as well, very massive but more on the Germanic style, heavier, but very quaint and chic. One thing I love about Metz is their delicious specialty desserts, and this one is an example. Of course, growing up in Nancy I tend to defend my city. Is it wrong? Probably because Metz is somehow linked to memories about the time I was in business school which I hated, so I would on purpose miss the train in the morning, to go back home.

One day, I was researching on the internet the life our King Stanislas to somehow refresh my memory, and almost by miracle I found this wonderful blog called “Du Miel et Du Sel” a poetic cuisine and recipe blog, beautifully written by a talented food journalist and cookbook writer, Marie-Claire Frédéric. She also publishes recipes on Cuisine Actuelle magazines that are sold in the US as well. For the Francophone, her blog is a pure delight to read and her recipes simple, elegant or traditional but always incredibly delicious.

I wanted to feature this dessert that somehow intrigued me, not because it came from Metz, but because it looked so fluffy despite the absence of baking powder. Besides this is an ancient cake with no butter or oil, the fat comes from the cream so you won’t get a greasy heavy cake like our modern ones. This one is incredibly moist, so light and fluffy, you need to try it to believe it. I was doubtful first, but will make this cake again.

I have a friend from Germany coming for dinner tonight, so this gâteau au chocolat is perfect and might remind her of home too!

Merci Marie-Claire, le gâteau etait succulent!

Ingredients for 6-8 people

• 4.40 oz (or 125 g) dark chocolate, cut in small pieces or grated
• 4 eggs
• 5.20 oz (or 150 g) sugar
• 4.40 oz (or 125 g) flour
• 7.05 oz (or 200 g) crème fraîche (no heavy cream, it’s too liquid)
• powdered sugar for decoration

Preparation

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar for over 5 minutes until they triple volume. They need to become white and fluffy (like a Génoise technique).

Grate chocolate, I chopped finely chocolate chips so they will incorporate to the dough very well.

Add very carefully chocolate to the egg/sugar mixture, fold flour carefuly, then proceed with cream. You want to keep the mixture fluffy and light.

Butter a non-stick deep dish pan. Pour mixture and cook for about 40 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 370F.

Let it cool, remove from pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Desserts cake, chocolate, chocolate cake, Dessert, french, Metz

Le petit croustillant du lundi – Croustillant chaud de mangue, banane et ananas, crème au mascarpone

I adore filo dough but never use it. Do you believe it? I can drool over appetizers and desserts made with filo dough but when it’s time to buy it, I always forget or buy something else. So people would say, then you just don’t adore it. It’s like saying I adore this friend but I never call her, then you don’t love her that much. In French we use the word adore quite often and is not as strong as its equivalent in English. It’s used as Americans would use “I love”. J’adore la nutella!!

It’s a shame not to use filo dough more often because it’s lighter than its cousin “Puff Pastry”. It has a very delicate crispy texture, and makes beautiful sweet and savory dishes. One sheet has 30 calories and I used about one sheet per crisp if you want to keep completely light, you can just omit the mascarpone cream, but I would not recommend it, it completes the crisp to perfection.

The particularity of this filo dough is that it’s wholewheat, so basically, you’ll get a light dessert, extremely tasty, warm and crispy that will satisfy any sweet cravings. My other “secret” ingredient is vanilla powder, which I adore, oui j’adore la poudre de vanille!!!! I almost use it in all my desserts. It’s vanilla bean ground that is perfect to replace the actual vanilla bean.

The combination of mango and banana’s textures complete one another, also pineapple adds a little extra exotic touch to the crisp. You need to select fruits that are not too ripe, or in the sauté process, especially the banana and mangoes will get mushy.

You can serve it warm at room temperature or lukewarm, then you need to serve it immediately or the cream will start melting.

Ingredients for 3 crisps

• 1/4 pineapple, cut in small sliced (1 inch size)
• 1 mango, peeled and cut in small slices (1 inch size)
• 1 banana, sliced
• 3 whole wheat filo dough sheets, cut in 6 squares
• 1 tbs sugar
• 2 tbs mascarpone
• 2.7 fl oz (or 80 ml) heavy cream
• vanilla powder
• 1 tsp powder sugar
• 1 tsp butter + 1 tsp melted for the filo dough

Preparation

Cut all the fruits, add sugar and saute in butter for about 5-7 minutes. remove from the pan.

Using a brush, apply melted butter in one filo dough sheet, then cut dough in 6 identical squares.

Place the 6 squares in a ramequin or small muffin trays (then insted of 3 crisp, you’ll make 6 due to the smaller size of the muffin trays). Divide fruits in each ramequin and cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F for about 15-20 minutes or until the filo dough is golden brown.

remove from the oven and let it cool.

Whip heavy cream and add powder sugar at the end, add mascarpone and keep beating a little more. Add vanilla bean powder.

Serve each crisp with one tsp of mascarpone cream on top.

Desserts banana, crisp, Dessert, filo dough, fruit, mango, mascarpone cream, pineapple

Una fetta, due fette, dieci fette – Fettine con mandorle della Signora Lucia

That is a traditional Italian “dry”cookie, maybe what is called in the US, “biscotti” – Biscotti in Italian literally means cookies, and is more a generic word for cookies than for that type of sliced bread shape with almonds.

Growing up, we loved to bake those and made them all year long, not for any particular occasion. There is always a container filled with fettine at my parents’ house to offer anyone who drops by to have a coffee since that’s what people do, they stop by for a coffee and chit chat. Thing that no one has ever done in my house, stop by for a coffee, maybe that’s not an American thing. Besides Starbucks is right around the corner. They opened a few Starbucks in Paris and people love it. I think Starbucks concept of what they serve is more what I call a dessert rather than coffee, sure they do sell coffee but the large variety of the other items on their menu is definitely dessert-type of drink.

Like any other cookies, those can be stored in a air-tight container for a long time, so when you have a made a batch, you have enough biscotti to entertain half an army. Those are great with coffee or tea, you can also dip them in sweet white wine, or Vin Santo which is a Tuscan dessert wine (and also available in the US).

Ingredients for about 30 fettine

• 14 oz (or 400 g) flour
• 3 eggs
• 7.5 oz (or 200 g) sugar
• 7.5 oz (or 200 g) whole almonds unpeeled
• 1.76 oz (or 50 g) butter, melted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbs anise seeds or zest of 1 orange

Preparation

In a mixing container mix flour and baking powder, then add sugar, eggs and butter. Add orange zest or anise seeds, and almonds at the end. Roll the dough to get 2 baguettes shape and bake in oven for 30 min at 360F.

Remove from the oven, let it cool a little and slice while still hot in small slices about 1 cm thick (0.4 inches). Place them back on your tray and put in the oven to let it dry for another 5-10 minutes. Remove from the oven, let it cool and place in air-tight container.

Desserts biscotti, Desserts, fettine con mandorle, Italian dry cookie

Douceurs blanches dans un pot – Yaourts Figues-Vanille et Pomme-Kiwi

I have been back to the US since last Friday and one thing that I already start missing is the yogurt. If you haven’t tried homemade yogurts, you haven’t tasted the goodness of what a real yogurt can be. I have always been nostalgic about the wonderful yogurts you can find in France in the yogurt/dairy section in any supermarket area. There are about four full aisles of yogurts and dairy specialties of dairy and non dairy fresh desserts. I am in heaven. Yogurts in the US tend to be on the boring side and quite frankly not very good. I tasted all of the brands, and I always remain faithful to Strauss, their European called yogurt. It seems like all yogurts contain gelatin and taste artificial especially the flavored ones, so I stick to the plain kind.

Yogurt making is like bread making in France right now, two nationwide spread trends. So after going to FNAC, a bookstore/electronics store, and spending hours on the cook book section, I run into an intriguing book on making yogurts, and I decided to buy it.

After landing in the U S of A and going through customs with half a supermarket in my suitcase, I realized that I had no yogurt maker. Yogurts can be made in many other ways if you don’t have a yogurt maker, like using a pressure cooker, an oven, etc…but I just wanted a yogurt maker and not go through a few times of failing the yogurts, like it happened before. So on day 2, I went to buy a yogurt maker and if you are a yogurt “freak” like me, it’s a good investment. In a next post, I will explain how to make yogurts without a yogurt maker, in case you don’t have one since I suspect many people don’t have one. It’s a little more tricky but it does work.

I used approximately the recommended proportions I found on the book called “Yaourts” from Solar Editions, then I somehow flavored them according to my tastes. You can use any fruit you like.

The great thing about making yogurt is that you can play around with different milks, spices and fruits. For this first attempt, I used fat free milk, but next time I will use the 2% fat and see the difference. The only inconvenient is that it takes about 10 hours to have your yogurts ready, but then you get seven of them. You can use either a plain yogurt or yogurt ferments for your mixture.

Ingredients for 7 yogurts

• 2 kiwis, peeled and cut in small cubes
• 1/2 granny smith apple, peeled and cut in small cubes
• 4.4 oz (or 125 g) black figs, peeled and well ripe
• vanilla powder
• 2 tbs sugar
• 3.38 cups milk (or 800 ml) whole, skim or half-skimmed
• 6 tps evaporated milk (canned or in powder)
• 1 regular plain yogurt

Preparation

If you are using fruits at the bottom, I suggest to start preparing them beforehand. Peel figs and cut in small cubes, add sugar and let it cook until it becomes into a smooth consistency. Add vanilla and let it cool. Proceed the same way with the apples and kiwis (without the use of vanilla).

Remove milk from the refrigerator and keep it room temperature for a while. In a mixing container, mix milk and yogurt. Add evaporated milk. Mix well.

Place 2 tbs of fruit sauce in each jar, add milk mixture and place in yogurt maker as per instructions. Do not close jars with lids. I kept those for 9 hours in the machine since I used non-fat milk. If you are using regular milk, or half-skimmed milk, you need to leave the yogurts about 7-8 hours. When the machine has stopped, put lids on and place in the refirgerator for 3 hours.

Desserts, Vegetarian - dairy apple, dairy, figs, fruit, homemade yogurt, kiwi, vanilla, yogurt

Simplement Irrésistibles – Bouchées à la noix de coco ou macarons?

The weather is getting a little warmer than the past days and the snow is melting which did not prevent me from going shopping today for warm clothes since I realized that my suitcase is filled with summery clothes. Eh oui, c’est l’hiver! During this cold weather, my mom bakes, since visitors keep dropping by my parents house to chit chat, and sweets are always welcome.

Another one of my mom’s favorites…those small coconut macarons. They’re very small, about 1.5 inch wide so you can put a few in your mouth at once and still have room. Bouche means mouth so bouchées refers to something that fits in your mouth.

I have always loved macarons growing up, and many boulangeries (bakeries) still sell them here. What we call macarons in this region of France is not the traditional macarons that look like round little sandwiches filled with cream, like the Parisian macaron you can find in Paris at Ladurée that come in different flavors.

Nancy’s Macaron is a round shaped cookie made out of coconut or almond. Macarons in Nancy is a specialty and sold in many specialty stores, you can find them in some other regions of France as well and but with a different recipe and therefore texture. Macaron de Nancy is a specialty from this town, and was created in 1793 by two Benedictine nuns also called “Soeurs macaron” Sisters macaron. The recipe of the macaron was kept secret and transmitted throughout the centuries, there is still a street in Nancy called Rue des Soeurs Macarons, Macaron Sister Street.

Knowing how much Catherine of Medici brought from Italy to France, we can also assume that Macaron was brought to France from Italy since its name macaron derives from Maccarone, but its origin is still controverted.

This recipe is quick and easy to make requiring just a few ingredients. So if you love coconut as much as I do, you’ll love those little mini macarons, that go perfectly well with sweet dessert wine or champagne.

Ingredients for 24 bites

• 1 tbs flour
• 3.52 oz (or 100 g) sugar
• 5.30 oz (or 150 g) coconut flakes
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs quince jam

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, mix flour, sugar and coconut. Add aggs to the mixture and stir until you obtain a smooth paste. Add quince jam, and stir. Fill in your mini silicon molds, or other individual mini molds. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 360F until the macarons have turned golden brown. Let them cool and remove from molds

Desserts bites, coconut, Dessert, macarons, macaroons

Une ancienne tradition – La galette des Rois

Yes, it’s this time of the year again. Every January 6, in France we celebrate La Galette des Rois (rois = kings), for the pleasure of kids and adults too. I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t like Galette des Rois. It’s this sweet thing that even non-sweet tooth do enjoy to eat too.

Galette des Rois is an ancient tradition that refers to Epiphany which is a catholic tradition that goes back to the IV century. Every catholic church celebrates Epiphany on Jan 6. Before Christianity, this celebration was for the apparition of the Greek God Dyonisos who was attached to seasons, he died during the decline of vegetation and would resuscitate with the light. Basically, I think it’s called Twelfth Night in English referring to 12 days after Christmas.

Epiphany derives from Greek that means “event” and refers to the birth of Jesus. Epiphany refers to to acceptance by the Magi (The Three Wise Men) of Jesus being the Messiah.

Galette des Rois was starting to be popular already in the XIV century. Its round shape referred to the cult of the sun of the Saturnales, a pagan celebration. Galette des Rois is split into equal parts, you have as many parts as there are guests, with an extra slice for anyone who would drop by. Inside the galette, a “fève” (I think it’s called charm in English) is hidden, and the one who gets it, is the King and gets to wear the crown. This ritual goes back to Roman times when during a feast, one king was randomly picked by hiding a black or white coin in the food. The one finding it, would become king.

If you look at the picture, you can see a “fève” in the middle of the filling, the one who finds this in his slice, gets celebrated king. All bakeries in France sell Galettes des Rois with a paper golden crown during this time of the year, so that the celebrated King can wear it. Then the king gets to pick his queen. Nowadays, its religious meaning has been a little lost, and everyone enjoys a good Galette despite its religion. Since Galette des Rois is only sold during this time of the year, if you are a Galette lover, you can make it any time.

A galette is made of two puff pastry sheets, with a mixture in between those sheets of almond paste, eggs, sugar and butter and other minor ingredients such as rum or almond extract.

Ingredients for a Galette of 6-8 people

• 2 puff pastry sheets
• 3.52 oz (or 100 g) soft butter
• 5.20 oz (or 150 g) sugar
• 2 eggs
• 7 oz (or 200 g) almond powder
• almond extract
• 1 tbs rum
• 1 tbs crème fraîche
• 1 egg yolk

Preparation

In a mixing container, mix almond powder with butter, sugar, eggs, almond extract, rum and crème fraîche to obtain a smooth consistency. In a round non stick tart tray, place pastry sheets, then pour mixture on sheet, place second sheet on top and seal sides. With a fork, make holes on top crust and form stripes vertically and horizontally with a ravioli cutter to create a square pattern.

With a brush, spread yolk on top of crust to make it golden. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F until the Galette is cooked and golden brown for about 30 minutes.

Desserts almond, almond powder, Dessert, galette des rois

Une simple histoire de pommes – Flan vanillé aux pommes

Not sure what I like best, vegetable flans or fruit flans…

The French love flans, for the simple reason that they’re just too good. I bought too many apples and needed to do something with them. The thought of more apple cakes, apple tarts, baked apples, and last night apple papillotes, did not inspire me at all. When I am in that particular mood, I cannot put my mind to rest until I start coming up with something, just like an obsession. I am sometimes possessed by the cooking devil, that’s what I like to call it.

Nothing complicated in these flans, simple ingredients for irresistible little bites. Their particularity is that apples are reduced in a “compote” then mashed in a purée type of texture. I did not use sliced apples, so the apple flavors are well blended in the flan and adds great texture to it. As any fruit based dessert, they’re very light and are guilt-free desserts, so no need to worry about calories. Maybe some of you guys don’t worry about it but I do, so winner desserts for me are the ones that are light, un-greasy that satisfy sweet cravings. I hate to feel stuffed at the end of a meal, such an unpleasant and unsexy feeling. After eating the five of them, I felt as light as a feather.  So for those who are somehow health conscious, I would recommend those apple flans.

Ingredients for 5 flans

• 2 eggs
• 2 medium size apples or 4 small ones, peeled and sliced
  
• 100 ml milk
• 2 tbs sugar
• 2 tbs flour
• 2 tbs crème fraîche or heavy cream
  
• vanilla extract
• vanilla powder

Preparation

Place apple in a pot, add one tbs water and cook at low heat until the apples are cooked and reduced into a compote. Then mash with a potato masher to make it into a puree. Let them cool down.

In a mixing bowl, add apple compote, sugar, eggs, milk, cream, vanilla extract and powder and flour. Mix well to obtain an homogenous batter.

In individual silicon molds, pour batter in each mold and cook in a pre-heated oven for about 20-30 minutes until the flan are cooked. Let them cool and refrigerate for a couple of hours.

Desserts apple, Dessert, flan, french, vanilla

Aussi jolies que des perles – Crème de tapioca à la noix de coco et compote de mangues

I was reading a French Elle magazine, I like Elle because they always have a great food/recipe section at the end called “Elle à Table” with fresh and modern recipes and tons of flavors. I got stuck on a tapioca cream recipe picture with a raspberry coulis. It looked so beautiful that I felt like eating the paper. I got inspired by Elle’s recipe for this one, eventhough I did not use the same ingredients or quantities, they somehow gave me the idea to mix fruits and tapioca. It’s a fresh and light dessert, perfect as a little treat after a heavy dinner, because as we say in French, “il faut toujours laisser une petite place pour le dessert” (you always need to leave a little space for dessert) not matter how heavy your meal was. I am not really too much into desserts, but I love fruit based desserts like this one, with a little exotic touch you get with the coconut.

In France, we use tapioca in soups, it’s not very common to see it in sweet dishes but it works perfectly well with coconut in sweet desserts. You can use raspberries instead of mango, they both tastes equally delicious.

I finally bought a car, it’s funny how a car can give you this feeling of freedom, I realized that when I no longer had one. So finally I can go shopping at my favorite grocery stores not accessible to public transportation. In Paris, public transportation is great and you don’t need a car, but even though San Francisco has a decent public transportation, a car is somehow not a luxury if you work in some parts of town.

Ingredients for 2 verrines

• 2.82 oz (or 80 g) tapioca
• 7.4 fl oz (or 220 ml) coconut milk
• 1.7 fl oz (or 50 ml) milk
• 3 tbs heavy cream
• 2.82 oz (or 80 g) sugar
• 1 mango
• zest and juice of one lemon

Preparation

Peel mango. Keep 4 slices aside for decoration, and cut the rest in cubes, add 1 tbs sugar and lemon juice and cook for about 7 minutes until it becomes a compote. Set aside

Cook tapioca in boiling water for about 5 minutes, to remove all the extra starch, then drain.

Heat milk, coconut milk and cream, add sugar, then add tapioca pearls, let it cook until tapioca becomes transparent.

Add some lemon zest, keep some for decoration.

Place mango compote in a glass and top with cream of tapioca, let it cool and place in the refrigerator. Decorate with mango slices, and extra lemon zests.

Desserts coconut, cream of tapioca, Dessert, fruit, mango, tapioca