Posts tagged Dessert
Sunday dessert – Espresso pot de crème
Jan 14th
Dessert du dimanche – Pot de crème à l’expresso
This is my last post before my trip to France, I am leaving on Monday to fly to Nancy (Lorraine) to visit my parents as every January. Hopefully I will get a lot of inspiration while at home and post some exciting recipes. In the meantime, I wanted to make these pots de crème for such a long time and les voilà!
I already talked about Le Garage, this wonderful little French restaurant in Sausalito, that serve delicious and fresh brunches (if you are in the bay Area I strongly recommend it) besides, their bread is absolutely the best in the Bay Area. Last Sunday, I ordered a pot de crème a l’expresso served with financiers (little almond cakes) for dessert, and I fell in love with them. Now that is my ultimate favorite treat after lunch. Pot de crème is literally translated into “cream jar” or “cream pot” and they come in many flavors, chocolate, caramel vanilla, etc…
I have tried many versions as an attempt to reproduce the same pots de crème, the first tentative was more like a flan than a creme, too much coffee and not sweet enough. The ratio milk/cream and egg was not right. There were too many eggs for the quantity of milk/cream. So I decreased half the eggs for the same quantity of milk/cream and they turned out too liquid. So I finally found the right ratio after a few tentatives. When you have the right quantities it’s such an easy dessert to prepare, so simple and quick too.
These pots de crème are delightful and if you like coffee, you’ll be in heaven. I will make these on a regular basis from now on.
Ingredients for 3-4 pots de crème (depending on the size of the cups)
- 10.14 fl oz (or 300 ml) milk
- 3.38 fl oz (or 100 ml) cream
- 1.41 oz (or 40 g) sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 yolk
- 1 small espresso cup of espresso
Preparation
Pre-heat oven at 320F
In pot, mix cream, milk, sugar, and coffee and let it boil. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs and yolk well. Pour the milk mixture on top of the eggs and stir well.
Strain mixture to remove the foam and pour in small cups.
Place in a water bath and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. remove from oven and let cool. Place cups in refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Serve with a dollop of creme fraîche in the center and sprinkle with coca powder, or coffee beans.
Simplissime – Banana, caramel and rum pudding
Dec 10th
Simplissime – Pudding à la banane, caramel et rhum
If you are not a cook, nor a pastry chef, this would be for you…How a dessert can more simple? Besides, it’s quite light, so in my book all the attributes to be called a perfect dessert. I think as a “petite chose sucrée“, a little sweet thing to serve when you have unplanned guests and no time to prepare a more complex dessert. You can also eat this as a snack with tea, the cups are small, about 2 1/2 inches height so in a few spoonfuls, you’re done.
I believe that you should not skip on anything, not fat, not sugar, so obviously not dessert either but eat small portions. That is the key to maintain a healthy body, and keeping a weight down (and of course exercising). I don’t believe on those restrictive diets that will make you lose weight, make you moody and miserable, then gain all the weight back, due to uncontrollable cravings. Maybe that is my French background that is talking this way, but so far it has shown to be efficient.
Of course, there can be many variations, such as replacing the banana with pears, pineapple, or any other fruit you like. Also, instead of the caramel, you can use chocolate, since chocolate and banana have been made for each other. For the caramel, you can use the one you buy at the store, I found some delicious caramel à la fleur de sel in a small jar at the Rainbow Market, that added a nice touch to it.
This pudding will be classified in my “ à refaire souvent” (to be made often) category due to its easiness and deliciousness ratio. It’s creamy, flavorful and light…just the way I love my desserts.
Ingredients for 4
- 4 slices brioche
- 1 banana, peeled and sliced
- 4 tsp caramel
- 4 tbs raisins
- 3 eggs
- 3 tbs sugar
- 1/2 cream
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tbs rum
Preparation
In a mixing container, combine eggs, sugar, milk, cream, rum and vanilla. Mix well to obtain a homogenous consistency. Using some small glasses (the ones than can be placed in the oven of course), start putting together the pudding. lay banana slices at the bottom of the glasses, then add raisins (previously soaked in rum), add brioche and proceed the same way with the other layer.
At the end of the process, you need to finish up with the brioche on top and not the banana. Pour the egg/milk mixture on top to cover the brioche.
Cook in a bain-marie (water bath) for about 25 minutes at 380F until the top is golden. Remove from the oven and let it cool, sprinkle with vanilla powder or powdered sugar and eat cold (not lukewarm) or at room temperature
Birthday treat – Verrines of pain d’épices, peach compote and fromage blanc mousse
Oct 15th
Gourmandise pour un anniversaire – Verrines de pain d’épices, compote de pêches et mousse au fromage blanc
Another year is going by, who likes getting older? I don’t and people who say they do, I am not sure they really mean it…yesterday was my birthday and I got up with a massive headache! So I still decided to treat myself thinking that one of those mini desserts, will make me feel better. When and if you make pain d’épices, you open the door to many preparations. I could not resist to make those mini desserts after I made pain d’épices. They’re not sweet, but very light and terribly delicious. Of course, they’re tiny so you can easily eat a few. That glass is actually about 2 inches tall, or a bit smaller, so with a few spoonful, you can finish it up.
Mini desserts are great for parties, you eat one and it’s not stuffy, no one likes the feeling of being stuffed (I don’t), the feeling of being satisfied is much more pleasant in my opinion. The mousse is so light and the fruity compote combined with spicy cake makes it the perfect trio.
Ingredients for 6 small verrines
For the Fromage blanc mousse
- 1 egg
- 1 tbs sugar
- 4 tbs fromage blanc or Fage Greek yogurt
For the peach compote
- 2 yellow peaches, peeled and cut in small cubes
- 1 tsp brown sugar (or to taste)
- a few drops of vanilla extract
For the pain d’épices – see recipe here
Preparation
For the mousse
Separate yolk from white and place in different containers. Add sugar to the yolks and beat until the mixture turns white and creamy and doubles volume. Beat the whites in a stiff consistency. Carefully add the whites to the yolk/fromage blanc mixture.
For the peach compote
Cook peaches with sugar and vanilla for about 15 min or until they turn soft and mushy. Let it cool down.
In a small glass, place one tbs or tsp (depending on the size of the glass) of crumbled pain d’épices, add 1 tps or tsp of peach compote, then add fromage blanc mousse. Repeat process twice until you reach top of the glass. Eat at room temperature or cold.
Pâte à Choux, part II – Divine Chouquettes
Aug 19th
Pâte à Choux, 2ème partie – Divines Chouquettes
After gougères, I thought to continue with pâte à choux and make something special for the sweet tooth crowd: Des Chouquettes! It’s basically the sweet version of gougères with a sweet dough and sprinkled with pearl sugar. Chouqettes in France are as famous as the Eiffel Tower. They had a contest last year in Paris about which bakery would make the best chouquettes. So if you’re in Paris and decide to try the best chouquettes in the city, check this article. Sorry it’s in French but they give you the address! I added some orange blossom water for a little twist, but traditional chouquettes are plain, with no flavoring. I recommend trying the traditional ones the first time you make them, then you can play around with the flavors.
You have to get a specific texture, inside and outside, right color, etc…so making great chouquettes is not always that easy. Every boulangerie in France sells them, by the 100 g, but of course, hard to leave with only a 100 grams!
I can assure you that those are always a crowd pleaser…bring them at any party or dinner, you will be the star of the evening. Besides what’s a cuter name than chouquette???
Ingredients for about 24 chouquettes
- 4.20 fl oz (or 125 ml) water
- 4.4 oz (or 125 g) white flour
- 1 tbs orange blossom water (optional)
- 2.4 oz (or 70 g) butter
- one pinch salt
- 1.9 oz (or 55 g) sugar
- 4 eggs (+1 one for brushing)
- pearl sugar
Preparation
Place water, sugar, butter and orange blossom water in a pot. Bring to a boil and remove from stove. Add flour gradually and whisk well to obtain a smooth dough. At this point the dough will thicken. Put the pot back on the stove and keep stirring until the dough detaches from the sides of the pot and dies out a bit. Remove from stove. Let it cool for a few minutes.
Add eggs one at a time and incorporate into the dough, to obtain a smooth dough/batter.
Place dough in a piping bag, and on a cookie tray, form small balls the size of a walnut. Brush the top with a yolk, and decorate with pearl sugar.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 380F for about 20-25 minutes.
Pause-café – Matcha tea financier with grilled peaches and strawberry coulis
Aug 5th
Financier au thé vert, pêches grillées et coulis de fraises
Financiers are a traditional individual little French cakes made with almond powder and brown butter. Usually they’re rectangular but I gave them their original round shape. They’re sometimes called Visitandines, due to their original fabrication by Visitandines nuns. They used to be round like these ones but became rectangular over the years and especially after arriving in Switzerland where the Swiss decided to make them rectangular.
Financier in French also refers to people working in the finance field. It’s been said that these tiny cakes were created by a pastry chef or what we call pâtissier so that finance people would not make their fingers dirty while eating them. I don’t know if it’s true, but I think that there is always something true in popular ear-say.
After surfing the wonderful site called l’Atelier des Chefs, I saw this little dessert that tempted me and I decided to try it out. Do not hesitate to make these financiers, they’re delightful. I only substituted agave nectar to powdered sugar in the coulis which adds a more natural and flavorful touch, other than that the recipe remained the same.
Since peaches are in season, it’s the perfect time to grill them and eat them warm with these green tea cakes…and what’s better than a strawberry coulis to add the final touch? nothing. These mini cakes are very moist and absolutely perfect for any occasion.
Ingredients for about 10 financiers
For the Financiers
- 2.82 oz (or 80 g) almond flour or powder
- 1.76 oz (or 50 g) white flour
- 0.35 oz (or 10 g) matcha green tea powder
- 6.17 oz (or 175 g) powder sugar
- 5.29 oz (or 150 g) egg whites (about 3)
- 5.29 oz (or 150 g) butter
For the coulis and peaches
- 6 peaches
- 1/2 lb (or 250 g) strawberries
- agave nectar
Preparation
For the financiers
In a mixing container combine all ingredients except butter. Melt butter in a pan and let it brown. Do not let if cook too long until it becomes too dark. It needs to have a nice nutty color. Let it cool and add to the other ingredients. Divide the batter in muffin molds (fill in the molds to half). Cook in a pre heated oven at 180C.
For the coulis, blend strawberries with agave nectar.
Cut peaches in slices and grill on a skillet on both sides.
Serve financiers with grilled peaches and strawberry coulis.
In season – Roasted white peaches with Grand Marnier, honey and rosemary
Jul 12th
De saison – Pêches blanches rôties au Grand Marnier, miel et romarin
My favorite fruit is finally back in season! Cannot get tired of eating peaches…Of course, we don’t need to do anything to the fruit to enjoy a juicy and sweet peach, but sometimes we can turn them into an elegant and delightful little dessert by roasting them. I love to grill roast, saute, poach, or anything you can think of, just like a vegetable.
I haven’t been able to blog nor read anyone’s blog as much as I would like simply because I am too busy at the moment, cooking and preparing menus, and I thought summer would slow down, which seems to be just the opposite. I still think with my French mind, where in France everything slows down during summer, because everyone goes on vacation, so July and August are dead.
When I have a little time, I always enjoy posting some new recipe, even if it’s something as simple as that. Sometimes, a warm roasted peach enhanced with honey and Grand Marnier is all you need to make your day perfect. It did it for me today, despite the same old San Francisco gloomy summer weather. I haven’t used Grand Marnier in desserts for years, and I remember when I was growing up in France, they sold Grand Marnier flavored yogurts from Yoplait, and my aunt was going crazy about them. Doesn’t this sound funny to have a yogurt with a liquor flavor? I guess in the US, you’ll need to show an ID to get those yogurts!
If you buy the kind of peaches that are hard to peel, cut the in half and place them in boiling water for 30 seconds. They’ll peel very easily.
You can serve this with vanilla ice cream and butter cookies and it will make truly a wonderful dessert.
Ingredients for 4
- 4 white peaches
- 1 tbs salted butter
- 2 tbs lavender honey
- 1/3 tsp vanilla powder
- 2 tbs Grand Marnier
- 1 sprig rosemary, chopped
Preparation
Peel peaches, and cut in half. Melt butter in a pan and brown peaches on both sides at high temperature. Don’t let the peaches overcook or they’ll get mushy. Add honey and decrease temperature. Sprinkle with vanilla powder. Add rosemary, and stir for one 30 seconds or so. Pour Grand Marnier, and flame. Divide in bowls and eat warm. How simple is that? Almost as simple as eating it!
Mango-Tango – Mango pudding with coconut milk and raspberries
Jun 3rd
Mango-Tango – Pudding de mangues au lait de coco et fraises
Here is a refreshing pudding for the summer, filled with fruits and exotic flavors. My lovely neighbor Rui gave me this mango pudding a couple of months ago and I fell in love with it. This is an Asian dessert, served in many Chinese or Indonesian restaurants. It’s usually topped with condensed milk. Of course, there are many recipes, some of them use condensed milk, some others coconut milk, some add mango pieces inside the pudding…so there are a lot of variations to this dessert. The last time I had one of those mango puddings was at a Chinese restaurant, and it was topped with condensed milk. What a delight!
This pudding is creamy in the inside, so if you like it more gelatinous and hard, add more agar-agar (or gelatin). Instead of condensed milk I poured coconut milk that I sweetened with a tiny touch of sugar. So for those who like coconut, please try it, it’s such a wonderful combination. I ran into so many people who don’t like coconut lately, how is that possible? I thought coconut was like chocolate, one of those things that is universally loved. I was wrong.
If you want to make this dessert vegan, instead of condensed milk, use coconut milk and agar agar instead of gelatin, it will work perfectly fine.
I am due for my bi-yearly trip to France visiting my parents. I will try to post something before I leave on June 8, if not then I will post new recipes while I am there. I am so excited to get all the new summer fruits, and hopefully get lots of fruity recipes.
Ingredients for 6-7
- 2 large and well ripe mangoes, peeled and cut in pieces
- 1 2/3 cups evaporated milk
- 3 packs of gelatin powder (or the equivalent of agar agar) dissolved in water
- 1/3 cups agave nectar
- 1 cup coconut milk (for topping) + sugar to taste
- 1 cup fresh raspberries
Preparation
Puree mangoes with a condensed blender and place in a large container. Mix condensed milk with agave nectar, and heat it up but do not boil. Dissolve gelatin powder in 4 tbs warm water. Add gelatin to the milk mixture. Mix well. Pour milk into the mango recipient. Mix well. If you want to add fresh mango pieces, add them at this stage.
Divide the mango mixture to small glass containers. Place in the refrigerator overnight.
Un-mold pudding in plates, pour some sweetened coconut milk on top, and decorate with fresh raspberries.
New variation – Verrine of mango and vanilla-pistachio couscous
Apr 12th
Nouvelle variante – Verrine de mangue à la semoule vanillée et pistaches
For people suffering from allergies, like me, it’s been a terrible spring in the Bay Area. Last year was mild compare to this one. I think I tried every drug over-the counter at the local Walgreens, from antihistamines, to expectorant to anti-inflammatory drugs… Nothing seems to help with my rhinitis, not even antibiotics or steroids the doctor prescribed. I am just counting the days until it goes away. Yes patience is a virtue in this case. In the meantime, my huge red nose and I, are trying to make quick meals in between a few sneezes.
I had in mind to find semoule for a while, and make semoule cake (gateau à la semoule); one of those thoughts that come and goes but even when it ‘s gone, it’s not really gone and still in the back of your mind. …basically semoule is a kind of semolina, that is used in France to make desserts. Since I have been unable to find it, because I don’t know how to call this. I ended up buying couscous which in France we call semoule de couscous. Regular semoule if finer that the couscous grain and thicker than semolina. This little fruity dessert is great for those days you feel like something sweet but not necessarily just a fruit, and no time to cook. Couscous can be accommodated in sweet preparations too, and is very quick to prepare. Just use milk and sugar instead of salt and water, and the trick is done.
You can use regular or wholewheat couscous, I think regular would have a softer and more subtle flavor with mangoes and in general in sweet preparations, and that’s what I’ll use next time.
Ingredients for 4
- 2 mangoes well riped, cubed
- 1 tsp orange blossom water
- 6 tbs wholewheat couscous (or regular)
- milk enough to cover the couscous
- 1 tbs sugar
- 1 vanilla bean cut in half
- 1 tbs pistachios, chopped
Preparation
Place mangoes in a recipient and add orange blossom water. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour. If the mangoes are not very ripe, you might want to add some sugar.
In another recipient, add couscous. Bring milk, split vanilla bean (with scraped beans) and sugar to a boil. Pour on top of the couscous. Cover and let couscous absorb milk. Add pistachios and fluff up couscous.
In a glass, add mangoes, top it with warm couscous and add extra pistachios.
Light and lighter – Fromage blanc cake with strawberry sauce
Feb 28th
Léger mais plus léger encore – Gâteau au fromage blanc avec coulis de fraises
In France and mainly in the Eastern part of France, in a region called Alsace, which is bordering Germany, they make wonderful gâteaux and tartes au fromage blanc. They have their own version in Germany called käsekuchen, which is similar. It’s made with Quark which is a fresh cheese slightly different from fromage blanc because of its thicker texture. I made a more traditional version here, which has a crust, so that would be called a tart instead of cake. This version is lighter, because I only used egg whites, no cream and no crust, so this very light cake would fit in the “diététique” section.
I had extra egg whites when I made palets bretons that I didn’t want to throw away. I was thinking first to make meringue, but since I am not a big fan of crunchy and extra sweet egg whites, the use of eggs whites was perfect here. Of course, you could use yolks if you wanted to, and of course there are different recipes for this wonderful gâteau au fromage blanc, and this is only one light version of it.
Since we are in America, domestic fromage blanc is not easy to find, so I used Fage Greek yogurt and it worked perfectly. You don’t have to feel guilty about having dessert after a meal, because this is will not make you feel heavy, but simply happy and satisfied.
I used Meyer lemons for a stronger lemon flavor, but that’s not really necessary, regular lemons work perfectly fine and would fit better here because it does take over the tanginess of the fromage blanc. If you want to compare this to an American dessert, it would be a very light and extended cousin of cheesecake. You can serve it with any coulis you like such as raspberries, fresh blackberries, etc…but when in season peaches and apricots would be a wonderful alternative.
Ingredients for about 6
For the cake
- 1 lb (or 500 g) Fromage blanc or greek yogurt
- 130 g granulated sugar
- 50 g flour
- 4 egg whites
- zest of 1 lemon
For the raspberry sauce
- 1 lb raspberries
- 4 tbs orange juice
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbs sugar or to taste
Preparation
For the cake
In a mixing container, mix yogurt, sugar, flour and lemon zest. Beat egg whites to a stiff consistency and add to the mixture. Grease with butter a deep dish pan. Pour carefully the mixture and cook in a pre-heated oven at 355-360F for about one hour. If the center of the cake looks a little pale while the borders are golden, decrease temperature. When cooked remove from oven and turn upside down, let it cool that way. Then turn cut and enjoy.
For the strawberry sauce
Cut strawberries, mix with sugar, orange juice, vanilla extract and cook for about 15 minutes. Let it cool and blend. You can pass the sauce through a sieve to remove strawberry seeds and make the sauce gets smooth.
C’est si bon – Crêpes with grilled apples and dulce de leche
Nov 16th
C’est si bon – Crêpes aux pommes grillées et confiture de lait
I am currently working on a little crêpe project and I have been experimenting all kinds of batters and fillings…and this one has been one of my favorites. It’s so simple but a real delight.
Now I was wondering what the difference between dulce de leche and caramel was. Dulce de leche has this exotic sound to it, and is found in many South American households and is mainly condensed milk cooked and reduced to a brownish paste. In France, we call caramel two things, one thing being the sugar and water melted and reduced to a and golden brown color, the other thing being the mixture of sugar, butter and cream that has turned into a thick smooth and velvety texture. Dulche de leche is translated into French by “confiture de lait” or milk jam and it’s made by boiling whole milk and sugar for about 3 hours. The milk reduces and turns thick and golden brown.
you can spray it on crêpes, on buns, brioche, etc…like you would use jam, or just lose your finger in the jar and enjoy it. As you can imagine there are as many crêpes recipes as there are people, less flour, more milk, less eggs, more water, cider, no cider, beer, no beer…you have to find the batter recipe that fits your tastes. Whereas some people like crêpes to be crunchy, I like mine softer. If you want them crunchy, they need to cook at a low temperature for a longer time. If you like them soft, they need to cook rapidly at high temperature. So voila! find the crêpe recipe you like and play with it.
Now I have to admit that I cheated with this one. I did not make my own dulce de leche, but I bought a jar at the store…homemade or not, I loved it, and could hardly keep my finger off the jar. I will definitely write a post about making homemade dulce de leche when I have 2 or 3 hours to spare.
Ingredients for 12-16 crêpes
For the batter
- 40 g sugar
- 4 eggs
- 250 g flour
- 500 ml whole milk
- 3 tbs brown butter
- one pinch salt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp rum
For the filling
- 12 tbs dulce de leche
- 12 apples, peeled and sliced
Preparation
In a mixing bowl, mix eggs and sugar and beat until a smooth a white consistency. Add flour, mix well. Add milk and stir until the batter becomes smooth and homogeneous. Melt butter until it becomes brown and add to the batter. Add vanilla extract and rum. Mix well and let it rest for about one hour.
Grill apples on a skillet or grill pan. When the crepes are done, spread one tbs dulce de leche on each crêpe and garnish with apples. Fold and enjoy.
