Tartelette

Chocolate Caramel Banana Tart & A CookBook For Haiti

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:13:00 +0000

What I am happy and honored to announce below is closely related to the Chocolate Caramel Banana Tart above. But I need your attention for 2 paragraphs before I tell you more about the tart. It's important.

A few days after the horrible tragedy of the earthquake in Haiti, I received an email from Julie from Dinner With Julie that made me jump in my seat and say "Heck yes I'm with you!". She had been watching the news and with every passing hour, she was as feeling as upset and hopeless as a lot of us did. She had a plan to help raise money for Haiti and she emailed for help. Julie set out to create the BlogAid Cookbook. Twenty seven of us came together and provided her with some of our favorite recipes and pictures.

Julie and her friend Cathryn worked almost around the clock to pull it all together. and I am honored and thrilled to announce that the BlogAid Cookbook is up for order!

The proceeds from the book sales will go straight to Haitian relief via the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders. It's not all though! Both West Canadian AND Blurb are matching the dollar amount of the proceeds raised, to TRIPLE those dollars going to Haiti. And until February 12th, the Canadian government will match that.

It's a POD (print-on-demand) system, meaning the books are printed and shipped as they're ordered and arrive at your doorstep in about 8 days. You can purchase yours for a good cause here.

While Julie was working on this project I was having interesting discussions with a good friend about buying too much, accumulating without purpose, wanting versus needing. I am the child of a homemaker and an army guy who lived on a small pension. I worked in a restaurant where every purchase-usage-spoilage was scrutinized, discussed and fixed. And it's in everything I do now as an adult. I am not talking about being cheap but about using things to the last drop. Or the last crumb...

My friend has a small farm. She raises a few chickens. This year she got a couple of goats. She is slowly transitioning into a path that suits her to a T and she is making enormous sacrifices along the way. Her positive energy and generosity are always invigorating. So are the eggs she gives me for baking. You can bet that none of them go to waste. As a thank you I made her this Chocolate Caramel Banana Tart.

I love the meals and snacks that take place when I clean up the pantry of fridge of all the bits and pieces before it's too late. A homemade vegetable soup with fried pieces of prosciutto, an omelette topped with the last bit of the aged gouda I like so much, a mixed up pasta dish full of different handful of herbs. I bet there's a bit of the same going on in your kitchen at times!

Desserts are always a different story at our house. Between us, the neighbors, the friends, the family, it's rare to have leftovers. Dough scraps seem to abound in the freezer though. Oh and little containers with only spoonfuls of ice cream. Too many. I lost track.

Bananas are always the ones that end up being frozen and forgotten or mashed and forgotten. Or simply forgotten. Except when I play my "make a dessert by association" in my head. Banana - peanut butter - chocolate - crust. I originally thought about doing just caramel and chocolate but this version ended up being much better than anticipated.

I finally nailed a gluten free chocolate shortcrust recipe that we both love and it makes perfect chocolate shortbread cookies too. The tart filling was soft and gooey without flowing all over your fork. Just don't be walking around the house with a slice of pie. Don't say I did not warn you...

Chocolate Caramel Banana Tart:

Serves 8-10

For the crust:
1 stick (113gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (60gr) unsifted powdered sugar
3 egg yolks
pinch of salt
1 cup (160gr) white rice flour
1/4 cup (30gr) amaranth flour
1/4 cup (40gr) tapioca starch
1/2 teaspoon xantham gum
1/4 cup (20gr) unsweetened cocoa powder

For the caramel-peanut butter-banana layer:
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
1/4 cup peanut butter (your choice smooth or crunchy)
2 small bananas, peeled and mashed

For the chocolate ganache topping:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chunks or chips
1/2 cup heavy cream

Prepare the crust:
In a mixer, whip together the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time and beating well after each addition. Mix until incorporated. Add the three different flours, the xantham gum and cocoa powder and mix briefly. 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. (I went with rectangular this time) 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 15-20 minutes until completely done. Remove the weights and parchment paper.

Prepare the filling:
In a heavy bottom saucepan, bring the sugar and water to a boil over meadium high heat and cook until you get a dark caramel. (do not walk away - it only takes minutes). Remove the pan from the heat and add the cream and butter. The mixture will bubble so be careful. Place the pot back on the stove and cook on low until the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Once cooled, add the peanut butter and banana and whisk until completely smooth. Refrigerate for 2 hours before topping with the ganache.

Prepare the ganache:
Place the chocolate in a medium size bowl. In a small saucepan set over medium high heat, bring the cream to a strong simmer. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand for a couple of minutes and slowly stir in with a whisk or spoon until smooth. Let cool for 5 minutes and spread all over the banana filling. Refrigerate until firm.

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Le P'tit Coin Francais:

Pour la pate:

115gr beurre mou
60 gr de sucre glace
3 jaunes d'oeufs
pincee de sel
160gr farine de riz blanc
30 gr farine d'amaranthe
40gr farine de tapioca
1/2 c.c de gomme xanthan
20 gr de cacao

Pour la garniture:
For the caramel-peanut butter-banana layer:
100gr sucre
2 c.s d'eau
2 cs creme liquide entiere
2cs beurre mou
30gr de beurre de cacahuete (avec ou sans morceaux)
2 petites bananes mure, epelees et ecrasees

Pour la ganache:
240gr chocolat en morceaux
125ml de creme liquide entiere

Le reste des instructions arrive...promis.

Lunch Break: Radish and Watercress Salad

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 14:33:00 +0000

The cray-zee schedule has officially started! Well, I kicked it off a week ealier than previously planned and I am quite glad I did. We all know that it's not because you have one important thing on the agenda that everything else takes a backseat. Every bits and pieces of life that you are trying to juggle all want a spot on the passenger seat while you are trying to drive without knocking other people over. One thing that helps me keep focused is good nutrition. Sweet or savory. Salads especially.

I always try to take time out to fix myself a proper lunch and eat by the window without any incoming noise. It helps recharge my internal batteries and ensures that I don't forget all the other things and people around me. When my friend Tara mentioned this salad from The Breakaway Cook I instantly started craving daikon radishes. I never think about adding them to my shopping list but I have done so three times in the past week. This salad? I made a version of it just about as many times. The one pictured here is probably my favorite.

It's loaded with good stuff, it's refreshing, it's tasty and it'll bring you good juju for the day. Ok, I am making this last bit up but I felt energized and ready for another 12 hour shift right after eating it. The beauty of salads is their endless possibilities for adaptations. Eric makes his with daikon radishes, pomegranate seeds, avocado, edamame, orange pepper. Mine included daikon and red radishes, avocado, watercress, carrot and pomegranate seeds. It's the end of the season here for those but I needed them for work and had leftovers.

I decided to start working on the photography for Carrie's book a bit earlier than planned, mostly to find a rythm and properly organize my time. The experience has been nothing short of amazing so far. It's a lot of work to cook, style, shoot, edit that many savory and sweet recipes but loving my job makes it easy to invest every bit of myself in it. Everything I have made so far has been refreshing, succulent, different, easy to prepare. You could say I am biased since I have a stake in it but trust me, even if I had zip involved, I'd still couldn't wait to get her book pronto.

And then there are all the other things in between like more gigs, friends, house, dogs, invoices bills and taxes (grrr....). You know what I am talking about. Some of you even have children to juggle into the mix. We only have a couple of very active and very snuggly creatures! I can't promise lenghty blog posts and towering piles of groovy macarons in the next couple of weeks but I can promise there will always be something good to eat, savory or sweet.

I think I'm getting a hunkering for a tart. It's been a while. Can't live off salad alone, although this one is on repeat on my plate this week.

Refreshing Daikon Radish and Watercress Salad:

Serves 2 to 4 depending on your appetite.

1/2 daikon radish (8-inch piece)
1 bunch red radishes (about 8)
2 carrots
1 small bunch watercress
1 small ripe avocado
1/2 pomegranate
vinaigrette of your choice

Wash and slice thin both kinds of radish and the carrots. You can use a mandolin if you want. I don't have one so I just used a very sharp knife. No matter what you use, watch out for your fingers!
Wash and pat dry the watercress.
Cut avocado into small dices and seed the pomegranate.
Arrange everything in a large or individual bowls and drizzle with the vinaigrette.

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Le P'tit Coin Francais.

Salade Composee De Radis et Cresson:

1 morceau de radis chinois (20cm environ)
1 botte de radis traditionels (environ 8)
2 carottes
1 petite botte de cresson
1 avocat
1/2 grenade
vinaigrette de votre choix

Coupez les radis et carottes en tranches fines a l'aide d'une mandoline ou d'un couteau. Lavez et essorez le cresson. Coupez l'avocat on petit des et recuperez les graines de la grenade.
Disposez le tout dans un grand ou plusieurs saladier et assaisonez avec la vinaigrette.

Lemon Goat Cheese Cheesecakes With Blood Orange Sauce

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 05:41:00 +0000

There aren't many things you'll see me do because they are cool and there are very few people I (almost always) agree with or trust (almost always) blindly. My dear B. will tell you I spend my life with an imaginary raised eyebrow and my right ear pointed up. I am not skeptical, I am curious. Sometimes cautious. Sometimes not at all.

When Shauna mentioned that she was working on gluten free graham crackers, I had my ears tuned in to her updates. When she posted them, I blindly and happily followed her trail and made a batch. Then two. Then B. said they'd be even better under a cheesecake. So I made a batch of mini Lemon Goat Cheese Cheesecakes with Blood Orange Syrup. Then two.

I often talk about tea time as being an important ritual of my day (as much as my schedule lets me) and when I moved to the US, I became quite fond of having a few graham crackers with my tea. I was a student, they were cheap and a box lasted a while between roomie and myself.

Then I stopped having a cookie with tea altogether. Partly because it's not that much fun a ritual when done alone so I'd save those moments for when my parents would visit and partly when I discovered it was not helping my health issues. I stopped. Until last week.

I made a batch of Shauna's gluten free graham crackers as soon as I came home from Atlanta. I sat down with my cup of tea and my just baked cookies and sighed. Content and thankful. Bill started saying that they were pretty close to the real thing but not quite until I stopped him, with my eyebrow raised, and asked "if the real thing is what makes us truly happy then these are it for me" and added "it's ok if you don't like them as much...more for me!"

Men don't generally take a hint and yet mine likes to give me some, especially when it comes to desserts. He starts by fidgeting around the cookie jar. Opens the fridge, closes it. Plays with the cookie jar some more. Until I break down and ask if he has a suggestion. He may not bake or cook, but he's got good ideas about eating. I had all forms of citrus laid out on the countertop for an article I was working on and he suggested we use some of the lemons and make a cheesecake if possible.

Since it was spur of the moment, I had about half the quantity of cream cheese I needed but being a big fan of goat cheese in desserts, I used some to make up the difference. The tang of the fresh goat cheese worked perfectly with the tang of the lemons. I felt it needed some color though and made a quick blood orange syrup to go with it.

This first forray into a completely gluten free cheesecake was such a success that I made another batch a couple of days later. Yes. That good.

Lemon Goat Cheese Cheesecakes with Blood Orange Syrup:

Makes 8 mini cheesecakes

For the graham crakers: follow the recipe on Shauna's site blindly...you won't be disappointed, and grind enough graham crakers to make 1 cup crumbs.

For the cheesecake:
1 cup (250ml) graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons (60gr) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 cup (200gr) sugar, divided
8 oz (240r) fresh mild goat cheese, at room temperature
8 oz (240gr) cream cheese, at room temperature
juice and zest of a whole lemon
3 large eggs

Preheat the oven to 325F and position a rack in the middle. Line 8 standard sized muffin tins with liners and slighly spray with cooking spray. Place the muffin pan in a large roasting pan. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir together the graham cracker crumbs, the melted butter and 1/4 cup (50gr) sugar. Divide the mixture evenly among the prepared muffin liners and pat with the back of a spoon. Bake for 5 minutes. Let cool. Lower the heat to 300F.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the remaining sugar with the cheeses and the lemon zest on medium speed until the mixture is completely smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time and beating well after each addition. Add the lemon juice and beat another 30 seconds. Divide the mixture evenly among the muffin liners. Add hot water to the roasting pan but do not worry about coming up halfway the side of the muffin pan too much. The oven temperature is already so low that the water is just to be on the safe side. Add at least one inch inside the roasting pan.

Bake the mini cheesecakes for 20 minutes or until slightly giggling (or jiggle - whatever suits your mood) in the middle still. Keep an eye on them as they bake rather fast this way. Let cool completely before unmolding and serving with the blood orange syrup.

Notes: I made 8 small ones (baked in muffin tins) but you could make two 4-inch ones and bake them for about 10 minutes longer at the same heat.

For the blood orange syrup:
1 cup (250ml) fresh blood orange juice
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar

In a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, stir together the blood orange juice and the sugar over medium high heat until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer down until the liquid is about reduced by half. Let cool and serve with the cheesecakes.

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Le P'tit Coin Francais:

Pour les fonds de cheesecakes: suivez la recette de Shauna ici ou utilisez des miettes de Petits Lu ou sables bretons.

Pour les cheesecakes:
250ml de miettes de petits gateaux
60 gr de beurre mou, fondu
200 gr de sucre, utilise en 2 fois
240 gr de fromage de chevre (frais et doux)
240 gr de cream cheese ou autre fromage frais
jus et zeste d'un citron
3 oeufs

Prechauffez le four a 160C. Habillez des moules a muffins avec des caissettes en papier de la meme taille et badigeonnez l'interieur d'huile avec un pinceau (ou utilisez un spray a huile comme ici). Placer les moules dans une grande et profonde leche frite par example.

Dans un bol de taille moyenne, melangez les miettes de biscuits, le beurre fondu et la moitie du sucre. Melangez bien avec une spatule et distribuez de facon egale a l'interieur des moules prepares. Tassez avec le dos de la spatule. Faites cuires pendant 5 minutes. Mettere de cote. Baissez la temperature du four a 150C.

Dans le bol d'un mixeur, battez au fouet les deux fromages, le reste de sucre et le zeste de citron jusqu'a ce que la pate soit lisse. Ajoutez les oeufs, un a un et en battant bien apres chaque ajout. Ajoutez le jus de citron et battez 30 secondes de plus jusqu'a obtenir une pate lisse.
Repartissez la pate entre les moules et ajoutez environ 2 centimetres d'eau chaude dans la leche frite. Faites cuire environ 20 minutes. Retirez les cheesecakes du four avant qu'ils soit completement cuits. Laissez refroidir completement avant de demouler. Servir avec le sirop a l'orange sanguine

Sirop a l'orange sanguine:
250 ml jus d'orange sanguine (frais de preference)
100 gr sucre

Placez le jus d'orange et le sucre dans une casserole a fond epais et portez a ebullition. Reduire la temperature sous la casserole et faire reduire le sirop de moitie. Servir avec les cheesecakes.

Sugar Coma - Get Your Fix In Atlanta!

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 05:12:00 +0000

Sweet N' Sinful Bakery
Revisiting last weekend's trip to Atlanta through pictures made me smile real big again. It was packed with places to see and goodies to eat. I was staying at a dear friend's house and we took time to cook traditional meals from her country and catch up with everything going on in our lives. I spent a good chunk of time with Tami, Chris and Broderick sampling some fine fares in the city. Last but not least, I almost blown up my insulin levels by following Shameeka on two Sugar Coma tours of some of the finest and hippest sweet joints in Atlanta.

I am in no way obligated to talk about the tours (I was invited to both morning and afternoon tours) and the trip but I must. I want to, if only to thank all these wonderful bakers and pastry chefs who have welcomed us and spoiled us so well during the day. They set aside precious time to talk about their journey, their careers, their craft and their products. Their generosity extended far beyond all the samples set out for us in their shops. Atlantans, I sincerely hope you will patronize many if not all of these sweet spots. You won't be disappointed.

Instead of a lenghty description of each eatery we hit, I'll just go through my food charged weekend through pics and brief captions. I'll try anyway...

That's my friend Tami. I think she is one of the most beautiful people I know. Inside and out. She is the one who instigated my coming to Atlanta and I can't thank her enough for the wonderful time I had.

Elderflower gimlet at Abattoir. I had two of them. I also started seeing two of everything slightly faster than anticipated.

Beside a little service miss (really slow service and fish entree not cooked through for Tami) the rabbit rillettes were excellent. Chris's duck meatballs were bathing in the most succulent broth I have had and I just wanted to go to bed with that goat cheese mousse and berry compote. Seriously.

So happy to see Broderick from Savory Exposure during this trip, here enjoying his pork tasting plate. Abattoir's chocolate pot de creme will make you fall off your chair. Tami almost did!

The first Sugar Coma tour started around 9 a.m with a breakfast stop at No Mas Cantina. A memorabilia, merchandise filled restaurant where we sampled savory and sweet breakfast items. Great food, great coffee. Lots of gluten free choices.

Next stop was Cacao. Wow. Just wow. Exquisite shop. Talented chocolatiers. These ladies don't just make chocolates. They source the best beans and bring chocolate to a new whole level of delectable.

Joli Kobe is probably the bakery that reminds me the most of home. The pastries and desserts are French influenced with a Japanese twist. Red bean filling, matcha buttercream, lovely macarons and other classics. The display of samples was enough to make my head spin. But there was lots more to do, see and eat...

The Cookie Studio was next on our tour. Such a great staff and I love that the bakery devotes time and resources to a great cause. If I were in the area, I'd probably stop there everyweek for giant cookies and friendly smiles.

Our last stop was Sweet N' Sinful (opening picture) and I have to say that the sugar was working deep in my vein and I was pretty much capping out on my intake for the morning. I did not sample anything there but from everyone's oohs and ahhs, I trust that all the cupcakes and sweet bites were delicious.

Salt was in sight. Lunch. I was so ready for it that I did not take any pictures but trust me, Black Tie Barbecue did it right. Wonderful smoked salmon and the best bok choy I have ever had. And then we were off for tour #2...

I loved listening to Patrick executive pastry chef of West Egg Cafe. We've had similar journeys to pastry and it is thrilling and invigorating to hear this much passion in someone. We stopped at their not yet open - still under construction location which holds lots of promises for people in the area. I loved that they do American classics like Red Velvet and Black Bottom Cupcakes and they do them to perfection. No fluff, just hands down good. That's how I like to roll too.

Can't tell what I loved more about our stop at Bakeshop. The unassuming name reavealing a downright hip joint? The tables set up with a communal feel? The variety of sweets to choose from? The breads and viennoiseries executed to perfection? I admit that last bit always makes me happy as a Frenchie, eheheh! To sum it up: just go. No matter what you get, you won't be disappointed.

Do not let yourself be intimidated by the ultra sleek and modern look of Noon Midtown. Everything inside screams "welcome and eat me" from the donuts provided by Sublime to the little morsel of chocolate cakes and millionaire bars. It all goes down real easy with a hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows or a liquor spiked coffee like I had. I swear I did not know! No wonder it went down so easily...

Our last stop was Little Cake Bakery and I have to say that at this point I was all sugared out. I actually had a little moment in the car (and what a ride we had) when I looked at my phone and the thought of adding one more twitter update kinda sorta made me wish for fresh air instead. As Tami brilliantly said it: "A pickle on a crouton sounds awesome right now". Even more brilliant were the owners of the bakery for giving us a sample box to take home and eat at leisure instead. Loved that.

Thank goodness for Bocado and a lovely meal of savoury items such as roasted brussel sprouts with capers and parmesan, gnocchi with sausage and kale and yet we could not resist their lovely persimon cake for dessert.

Thank you Shameeka for inviting me to be part of this wonderful enterprise. The Broke Socialite does it right. Be proud. Atlanta is lucky to have you.

Full Discloure: I was gifted tickets to both Sugar Coma tours and all meals that were not included in the Sugar Coma tours were at my own expense.

Roasted Vegetable Soup With Polenta Croutons

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:59:00 +0000

Before I talk about this soup, let me announce the winner of the Heavenly Cakes book giveway: congrats to Diane from Spice Sisters. Email your mailing address at mytartelette{at}gmail{dot}com and the book is on its way to you. Now back to our regular programming...

What an amazing five days I just had in Atlanta! The city sure knows how to do sugar! The Sugar Coma tour I was part of was nothing short of outstanding. Shameeka, hostess with the mostess of The Broke Socialite proved everyone that planners and vendors can go above and beyond everyone’s idea of a good time without robbing a bank. I will do a full recap of the weekend, macaron workshop included as soon as I properly sift (pun intended) through all my pictures.

After two tours of some of the best sweet spots of the city, I was seriously craving vegetables on my way home. And salt! I must say I was impatiently awaiting dinner so that I could have a bowl of this Roasted Vegetable Soup. We liked it so much that I even called B. from the airport this morning to make sure he had not eaten the last bit I had tucked away in the freezer. No clue what he'd eat. I would have this. Not sure I’d share either. But I did. I can't be the only one moaning at the dinner table now can I?!

There is something about roasted vegetables that sets them in a category completely apart. I can’t tell between the natural sugar from the vegetables being released as they roast, the slightly brown and crispy edge they get, or the deep aroma permeating my kitchen, which one sends my senses in a frenzy. Something does. I guess it’s the whole package. Roast anything and you’ll be a happier human being. I’m serious.

What I love about this soup beside its simplicity of preparation is the tremendous versatility it offers you as far as flavoring and textures. One night we had it on the chunky side, with a little drizzle of avocado oil and a dash of freshly cracked peppercorn and a few parsley leaves. The day after I served it for lunch a little bit smoother with oregano and thyme and some chorizo salt from Secret Salt Sea Salts. Always with some gluten free polenta croutons. They really helped round up the flavors and textures of the soup.

Seems like Spring came in early while I was away but that will not deter me from making soups. Good for the soul and easiest lunch or dinner to make when you're pressed for time because leftovers are always better the next day, right?!

If you want a sneak preview of what we did during the morning session of the Sugar Coma Tour, check out Mark's pictures from the morning session and Bakerella's post on the afternoon session.

Warming up a bowl of soup as I get ready to edit my pictures. It's always fun to revisit a trip...

Roasted Vegetable Soup:

Serves 4 to 6

1 head cauliflower, broken off into small chunks
4 small-medium turnips, quartered (don't worry about peeling them)
4 cloves of garlic, smashed with the back of your knife
4 baby onion (or 1 small onion), sliced lenghtwise
2 small potatoes (mine were the size of a clementine)
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 cups - 1 cup water (or chicken or veggie stock)

Garnishes: flavored sea salts, herbs, croutons, drizzle of oil (almond, avocado, pumpkin - your preference).

Preheat the oven to 375F. Place all the vegetables on a baking sheet or in a pan in one single layer and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until golden brown, about 30-40 minutes. Let cool to room temperature.
Add about 1/2 cup water or stock and puree in a blender or with an immersion blender. Check if the consistency and seasoning are to your liking and adjust accordingly.
Serve with croutons and garnishes of your choice.

Le P'tit Coin Francais:

Soupe de legumes
Pour 4 a 6 personnes

1 petit chou-fleur, coupe en petits morceaux
4 petit navets, coupes en quatre (la peau y passe aussi)
4 gousse d'ail, ecrasee (peau y passe aussi)
4 petits onions nouveaux ou 1 petit onion
2 petite pommes de terre
filet d'huile d'olive
sel et poivre

Prechauffez le four a 190C. Mettre tous les legumes dans un plat ou sur une plaque a cuisson avec rebords. Ajoutez un filet d'huile et assaisonnez.
Faites cuire les legumes pendant 30-40 minutes ou jusqu'a qu'ils soient bien dores.
Laissez les refroidir un peu. Ajouter un petit verre d'eau et passez au robot pour mouliner.
Ajustez la texture en ajoutant plus d'eau si vous desirez. Assaisonnez de nouveau si necessaire.

Servir avec differentes herbes, croutons etc...

Pinch Cake Lemon Mousse Strawberry Trifle And A Giveaway!

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:16:00 +0000

I'm in Atlanta for the next few days and very excited to be meeting a whole bunch of bloggers and foodies I only know via the screen. I've left early to prepare a workshop and also to take time to visit with friends there and put my brain cells to rest a bit. I was off to a good start by catching up with my blogging pal Chris around a delicious bowl of Thai noodles as soon as I landed. Sweet long weekend indeed.

It's funny but without being a homebody, I am extremely happy in the "here and now" and very comfortable where my derriere was on the couch last night. Meaning, I wish it all could happen closer to me so B. could attend too. Although not surprised, I am very grateful for his mending the fort while I am away for work and he's stuck here with two crazy dogs and a pile of papers to grade. I've left a fridge full of home cooked meals and a tray of these Pinch Cake Lemon Mousse Strawberry Trifles.

Everytime I set out to leave things for him in the kitchen, you can bet that I never forget to leave dessert. This time, I went straight to the source and asked what he most wanted to have. "Something retro like a trifle or strawberry shortcakes."For the occasion, I wanted to try something different and figured it was high time I picked something from Rose Levy Beranbaum's Heavenly Cakes. I used her recipe for Pinch Cake and layered it with lemon curd mousse and fresh strawberries. They're in season in Florida which is just a skip and a hop from us (and tasty).

I was attracted to this particular cake recipe for two reasons, how easy it was to convert as it contained very little flour and also because I loved the story behind the name, Pinch Cake. Paraphrasing Mrs. Beranbaum: in Spain, the cake is originally known as pinch bread and the name is partially derived from the way of eating it: by pinching out pieces between your fingers. Mrs. Beranbaum calls this version Salt because it was created in 1985 by Miquel B. Costabella, pastry chef of Salt Bakery, named after the village of Salt, close to Girona, Spain. History, baking. Happy.

But wait! While I am away rolling in sugar in Atlanta, here is a chance for you to bake it at home too: I am giving away one copy of Heavenly Cakes.

All you have to do is leave a comment (one per person) here between today and Sunday January 17th (midnight Eastern time) when the winner will be chosen at random. The giveaway is open world wide. Why not tell me what your favorite retro dessert is while you're at it? Would love to know!

Some updates before I leave: the macarons workshops in L.A are both sold out, but I've been asked to teach a third class on Food Photography in L.A, Saturday March 6th 2-5pm. Email rachael{AT}lafujimama{DOT}com if you are interested.

I did say I was working on one more surprise: I figured Seattle was so close to L.A not to go visit a couple of dear friends. Well, thanks to the organization skills of Viv from Seattle Bon Vivant, I am now teaching 3 workshops there. Two will be on photography and one on macarons. [Update: all classes SOLD OUT]. Can't wait to meet Seattle, its wonderful community and thrilled to be staying on Shauna's couch. After that trip I'll have two days to get the house ready for 3 weeks with my parents. Phewee...!

Gimme cake...!

Pinch Cake Lemon Mousse Strawberry Trifle

Makes 6 to 8

Catalan Salt Pinch Cake, adapted from Rose's Heavenly Cakes:

1 cup + 2 tablespoons (112gr) unblanched sliced almonds
3/4 cup plus 2.5 tablespoons (180gr) sugar, divided
6 large eggs
2 large egg whites
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoons white rice flour

Preheat the oven to 325F/160C.
Line a quarter sheet pan with a sheet of parchment paper and slightly spray with cooking spray. Reserve.

Toast the almonds on a separate baking sheet until pale golden, about 7 minutes.
Cool completely and pulse the almonds with 2.5 tablespoons sugar until finely ground. Stop before the nuts start to form a paste.
Place the eggs into a 2-cup measure with a spout and whisk them just to break them up.
In a stand mixer fitter with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium low speed until foamy. Increase the speed and whisk until soft peaks. Gradually beat in the remaining cup of sugar. Continue beating until the meringue is thick and glossy. With the beater off, stir in the almond mixture until evenly incorporated.

Reattach the whisk and with the mixer on medium speed, add the beaten eggs to the meringue, 2 tablespoons at a time, beating for 2 minutes after each addition. It should take a total of 20-25 minutes but be sure to beat for a minimum of 20 minutes. Add the lemon zest.
Sprinkle the flour over the batter and fold until completely incorporated. Pour the batter onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

For the lemon mousse:
grated zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup (125 ml) lemon juice
1/4 cup (50gr) sugar
2 eggs
1 cup (250 ml)heavy cream

4 cups fresh strawberries

Combine the zest, sugar, juice in a saucepan, and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, beat the eggs until light. Beat some of the lemon mixture into the eggs to temper. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook stirring constantly until it thickens up, about 5 minutes. Strain and let it cool to room temperature, covered with plastic wrap until ready to use.
In a stand mixer, whip the cream to medium stiff peaks. Incorporate the cooled lemon curd in three additions. Place in a piping bag.

To assemble:
Cut out rounds in the baked caked that will fit inside the glasses that you wish to use. I got enough rounds for 2 layers for six 3-inch wide glasses.
Place one round of cake at the bottom of the glass, position strawberry halves inside facing out on top, pipe some lemon curd in the middle and repeat the layers. Top with some extra whipped cream if desired.

Le P'tit Coin Francais:

Pour le gateau:
112gr amandes emondees
180gr sucre
6 oeufs
2 blancs d'oeuf
1 cuilliere a cafe de zest de citron
80gr farine de riz

Prechauffez le four a 160C.
Mettez une feuille de papier sulfurise sur une petite plaque a biscuit a rebords. Beurrez legerement et mettez de cote.
Faites toaster les amandes sur une autre plaques jusqu'a ce qu'elles deviennent dorees, 7 minutes environ.
Laissez les refroidir completement et reduisez les en poudre dans un mixer avec 2 cuillieres a souple de sucre. Arretez la machine avant que les amandes ne forment une pate.
Mettez les oeufs dans un grand verre mesure et les battre legerement a la fourchette, juste pour les casser.
Montez les blancs en neige en ajoutant le reste de sucre au fur et a mesure afin d'obtenir une meringue ferme. Ajoutez les amandes et melangez.
Ajoutez les oeufs entiers battus, 2 cuilleres a la fois et tout en battant l'appareil pendant 2 minutes apres chaque addition. Le procede devrais prendre environ 20 a 25 minutes (au moins 20). Ajoutez le zest de citron.
Ajoutez la farine en pluie et soulevez a l'aide d'une maryse jusqu'a ce que la pate soit homogene.
Versez la pate sur la plaque preparee et faites cuires 15 a 20 minutes.

Pour la mousse au citron:
le zest d'un citron
125ml de jus de citron
50gr sucre
2 oeufs
250ml de creme entiere liquide

Amenez le zest, sucre et jus de citron a fremissement a feu moyen. Dans un bol de tailled moyenne, fouettez les oeufs pendant 2 minutes. Ajoutez en filet le jus de citron chaud tout en continuant de fouetter. Remettre la mixture dans la casserole et cuire a feu moyen jusqu'a epaississement. Passez a la passoire et laissez refroidir.
Pendant ce temps, montez la creme en chantilly et quand la preparation au citron est refroidie, y melanger la chantilly.

Assemblez:
Dans 6 a 8 verres, faites des couches successives de gateaux, mousse au citron et fraises.

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

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 18:47:00 +0000

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.

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.

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.

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.

A Winter "Salade Composee" - A Big Bowl Of Sunshine.

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:51:00 +0000

I hope you all had a wonderful times during the holidays. Like most of you I always feel blessed, loved, grateful, refreshed, relaxed but I also caught myself wishing for a little spring in my step the other morning. Beside the rich(er) foods, we also did indulge a bit more in lounging on the sofa late a night. And you know how that goes: the cozier you get, the cozier you want to stay, Unfortunately it's not conducive to getting things done. But dang, aren't holidays nice?

I like when holidays are short and sweet like this. I like working a lot more than I like lounging around (for now) so when I need to raise my mental and physical ressources I tend to pile tons of colors and clean, fresh foods on one plate. Dinners revolve around a big pot of soup and lunches are most often a big "Salade Composee" (composed salad) of some of my favorite vegetables. Roasted golden beets, fennel, radish, savoy salad, mixed greens. I admit that I have never met a vegetable I did not like and I love to build salads and meals by color.

I don't live with a picky eater, on the contrary, B. is alright with trying just about anything. Unless it's beets. Just say the word beets and I get the face, the swinging head, the tapping feet, the clenched fists...Ok, maybe not this bad but beets are definitely ground for heated discussions. So what is a stubborn Taurean like me to do when faced with a stubborn Leo? Yes, get golden beets instead of red and roast them instead of pickling them. And cross all fingers hoping he'll like them while not revealing my secret vegetable.

I tried to sit as normal as I could, and eat at my normal (fast) pace but really I was carefully looking at his fork aiming for the beets, missing them, diving in, missing them. Come on man! Finally it happened. He ate a beet. A roasted golden beet. And he liked it. But I had to promise to never do this again. Ahahah!

I tend to stay with simple vinaigrettes but I do like to add toasted nuts or crumbled cheese. This time I went with dried cranberries and a little bit of feta for a complete "salad as a meal" idea. There are no strict rules for the vegetables or greens to use, add-ins and extras like nuts or fruits. Add a couple of bread slices or some gluten free polenta croutons one day and you have everything covered. Use what you enjoy and what makes you feel happy to eat and share.

Besides, getting refreshed after the holidays, this type of meal is ideal to prepare for a two day marathon of sweet samplings like the one I am about to undertake. All in the name of research of course. I am completely psyched to be a keynote speaker in an event called Sugar Coma. Shameeka from The Broke Socialite is the mastermind behind this event dedicated to sampling the best of Atlanta's sweet spots and you can bet that I jumped "yes" when she asked me to contribute to the event!

If that wasn't good enough already, my pal Tami asked if I'd be interested in teaching a macaron workshop at some point during my stay as she knew quite a few people, bloggers and non bloggers who wanted to learn how to make them. As the super efficient girl that she is, she had a dozen people signed up in less than 24 hours. Add another sweet surprise to the mix: Bakerella herself is taking the class/workshop! I am currently coming up with little surprises of my own and swag bags to give out to all the attendees.

B. thinks I am having way too much fun planning this whole trip. Yep! The macaron workshop is full but registration for Sugar Coma is now live!. If you are in Atlanta or surroundings, I hope you will come join us for one fun day of bakery touring in the city! Sweet surprises guaranteed!

Salade Composee:

Serves 2 hungry people

For the salad:
4 golden beets
1 large handful mixed greens
1 large handful savoy salad
1 bunch radishes, washed, stems cut off and quartered
1/2 fennel bulb, washed and sliced thin
1 small handful of Italian parsley
dried cranberries
feta

Preheat oven to 350F. Wash the beets and cut the stems off. Place them in a piece of foil and close it tight. Roast the beets for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool, and carefully open the foil packet. Peel the beets and set aside.
With your hands, tear the salads and parsley in small pieces and divide all the vegetables evenly among 2 large plates. Top with the some dried cranberries and some feta. Drizzle with the vinaigrette.

For the vinaigrette:
Check David's post on how the French like and make their vinaigrette. I nod in complete approval.
This time I used some pink salt (the bits of broken rocks are salt crystals), freshly ground mixed peppercorns and garlic instead of shallots.

Le p'tit coin en francais:

Pour la salade:
4 moyennes betterave orange
1 belle poignee de salade melangee
1 belle poignee de salade chou rouge (ou equivalent colore)
1 petit bouquet de radis, lave et coupes en quatre
1/2 fenouil, lave et coupe en tranches fines
1 petite poignee de persil plat
cranberries seches (ou autres fruits secs)
feta, en morceaux (ou chevre, feta salata, etc...)

Prechauffez le four a 350F/175C. Mettez les betteraves dans un morceau de papier d'alu et les faire cuire 20-30 minutes. Laissez le paquet refroidir avant de l'ouvrir. Epluchez les betteraves et coupez les en quatres.
Partagez les salades et legumes dans deux grandes assiettes et ajoutez les cranberries seches et le fromage. Ajoutez quelques cuillieres de vinaigrette suivant votre gout.

Vinaigrette moutarde - echalotte. Traduit de David Lebovitz:
une pincee de sel
une cuilliere a soupe de vinaigre
1/2 echalotte, pelee et emincee
1/2 cuilliere a cafe de moutarde
3 a 4 cuillieres a soupe d'huile d'olive

Dans un petit bol, melangez le sel, vinaigre et echalotte et laissez reposer 10 minutes. Ajoutez la moutarde et ensuite 3 cuilleres a soupe d'huile et melangez bien. Si la vinaigrette est trop forte, ajouter de l'huile.
Si vous desirez ajouter des herbes, faites le au dernier moment pour qu'elles restent aussi fraiches que possible.

Ringing In 2010 With Honey, Pear and Milk Chocolate Mousse Cakes

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:03:00 +0000

Happy New Year! Let's make 2010 a rocking year!

I truly hope that 2010 brings you the best in everything. Thank you for your support and visits in 2009. Blogging-wise, you made the year absolutely awesome early on and it has not stopped since. I plan to keep on providing you with a sweet escape this coming year, starting with these Honey, Pear and Milk Chocolate Mousse Cakes. We had them at Christmas and our friends asked for a replay tonight at dinner. My better half has to go play music and entertain the masses later on so we'll share one in the wee hours of the morning while making wishes and plans for the new year.

I am most happy and excited to ring in the new year. Bill and I are so over 2009 that we are literally jumping up and down at the promises that 2010 holds for all. I've been hesitant to reflect about the past year on this page for a few reasons. First, out of respect for our privacy but foremost because we all experience different kinds of difficulties and we all live them with different degrees of intensity. All I want to say is that 2009 was dubbed the year when "nothing is ever as it seems" as well as the year when "nothing worked as planned - sometimes it's even better". Like cake.

Before you ask, I must tell you that I don't make New Year's resolutions. Instead I do more and better what I usually do and twice as much what I need to be doing more of. I know, my logic is peculiar but this way I am constantly aware of doing things harder, better and stronger. Resolutions make me try. Doing makes me...do. Ha!

Some may see a puddle, some may see a pond, some may see an ocean. This year we kept trying to see a way to jump over. It didn't always worked. The first two thirds of the year left us worried, scared, broke. Never broken. For all the bad juju we experienced we knew that two was stronger than one. For all the hard decisions we took and raw discussions we had this year, we came out stronger. Better. At two, it's easier to see a way out or at least an easier way in.

2009 sure had a way to make itself hard to appreciate, well, at least up until the last third of it. It kind of made up for a lot of the "schtuff" and brings us into 2010 with lighter heads and hearts. The wonderful friendships and adventures I was able to forge and be part of are a beautiful example of it.

Having the continuous frienship and support of Jaden, Todd and Diane, Jen, Anita, Shauna, Tea and Tami is something I feel blessed and grateful for everyday. They heard it all, they know it all. They listened, advised and cheered me on. They made me laugh and made me focus. They were here without conditions and with the most honest of reasons. They are the definition of friendship.

There are quite a few things falling in the "nothing worked as planned - sometimes it's even better" category. For one, the economy left no one unscathed it seems, starting by my publishers. Indeed, after reading my book manuscript and seeing all of its potential, my publishing house realized that they would not have the means to do it justice and we decided to part ways. At first, it felt like the floor was falling from under me. Then I realized the favor they were actually doing me and the manuscript by pushing me to present to bigger and higher circles. It's still on my hard drive, and in the hands of savvy and gifted people. So, 2009 was not the year of my book. No big deal. I like the sound of 2010 better already.

One thing that made 2009 a lot less bitter and 2010 already an exciting year was to get hired to do the photography for someone else's cookbook! The shoot is planned for the first two weeks of February and there is a lot to prepare before that to be able to cook, style and photograph 6-7 recipes a day. I think Carrie has plans to create a side blog to her cookbook to give you snapshots, out takes and news bits. I'm excited at the possibility to completely lose my mind on this project as I am given the chance to passionately do what I am passionate about, ehehe...

Working full time as a food photographer and stylist for both print and web publications was the greatest thing to come out of 2009. Sometimes I am both, sometimes I am either or. It all depends on the gig. It's always fascinating to me to see how many projects I work on and how many actually see the light of print, but it's pretty much the norm. As long as I work and meet other creative minds, bring home the bacon and learn something, that's ok by me.

Now you see why, with 2009 being such a mixed bag of events that we are running toward 2010. So many good things happening that I haven't even mentioned yet. Indeed, I have plenty of surprises up my sleeves in 2010 but still ironing all the details...stay tuned!

We'll be sharing these Honey, Pear and Milk Chocolate Cakes with a glass of Champagne with our friends tonight and cheer on 2010 and the promises of a wonderful and sweet year ahead. (recipe after the jump).

BONNE ANNEE!

Honey, Pear and Milk Chocolate Mousse Cakes:

Makes four 3-inch cakes

Notes: I build these cakes in 3-inch wide entremet or mousse cake rings but you could build one single cake in a 8-inch round or 8x8-inch cake pan. Only the look will be different. Instead of using rhodoid to line the rings, (nothing against it, just did not have any on hand), I used a much less expensive medium: plastic proctector sheets (yes the ones used around the office to protect documents) and cut them to fit the inside of the rings.

For the lemon olive oil cakes:
1 cup (160gr) white rice flour
1/4 cup (40gr) sorghum flour
1/4 cup (30gr) tapioca starch
1 cup (200gr) sugar
1 tablespoon (14gr) baking powder
1/4 (1.5gr) teaspoon salt
1/2 cup egg whites (about 3-4)
3/4 (175ml) cup milk
1/4 cup (62.5ml) lemon juice
grated zest of one lemon
6 tablespoons (80gr) olive oil

For the mousse fillings:
2 tablespoons powdered gelatin
7 Tablespoons (130gr water), divided
2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup (170gr) honey
3/4 to 1 cup pear puree (I process 2-3 cut pears until finely pureed)
4 oz (120gr) milk chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

Prepare the cakes:
Preheat oven to 300F and position a rack in the center.
In a bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients for the cake. Set aside.
In a separate medium bowl, whisk the egg whites and the milk. Make a well in the center of the flour mix and slowly add in the egg white mixture while stirring with a whisk. Add lemon juice, zest and the olive oil. Mix with a whisk until smooth. Line a quarter sheet pan with parchment paper, lightly spray with cooking spray and pour in the batter. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes back clean. Let cool and cut out four 3-inch rounds to fit your cake rings (extra cakes freeze well for up to 3 months). Line 4 cake rings with rhodoid or plastic sheets cut to fit and place your cake bases at the bottom. Place the rings on a baking tray and set aside.

Prepare the mousses:
In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 2 tablespoons of water and let stand while you prepare the pate a bombe.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or hand held beaters), beat the cream until it holds soft peaks. Chill it while you prepare the mousse base. Wash your bowl and whisk attachment.
In a heavy saucepan, stir together 5 tablespoons of water and the honey. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Since you are not making caramel, it is ok to stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil and bring the mixture to 238°F on thermometer (soft-ball stage). Pour the syrup into a container with a spout (makes it easier to pour over the egg yolks)
In the clean bowl of your mixer, still using the whisk attachment, beat the yolks slightly to break them up. Increase the speed to medium high and slowly pour the hot syrup over the yolks. Go fast enough to prevent the eggs from scrambling but not so fast that you end up with most of the syrup on the wall of the bowl or the whisk. Dissolve the gelatin in the microwave for 10-12 seconds and quickly add it to the pate a bombe. Continue to whip until the mass is completely cold and airy.
Fold about one third of the pate a bombe base into the chilled whipped cream to loosen it up and make it easier to incorporate homogeneously. Fold in the remaining pate a bombe.

Assemble: Divide the mixture in three equal parts. Leave one plain (honey), carefully fold the pear puree into one part and carefully fold the melted milk chocolate into the last part. Spoon or pipe the honey mousse evenly over the four cake bases, top with the pear mousse and finish with the chocolate one. Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight until set. The cakes will keep for 4-5 days well covered in your fridge or freeze up to three months.

Les Truffes Au Chocolat - Dark Chocolate Truffles

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 06:27:00 +0000

I hope that you had a good holiday break, celebrating or just spending time relaxing, hopefully without pipes and heaters freezing on you because of a blizzard. Our holiday was quiet, loud, lovely and reflective all at once. Christmas wasn't anything huge or terribly fancy this year but we are lucky to have love and health, our couple and our families here and afar. It was filled with many heart warming and unexpected moments throughout the day, making it truly a wonderful time. And in my family, it's not Christmas without a batch of Truffes Au Chocolat. Really.

Seeing my nieces via webcam on Christmas Eve preparing for the "reveillon" twirling in their pretty new dresses, their hair held tight by shimmering headbands was a moment as delicious as cracking the crust of creme brulees. Watching my brother, their dad, the one who used to hide in my closet to scare me at night, this proud and gentle with his daughters was a moment to savour.

On Christmas day, I had a very much needed webcam moment with my mom. To prevent us from getting emotional, we had the toddler caroling for us but I know exactly what we were thinking about: my late brother and grandmother, reveillons dinners lasting until 3am, my uncles practical jokes, my grandmother's marzipan stuffed dates and making chocolate truffles.

Lots of you commented how much you liked learning about other people's cultures and traditions that may be completely different or somewhat similar than your own. I'm the same way. It makes the world go round really. I visited lots of blogs these past few days and like you, enjoyed reading about others' traditions or important moments. In my family, there is no Christmas without a good dose of chocolate and chocolate truffles to be exact. Wether we make, eat or give them.

Christmas preparations were always made between my grandmother and my mother around a cup of tea and a slice of cake. When I was six or so, I complained I had nothing to do, pulled out a magazine and told them I would make chocolate truffles, like the ones in the ad for Van Houten cocoa. I was actually secretely trying to find the source for the ones my grandmother's friend, Suzanne, used to make. They were so different than ours. Creamier, sweeter, richer.

Every year we would go from Aix to Paris to spend Christmas with my grandparents, and a visit to Suzanne and her husband was always on the agenda. I loved their small apartment beside the bicycle shop. It always smelled as if beef Bourguignon was on the stove. We would enter, quickly marvel at the tree and impatiently wait for Suzanne to get the big silver tin filled with chocolate truffles. One for each and two for our parents. Except my parents never saw any of them. The truffles never made it this far.

As years went by, many truffle recipes came between Suzanne's and me. She passed away, so did my grandmother. One day, I did find a scribbled piece of paper in my grandma's recipe box reading "Les truffes de Suzanne". My heart skipped a beat. The proportions seeemed right but there were no instructions. I know chocolate, I know truffling. "Can't be that hard" I thought. I got close but there always seemed to be something missing. I made five batches the week I found the recipe. Bill was a trooper and sampled them all, each time finding the new batch as good and decadent as the last.

After he sampled the last one, I plopped next to him on the sofa and mumbled "something's missing". That's when he pointed out the obvious. They were missing: Paulette, my grandmother and her pal Suzanne. Indeed, many things had changed since that time. Life had changed us but those memories also gave us the essence of who we were now as adults. He also was quick to say that I could stop my quest for that particular truffle recipe if I wished but he hoped I didn't while rubbing his belly in a facetious way.

This recipe for Truffes Au Chocolat is so far the closest I have gotten to Suzanne's and by the look on everyone's face the other day, I'm inclined to think it could be the best so far. I am not done tweaking it so who knows what next year's batch of truffles will bring...

Chocolate Truffles:

8 1/4 oz (250gr) bittersweet dark chocolate (chopped, broken, or chips)
1 stick (115gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large egg yolks
1 cup (125gr) powdered sugar, unsifted
cocoa powder for dusting

Melt the chocolate in a large bowl set over a pot of simmering water (make sure that the bowl fits snuggly over the pot so that very little steam escapes). Stir occasionaly.
Remove from the heat and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time. Stir until completely incorporated. Add the egg yolks and powdered sugar whisking until the batter is smooth.
Refrigerate until firm, about 2 hours.
When ready to roll, scoop out balls of ganache with a spoon, roll them in between your palms fairly quickly and set them on a baking sheet. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The next day, roll them in the cocoa powder and keep refrigerated until ready to eat.
Yields 35 to 45 truffles, depending on size.

Wishing You The Sweetest Of Holidays!

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:34:00 +0000

In the midst of all the Christmas preparations in our kitchen and I am sure in yours, I wanted to take the time to wish you a very Merry Christmas and plenty of joy and happiness this holiday season.

In my family we celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with two big dinners. In B's family, it's only Christmas Day. His is small-ish, mine is big. Huge actually. Nowadays, we are doing a bit of both even if I am not home and he indulges me in some of my traditions, like the Provencal 13 desserts and listening to "La Pastorale des Santons de Provence". Yes, baby Jesus was born in Provence and his parents spoke with the accent. You didn't know?! No Christmas is complete without it and in the 30 something years I have been around, I have had plenty of time to learn each character by heart.

Until my grandmother passed away, Christmas Eve dinner was held at my grandparents' house after church and we would go *all* out. Christmas Day's traditions were a bit more low key as it was the "in-laws" day, meaning my uncles and ant would go visit their in laws during the day and come back for dinner. Those who were without in-laws would make their way to my parents' house for lunch for macaroni, butter, parmesan and a plate of charcuterie. Came 8pm and we would have a Christmas Day dinner usually revolving around a buffet of regional delicacies.

One of our holiday traditions is to make a visit to our favorite chocolatiers, "Les Chocolats Colas" in the town of Maule. True chocolate artists making the most intricate as well as delicious chocolate creations. We usually get a few pieces to take home but we really go there for their chocolat chaud. More like ganache chaude really. Indeed, the chocolate is so rich and so thick that it is served in small espresso cups. Trust me, that is plenty. Strong, spiced just right and silky all the way down to your toes.

As part of my holiday rituals of listening to La Pastorale while baking, I always make sure to fix us a batch of hot chocolate albeit a little lighter than the one we have at the Colas chocolate shop when we go home. B. likes to have a handful of marshmallows in his hot chocolate but I really find store bought ones to be tasteless and gritty. Ok, so they can be gooey mess, marshmallows are so easy to make at home, it's worth it trying them at least once.

Both recipes for our favorite creamy and rich hot chocolate and homemade marshmallows after the bump.

Tonight's dinner will be with some of our closest friends around some French regional delicacies. Low key, reflective and quiet. Just what I like.

Thank you for your readership throughout the years. You cry and laugh with me and everytime I come here and spill some goodies, I feel like having coffee with some good friends. Thank you!

Hot Chocolate:
6 oz (180gr) semisweet chocolate (chips or chopped)
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
pinch of ground cloves

Place the chocolate in a large bowl. Set aside.
In a large saucepan set over medium heat, bring the milk and cream to a simmer. Remove from the heat and slowly pour the hot liquid over the chocolate. Let the mixture stand for 2 minutes then slowly whisk the mixture until completely smooth. add the spices, stir and serve with the marshmallows.

Vanilla Marshmallows:
1/4 cup (60ml) water
1/4 cup (60ml) light corn syrup
3/4 cup (170 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
2 egg whites, room temperature
1 whole vanilla bean, split open and seeded
cornstarch

Line a 8X8 baking pan with plastic wrap. Spray lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle lightly with some cornstarch, shake the excess off.
In a medium saucepan, combine the water, corn syrup, and sugar, bring to a boil until “soft-ball” stage, or 235 degrees on a candy thermometer. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and let dissolve. Remove the syrup from the heat, add the gelatin, and mix. Whip the whites until soft peaks form and pour the syrup into the whites. Add the vanilla seeds and continue whipping until stiff. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and let set 24 hours at room temperature. Unmold and cut squares with a hot knife.

Poached Pear And Almond Fallen Souffle Cakes

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 05:07:00 +0000

All weekend long I kept hearing about the snow falling down, heavy and thick in some places, watery and clumpy in some others. Friends here were making hot cocoa and shoveling driveways. My parents back home in France were describing the park in our village as wearing a light dusting of snowflakes. Here, we started to wonder if we would spend Christmas day in shorts like we did last year. Probably not but neither Bill nor I have put on coats yet this year. Indeed, we finally had signs of Fall. In December.

I have long understood that the South beats to a different rythm. It's in the air. Literally. It suits my personality just fine. Winter breeze at 5am and reddish-brown leaves still falling, blanketing the yard by 5pm. Winter citrus sharing shelf space with Fall pears and apples at the market. I just felt compelled to fill my basket with the juiciest mini d'Anjour pears I could find, go home and make these gluten free Poached Pear and Almond Fallen Souffle Cakes.

One thing I have inherited from my mother and grandmother (beside the all-in-or-nothing temperament) is their love for poaching fruits in the colder month and using them in all sorts of desserts. I don't really care what the thermometer reads outside lately. I am a bit homesick. It's the holidays. I'm poaching. As I told Bill "French Christmas carols and lots of poached fruits - deal with it!". His eyes lit up and he replied "let me pull out some pillows and we can cozy up and you can tell me all about all the Christmases of your childhood." Love that man.

Fo us, one of the many joys of being in a relationship is to share just about everything. Even a bad cold. I don't mind having a cold. I do mind when it hovers between cold and flu with fever, aches and chills but without knocking you down completely. This thing we have been sharing back and forth has been lowering all our levels by 40%-50% or so. It angers the bejesus out of me. Especially a few days before Christmas when there is still a ton to get done and lots of friends to see. But as we sat down with a cup of ginger tea and a warm pear and almond cake, we felt instantaneously better, warmer and happier.

I did convert the recipe to be gluten free to work with my diagnosis (yes, I know, research is still out on that one but I see the rewards of going gluten free and almost sodium free and that's good enough for me) and I snuck in a whole poached pear instead of a half like my grandmother used to do. However, I know it wasn't the reason why they rose as high and fell as quick as souffles.

We then changed their names too. The original was more of a scribble on a piece of paper from Mamie reading "Gateaux Amandes et Poires Pochees. Faites attention, ils degringolent" which could be translated as "Almond and Poached Pear Cakes. Watch out, they tumble down". And she was absolutely right. Hence B. felt compelled to rename them - he's a stickler that way, ahah!

Whichever name you choose, all I know is that they are the perfect cross between a souffle, a cake and a custard. That for a brief moment they stopped my coughing and sneezing and that "Douce Nuit Sainte Nuit" never sounded more beautiful.

That is good enough for me...

Poached Pear And Almond Fallen Souffle Cakes:

Makes 6

Note: you can core the pears from the bottom to about 1 inch from the top with an apple corer but these are so tiny that I just removed the stem button at the bottom. Everything else in the core baked to very soft texture and the seeds were easy to remove while eating (kind of like tails on baked shrimp).

For the poached pears:
6 mini d'Anjou pears, peeled (or other small pears like Forelles or Seckel)
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2-3 cloves
2-3 cardamom pods
1 stick cinnamon
5-6 allspice berries
1-2 star anise
1/2 lemon
4 cups (1 liter) water

For the cakes:
3 tablespoons (40gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup (190ml) heavy cream
1 cup ground almonds (blanched or skin on - your preference)
1/4 cup (40gr) sorghum flour (or use 1/4 cup all purpose flour)
1 teaspoon baking powder

Prepare the pears:
Place the pears, spices, lemon and water in tall saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Lower the heat and let them simmerfor 15-20 minutes or until the pears are just soft (poke with a toothpick to check).
Remove from the water using a slotted spoon and allow to cool on paper towel or baking rack.

Prepare the cakes:
Preheat the oven to 350F and position a rack in the middle.
Slightly butter or spray 6 ramekins and place them on a baking sheet. Set aside.
In the bowl if an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffly (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs, one a time and beat well in between each addition. Reduce the speed to low and add the vanilla, heavy cream, almonds, flour and baking powder and beat until incorporated. Fill each ramekins about 1/3 full with the batter and place a poached pear in the center.
Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Yuzu Cremes Brulees

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:26:00 +0000

If you were to visit our house right now, you'd be wondering if Christmas is really just a a week away. Oh, we have a small tree up in the living room but that's about it. No present wrapped up underneath and a few of Christmas decorations here and there in the house. We have gifts almost all ready to go for everyone but we can't leave them out since they are of the edible kind. The pupps have a tendency to get in trouble with bows and ornaments!

I like the feeling of turning the kitchen and dining room into some Santa's Edible Gift Workshop. The oven is on all the time, boxes, papers and ribbons cover most of the table. I also appreciate putting my feet up and taking in the spirit of the holidays by digging my spoon into of these Yuzu Cremes Brulees.

I could feel sad that we are not going home this year for the holidays but I don't. We are grateful to be busy at work with little time to think about being away from the rest of the family. B's family has always made me feel loved as their own, especially during big holidays. Some friends drop by for tea and cookies and some friends send goodies like Todd and Diane gifting me with a precious delivery of fresh yuzu for Christmas.

When they sent some Calamansi limes they also included three little yuzu fruits. I guess they heard me sigh "more please!" all the way to California and sent more. The first three yuzus yielded enough juice to make two doll house sized yuzu curd tarts. We ate them as soon as they came out of the oven and I never got the chance to take pictures. I got this new box the same day B. was asking me for creme brulees. In the 12 years we have been together I have never figured this out: every year around Christmas, he asks for cremes brulees. He's not picky mind you, any flavor will do and he loves trying new things. Hence, some of the yuzu fruits ended up being used for custards.

If you have never had yuzu, think of it as the Rolls Royce of citrus fruit. Every time I am lucky to get some, I can't help but feel like I am holding a clementine sized grapefruit cloaked as a lemon, fragrant like Meyer lemons, seedy like a mandarine and as easy to peel as a tangerine. See what I mean...

Just as I hold yuzu in high regards, B. gives cremes brulees close to a royalty status around here. Hence it seemed fitting to combine both in one dessert. Todd and Diane sent me two types, yuzu and Kabosu and the latter were perfect to impart as much flavor as possible to the custards. They have more juice, less seeds and rind than yuzu. I zested the Kabosu, pureed the flesh (minus the seeds) and threw all this in the cream base of the brulees, much like as if I were using vanilla. I also let the batter steep overnight in the fridge, exactly as I do with straight vanilla bean creme brulee.

I was worried B. would frown but he asked for seconds and declared these the best ones he's had so far. Believe me when I say, he has many years of Creme Brulee research attached to his resume! And they are gluten free which is perfect for me as I can eat my share too!

Thank you to all of you participating in Menu for Hope, either as item donors or item bidders, or both. You guys are awesome. Check the progress of the fundraising here and keep spreading the word! Thanks!

Yuzu Creme Brulees:

Makes 6-8

Note: Since yuzu isn't the easiest thing to find, I've come up with a concoction to get pretty close to the taste. I am still experimenting but so far the following has been very promising: juice and zest of one lemon, zest of one mandarine and enough grapefruit flesh to take the whole mixture to about 1/3 cup.

Creme brulees are easy to make and require few ingredients. They are however considered royalty because they need to be handled properly to achieve the right texture. They should be smooth all the way through and once caramelized on top, they should have 3 levels of temperature from top-hot to middle-warm to bottom-cold. I say "should" because let's face it, the creme brulees police isn't going to come after you if they are not what a red-faced angry French chef would expect "perfect". (talking from experience, believe me). Anyways...

For the creme brulee filling:

6 egg yolks
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 cups heavy cream
3 yuzu, zested and pureed to get about 1/3 cup pulp/juice

For the sugar crust:
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup granulated sugar (50gr to 100gr)

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick (3-4 minutes). Reserve.
In the meantime, place the cream in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to asimmer. Add the citrus mixture.
When the cream is hot, slowly pour it over the reserved egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly to prevent the yolks from curdling. Let cool to room temperature and refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

When ready to bake:
Preheat the oven to 350F (325F if using convection). Place 6-8 ramekins (depending on size) in a deep baking pan. Set aside.
Strain the mixture into a 3-4 cup measuring container, preferably with a spout as it makes it much easier to pour. Discard the yuzu or citrus mixture. Pour into the ramekins until about 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the rim
Place the baking pan in the oven and pour enough hot water to reach about halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool before removing the ramekins from the pan.
Refrigerate until completely cold. When ready to serve, sprinkle each creme brulees with 1 tablespoon sugar and caramelize the tops with a blow torch (or use the broiler in your oven on high - the results are not quite the same though).

2009 Menu For Hope - East Coast Bid Items

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 05:18:00 +0000

Menu For Hope 6 to help Purchase for Progress launches today! Bidding is open from December 14th through December 25th 2009.

Thank you to all of those who came forward with awesome items to bid on. Each year I am delighted to chip in and this year I want to thank Pim for trusting me with hosting the East Coast and I am psyched of the work all the hosts and donors have achieved in the middle of all our/their busy schedules.

Now it's your time dear readers and participants to make this charitable enterprise a success! If you've missed previous posts on Menu For Hope, here are the details.

Here is the list of bid items from bloggers on the US East Coast for you to check out and you will find a complete list on Pim's site. Don't forget to check out the other regional hosts, Shauna, Tara, David, Ed and Alder, and their lists as many contain items without shipping restrictions. (See bidding instructions at the end of post).

I’m sure you’ll find some fabulous goodies you’ll want to place a bid on. Tickets are $10 each and tax deductible.

UE01: One Day Macarons 101 Workshop With Helene From Tartelette.

Helene will come to your kitchen for the day to teach you how to make the ever elusive and tricky macarons like the pros. Charleston, SC area only unless you are willing to ship me to your place!

UE02: Hands-on 1 day food photography & styling workshop with Helene Dujardin of Tartelette OR Three 8x12 art prints by Helene Dujardin.

Bid on a personal day of food photography & styling workshop in Helene's studio. We will tackle food styling, camera and light settings and spend the afternoon practicing! The winner is responsible for travel and lodging to Charleston, SC. Lunch and materials will be provided. OR The winner will choose between 3 prints professionally printed on Kodak Endura paper from Helene's etsy shop (no shipping restrictions). You can specify which one when you bid.

UE03: New West Knifeworks "Phoenix 9" Knife.

From Marc of No Recipes. This 9 inch chef's knife from New West Knifeworks has a hand crafted Damascus forge welded blade, making it light, yet hard enough to hold
it's razor sharp edge for months. It effortlessly slices though
everything from carrots, to tomatoes to meat. (no shipping restrictions)

UE04: Eat Boutique Gift Box.

From Maggie at Eat Boutique, a gift box including an array of hand-crafted food products from across New England. Taza Chocolate Covered Almonds and Taza Chocolate Covered Nibs; Lark Fine Foods Salted Rosemary Shortbread and Mighty Gingers; Q’s Nuts Sweet & Sassy Pecans and Key Lime Coconut Ginger Cashews; Hutchinson’s Candy Famous Fudge; and, Silverbrook Farm Pear Ginger Jam. (no shipping restrictions)

UE05: Weekend at Farnum Hill Orchard, Lebanon, NH.

From Rich at Offbeats Eats, a two night stay at the Farnum Hill Orchard (Poverty Lane Orchards in Lebanon, NH), tours of the cider making facility, introduction to the craft and horticulture of cidermaking with heirloom cider varieties by Stephen Wood and Louisa Spencer and a selection of specialty heirloom ciders fresh from the source. Winner will provide their own transportation to Lebanon, NH.

UE06: Two night-stay in Chelsea Studio Appartment, New York City.

Annie from Annie's New York Eats offers 2 nights in her Chelsea in studio apartment in the center of a fascinating neighborhood, with choices such as the Chelsea Market, the Food Network studios, Tom Collichio's restaurants, the City Bakery, the Union Square Greenmarket, etc.. Fridge and pantry filled with the best locavore ingredients, plus a decent batterie de cuisine with which to cook. Personalized guide of the neighborhood whether you are a vegetarian, omnivore, Top Chef enthusiast, interested in cheap eats or big splurges.

UE07: Custom Beer Tasting.

Join Jessica and Marlene from My Hoppy Place for a custom beer tasting. Are you new to craft and microbrews? Do you want to get to know your local beers? Are you keen to explore a style or flavor? We'll select a tempting sample of brews, walk you through each, talk about food pairings, and generally schmooze about beer (a subject we love dearly). You can bring up to three guests. You must be local to the Washington DC area and all participants must be 21 or older.

UE08: Box of LA Burdick Chocolate Mice or Penguins.

From Mary at The Sour Dough: winner will get their choice of either 9 adorable little chocolate mice or 9 elegant and cute penguins. (US only)

UE09: Day of bread making.

From Mary at The Sour Dough: An “in your home” day long lesson on making bread completely by hand with three of your friends. We’ll make bread the old fashioned way,completely by hand. The winner will learn techniques like proofing yeast, kneading, shaping and baking. We will make two loaves: basic white and one specialty bread like cinnamon rolls, Challah, or whole grain. The winner will also get a home bread making kit that includes my preferred loaf pan, yeasts, King Arthur flours, and recipes for the breads we make with step by step instructions. Only in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Greater NYC area, New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania.

UE10: J. A. Henckels Professional "S" 7' Santoku knife + 5 bags of Impact Granola.

From Steve at My Favourite Flavors: a gorgeous J. A. Henckels Professional "S" 7' Santoku knife + 5 bags of Impact Granola. Each bag Of Impact Granola is filled with hearty, flavorful granola that’s good for both you and starving children. Each bag you buy will feed a hungry child for an entire day. Get your granola today, so they can see tomorrow. (no shipping restrictions on either bid items).

UE11: Fleisher's Grass Fed and Organic Meats in Kingston, NY + a copy of Julie Powell's new memoir Cleaving.

From Winnie at Healthy Green Kitchen: a $25 gift certificate from Fleisher's Grass Fed and Organic Meats in Kingston, NY plus a copy of Julie and Julia author Julie Powell's new memoir Cleaving (which chronicles her meat internship at Fleisher's). (no shipping restrictions)

UE12: 4 seasonal shipments of 12 cookies from Jacy Cakes LLC.

Bid on four seasonal shipments of a dozen from Jacy Cakes LLC's large hand-decorated sugar cookies over the course of the upcoming new year, one shipment every three months. Each cookie will be individually bagged and tied with a satin ribbon, ready to enjoy on the spot or give as gifts. Our cookies are made with the highest quality ingredients and are decorated, bagged, and shipped within two days of their baking, and are shipped priority mail overnight to ensure their freshness. Gluten Free and Vegan cookies available upon request. (no shipping restrictions)

UE13: 100% Certified Fair Trade Coffee Sampler.

From Alana at Eating From The Ground Up: Three 12 oz. bags of Barrington Coffee Roasters amazing coffee beans- Organic/ Fair Trade Sumatra Aceh, Organic/ Fair trade Berkshire Blend, and Organic/ Fair Trade French Roast Mexican Chiapas. (US only)

UE14: $50 gift certificate to Sucre Confectionary.

From Lindsay at Scoop: Adventures in Ice Cream: $50 gift card for Sucré, a confectionery and gelateria located in the heart of New Orleans, LA. Featured in O magazine, Sucré is famous for its array of sweet treats including delicious french macarons, delectable chocolates, and scrumptious baked goods. Everything Sucré creates is handcrafted in small batches from the finest ingredients available, often inspired from local, homegrown flavors. (US only)

UE15: Ethnic Chicago Neighborhood Spice Blends Deluxe gift box +"Chicago Cooks" cookbook.

Donated by The Spice House and offered by Lydia from The Perfect Pantry: The Spice House, Chicago's premier source of spices for chefs and home cooks, offers their best-selling Ethnic Chicago Neighborhood Spice Blends Deluxe Gift Box of ten spice blends that represent the rich diversity of Chicago's ethnic neighborhoods and cuisines -- Greek, Latino, Ukrainian, Italian, Central European, African-American, Polish, Irish -- plus a copy of Chicago Cooks, published by Les Dames d'Escoffier. (North America).

UE16: Moms’ Guide to Meal Makeovers Cookbook & Cuisinart Elite Collection 12-Cup Food Processor.

Liz & Janice of Meal Makeover Moms’ Kitchen are offering an autographed copy of their cookbook, The Moms’ Guide to Meal Makeovers and a Cuisinart Elite Collection 12-Cup Food Processor, a 4-cup work bowl nested inside the big, 12-cup and a SealTight™ Advantage System which seals bowls and locks blades to prevent leaking from the bottom of the bowl when the processor is in use or while pouring out ingredients. (US only).

UE17: Bacon Lover's Candy Pack.

From Mary at Cooking 4 The Week: A collection of bacon-based candies to delight the bacon lover in your life. The pack includes: Bacon brittle, a crunchy, smoky treat that’s great on ice cream or on its own. Bacon caramels, made with lard and bacon fat and topped with Australian pink flake salt. Bacon fudge, dark chocolate fudge layered with crisp, candied bacon. The pack includes 8 ounces of brittle, 8 caramels and 8 pieces of fudge.(US only)

UE18: 12 bars of Amano Chocolate.

From Jessica at Su Good Sweets. Amano has donated four bars each of the 70% limited edition Montanya, 70% Dos Rios, and 70%Guayas OR the 70% Montanya, 30% Ocumare, and 30% Jembrana. Winner’s choice! All together that’s 12 bars. If you’re having difficulty choosing, the first set is for traditionalists; the second is for those who like the creaminess of milk chocolate and the complexity of dark.(no shipping restrictions).

UE19: Sweet Amandine Trio.

From Jess at Sweet Amandine: A trio of homemade sweet, almondy treats - salted chocolate almond toffee, almond butter tarts, and almond biscotti - packaged in a Florentine gift box from my favorite local paper shop. There’s no sense kicking off the New Year with a belly ache, so I’ve designed the selection so that you can pace yourself. The tart is best eaten within a day or two, but the biscotti will keep for up to two weeks, and the toffee, even longer. (US only)

UE20: Cookbook Collection by Scribner.

A collection of six cookbooks provided by Scribner and hosted by Derek from The Best Food Blog Ever: The Joy of Cooking, Boy Gets Grill, On Food and Cooking, Bakewise, Elements of Cooking, and Ratio. (US only)

UE21: Stainless Kitchen Tool Set by All Clad.

From Derek at The Best Food Blog Ever: A set of kitchen tools, including a slotted spoon, solid spoon, fork, ladle, and turner, all in a nice matching caddy. (US only)

UE22: Nespresso Le Cube/Aeroccino Plus bundle.

From Derek at The Best Food Blog Ever: Combination of the Nespresso Le Cube espresso machine and the Aeroccino Plus milk frother. (US only)

UE23: Vermont Foodie Gift Basket and Essential Canning Tool Set.

From Robin at Hippo Flambe: Boyden Valley Vinyard Vermont Ice Wine, Fat Toad's Farm Traditional Goat's Milk Caramel, 7 oz bag Dakin Farm Vermont Maple Kettle Corn, 8oz jar Butternut Mountain Farm Maple Butter, jar tomato-orange marmelade, 8oz Vermont cheese, canning funnel, jar lifters, bubble wand superior canning rack and magnetic lid lifter. (no shipping restrictions).

UE24: A Taste Of Atlanta Prize Pack.

Hosted by Tami at Running With Tweezers:
- one super-chic heirloom apron from Ice Milk Aprons from their Rollings In Cinnamon collection.
- One Low Country Luxe candle from their Sugah candle collection. Beautifully packaged candles with a Southern spin.
- "Atlanta Cooks at Home" cookbook, curated by Melissa Libby which includes recipes that local chefs (including Iron Chef winner Kevin Rathbun and James Beard winner Scott Peacock) would make in their home.
- One box of 14 delicious assorted macarons from the lovely Crumb bakery in Atlanta.
- One bottle of Hot Squeeze, a sauce with personality. It’s smoky. It’s spicy, it’s sweet, it’s sassy and it’s sexy. All in one bottle.
- Taste of Atlanta has donated FOUR VIP tickets to Atlanta's largest outdoor food festival, in October 2010. Sample food and drinks from 80+ Atlanta restaurants. You will need to be in Atlanta in October 2010 to redeem this prize. Winner of the bid item will receive a certificate good for your four tickets, valued at $260.

UE25: The Sous Vide Supreme.

Hosted by Jaden from Steamy Kitchen: Cook like Thomas Keller, Heston Blumenthal and Ferran Adria with The SousVide Supreme™ is the world’s first water oven designed specifically to bring the gourmet restaurant sous vide cooking method into home kitchens. The result is lusciously silky chicken, juicy, perfect and evenly cooked steaks just like from a master chef. This machine is the size of a bread machine and valued at $449.00. (Canada and US only)

UE26: Gift package of Stonyfield Products.

Donated by Stonyfield and hosted by Andrea of Andrea's Recipes: Stonyfield Fleece Jacket, Oikos Organic Cooton Tee, Oikos tote bag, Stonyfield hat, Stonyfield cookbook, coupons for free yogurts. (US only)

UE27: 2-piece Kitchen knife set from New West Knifeworks.

From Andrea from Andrea's Recipes: These are beautiful and functional pieces of knife art. The set contains a chopper and a paring knife with Fusionwood handles, and the winner gets to choose the color of the handles. Each knife comes with its own leather sheath and a lifetime guarantee. (US only)

UE28: Morgan Ranch American Wagyu Beef.

From Derek at Gastronomic Fight Club: You are bidding for 2 Morgan Ranch American Wagyu Coulettes.Taken from the sirloin, this French cut gives the Wagyu (American Kobe) Steak an exceptionally soft and sweet flavor. Since the Morgan Wagyu coulette steak is bit leaner in its makeup, its subtle, pleasant flavor makes it great for serving either carved as medallions or whole as a Chateaubriand. ($125 retail value) (US only)

UE29: Morgan Ranch American Wagyu Family BBQ Collection.

From Derek at Gastronomic Fight Club: This combination is perfect for a family barbecue. With 5 lbs. of ground beef, 4 sirloin steaks, and a pound of kabobs, adults and children alike will all find a favorite dish among this collection. It's a perfect way to become familiar with Wagyu (American Kobe) Beef. ($125 retail value)(US only).

UE30: North African Spice Blend Package.

From Warda of 64 sq ft Kitchen: four homemade Algerian spice blends along with the north African hot condiment Harissa. The four spice blends are as followed: 1/ Ras El hanout, both yellow and red. Ras el Hanout, a complex melange of spices (in this case 12 spices for the yellow and twenty for the red) commonly used in the Algerian, Moroccan and Tunisian cuisine. 2/- Tagine spice blend. 3/ - Couscous spice blend (US only)

UE31: Duo of Burro Foods Olive Oil.

Duo of artisanal oils from Paola at Hungry Burro:
- Unfiltered Extra-Virgin Istrian Olive Oil (Olio Nuovo) made from 100% White Istrian Olives from Istranova, in Slovenia. Hand-picked hand, cold-pressed and bottled within hours this unfiltered raw extra-virgin olive oil is far from average! With an assertive peppery flavor best suited for palates that seek bold flavors, it has a higher antioxidant content than most.
- Lightly Toasted Pumpkin Seed Oil from Slovenia made from 100% cucurbita pepo styriaca seeds. It has a deep nutty, smoky, almost sweet, flavor with an intoxicating scent. Great ratio of Omega 3 & 6 fatty acids, rich in antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Delicious in hearty soups or drizzled over vegetables. (no shipping restrictions).

UE32: The BloggerAid Cook Book + &50 gift card from B&H photo.

From Meeta at What's For Lunch Honey: The BloggerAid Cook Book is a collection of international recipes illustrating that bloggers can work together and unite for a greater cause. The authors of this cookbook are food bloggers from around the world who have endeavored to make a difference by raising funds for the World Food Programme and encompassing their passion for "all things foodie" at the same time.
B & H Photo is a photographers paradise! One can find a large variety of items to pimp up your equipment. Whether it's a new lens, a camera or a lighting set-up this gift card hopefully will add a bit to the budget. (no restrictions).

UE33: All-Clad Stainless Covered Saucepan.

Donated by Stephane of Zen Can Cook: classic straight-sided, 2-quart saucepan.
Three-ply: stainless-steel layers sandwich pure aluminum core for even heating. Comfortable lid and stay-cool handles riveted for strength. Dishwasher safe, but hand washing recommended. Lifetime warranty against defects. ($140 value) (No shipping restrictions).

UE34: "Everyday Harumi" by Harumi Kurihara.

Courtesy of Conran Publishing and hosted by Serge at Serge The Concierge: Signed copy of "Everyday Harumi" (simple Japanese food for family and friends) by Harumi Kurihara. (no shipping restrictions).

UE35: Mary Jane Soda Gift Package.

12 Pack of Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda from Colorado and Matching T-Shirt
Made from Kava root, carbonated spring water and natural cane sugar, it's good for your body and mind (retail value $49.99) (Good for any countries except European Union and Australia)

UE36: "Coco" Book - The most exciting new chefs and restaurants around the world.

Courtesy of Phaidon Books and hosted by Serge from Serge Le Concierge: Curated by Ferran Adrià, Mario Batali, Shannon Bennet, Alain Ducasse, Fergus Henderson, Yoshihiro Murata, Gordon Ramsay, René Redzepi, Alice Waters, and Jacky Yu
(Retail Value $49.99) (no shipping restrictions).

UE37: Wine You Can Wear Tee-Shirts.

Courtesy of Terroir NY and hosted by Serge of Serge Le Concierge: three tee-shirts about three revolutionaries of wine making.
These graphic and yet educational t-shirts each feature valuable information
about each winemaker on the back, baseball card style. (Retail Value: $57) (no shipping restrictions).

UE38: Kitchen Gift Package.

From Christina at Thirty A Week:
- Early Bird Granola donates a totebag with 3 varieties of their amazing granola: Pecans-Olive Oil, Mango-Macademia, Cherry-Pistachio.
- Econographics will donate a t-shirt and apron.
- Thirty A Week donates an embroidered kitchen towel with the winner's initials on them. (no shipping restrictions).

UE39: Two signed copies of "The Gilded Fork: Entertaining at Home" cookbook

Jennifer Iannolo and Chef Mark Tafoya invite you to stay in with a signed copy of The Gilded Fork: Entertaining at Home cookbook. Featuring 13 dinner party menus, the cookbook offers easy yet elegant recipes for every occasion, from romantic dinners for two to Mother’s Day, including a vegan dinner party menu.
Includes make-ahead options and cooking tips, desserts by pastry chef Monica Glass and wine pairing recommendations from wine blogger Lenn Thompson. As the first social media-driven cookbook, The Gilded Fork: Entertaining at Home also features photos from the Culinary Media Network’s audience of viewers and listeners. (no shipping restrictions).

UE40: Red Wine Extravaganza Package.

From Jon at Live To Feast: bid on a gift pack of exceptional Red Wines. The package includes a total of 4 bottles: 2000 Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet, 2007 Bodega Teso La Monja Almirez Toro, 2004 Ruffino Modus, 1999 Domaine Combier Crozes-Hermitage Clos Des Grives (Valued at $170) (US Only)

UE41: Set of 4 Bambu Bowls.

From Beatrice at La Tartine Gourmande, a set of 4 Bambu bowls. They are fun and colorful and will always cheer up a dining table. Bambu bowls come in matte finish with natural lacquer which creates a durable waterproof finish. Food-safe, good for both hot and cold foods. Measures 4.5 inch in diameter.

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To Donate and Enter the Menu for Hope Raffle

1. Choose a bid item or bid items of your choice from our Menu for Hope main bid item list.

2. Go to the donation site at Firstgiving and make a donation.

3. Please specify which bid item you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per bid item, and please use the bid item code.

Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a bid item of your choice. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02 - 2xEU01, 3xEU02.

4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.

5. Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we can contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

Check back on Chez Pim on Monday, January 18 for the results of the raffle.

Candy Cane Macarons & Eggnog Macarons

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:00:00 +0000

I really do love get togethers, dinners for four or soirees for ten. If there is a story to be told or a moment to be shared, I am there to hear it. In a large family like mine, that is a pretty regular occurence. In his, not so much. I am sure his parents would think we're all crazy and way too loud in mine. When Christmas season rolls around and as we get all busy with family, I start missing mine terribly. Even the crazies.

In those instances, I turn to the familiar sound of a friend's voice or the well-known steps of a favorite recipe and most often we end up with a fresh batch of cookies. Since Thanksgiving, we've been all over these Candy Cane Macarons and Eggnog Macarons as we get into the holiday spirit.

Last October, Brooke asked me to be part of Trick Or Treat and while I brought Toffee Crabapples to the party, I also left with tons of ideas for next year's Halloween. Last month she asked if anyone would be interested in following the Trick or Treat success with a Christmas Cookie Exchange and I said "sure...", figuring it would be the perfect way to discover new and great recipes to add to my Christmas boxes.

See, we have stopped buying gifts for family and friends about eight year ago and instead, comes Christmas day, we give each family a large hat box filled with nothing but homemade goodies. It's pretty much all the things I have baked, cooked or prepared along the year and that made it to my Top 20. Yeah, I like to think I am hip. I have a Top 20. It can be anything from flavored syrups and sugars, to spice rubs, cookies, cakes, candies, etc...

I just have one problem this Christmas. I go stuck at Top 9 as life and work got stuck on overdrive. You too, I presume. It's the season. I think I am at the point where I need someone to put a plate of cookies in front of me and say "Here are potential Top 10-11 and 12. Now go put it in that big box for your friend". You know what? I'm not Santa but I know exactly where to find that! A virtual cookie exchange leaving you with brand new favorites to bake.

Yes! Today, I've teamed up with twelve other incredible food bloggers to bring you a holiday cookie celebration so big, it's being monitored by the North Pole. The Baker's Dozen Ultimate Cookie Exchange. From the sneak peaks I have seen so far... you won't want to miss "doing the rounds". I am getting hungry just thinking about it. To see all of the participating bloggers, head to the Baker's Dozen home site, here.

In the meantime, let's talk Candy Cane and Eggnog Macarons...

Candy Cane and Eggnogg Macarons:

Notes:
Trust me on this: do not crust candy canes and sprinkle them on your shells prior to baking as a decorative element, as you would sprinkle sesame seed, for example. Trust me. Unless you want a reaction similar to acid perforating your skin. Cratters being created under your very eyes as you peek through the oven glass door. Do you trust me now? Hope so...because it ain't pretty but sure gives you food for discussion if you need some.

Instead...crush some candy cane and roll the macarons in it once they're filled, or add crushed candy canes to the buttercream. Much better.

For the shells:
90 gr egg whites (use eggs whites that have been preferably left 3-5 days in the fridge)
25 gr granulated sugar
200 gr powdered sugar
110 gr almonds (slivered, blanched, sliced, whatever you like)

Prepare the macarons:
In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, (think bubble bath foam) gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue (think shaving cream). Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry. Place the powdered sugar and almonds in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Add them to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that falls back on itself after counting to 10. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flattens on its own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.
Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds (1.5 inches in diameter) onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells a bit. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 280F. When ready, bake for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool. If you have trouble removing the shells, pour a couple of drops of water under the parchment paper while the sheet is still a bit warm and the macarons will lift up more easily do to the moisture. Don't let them sit there in it too long or they will become soggy. Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store them in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer.

For the buttercream:
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 sticks (180gr)(6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon to 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
crushed candy canes

Put the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. Divided the buttercream in two portions.
Leave one portion plain and add the cinnamon and nutmeg to the other one. Fill half the shells with the eggnog flavored one (cinnamon-nutmeg) and half with the plain buttercream. Roll the plain filled shells in to the crushed candy canes. Eat!

Calamansi Mousse Tartelettes With Candied Kumquats

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:52:00 +0000

The story could beging with "I've got these two friends, you see"...And then I could even attempt a rhyme like "they are wild and crazy". But that would be putting Todd and Diane in a box and these two, their hearts and their generosity will never bump the corners of a box. What am I talking about...their garden knows no boundaries. Over a month ago, they sent me a box of Calamansi limes from their own tree and it took me very little time to figure out what I wanted to do with them. Calamansi Mousse Tartelettes With Candied Kumquats.

Every time I virtually enter Todd and Diane's garden, I get lost in all of its beauty and amazing givings. I literally get lost there and in the gorgeous pictures this amazing team pairs up with their delicious recipes. You get it, I am running low on adjectives to describe them and what they contribute to the blogging world. Actually wait, here's another one, hot. These two are smoking hot. And hilarious. I've been fortunate to meet them both twice and twice I've wanted to bottle them up and take them home with me.

Clockwise: kumquats getting candied - fresh Calamansi limes - Calamsi curd in progress - fresh kumquats.
I had tasted Calamansi limes once years ago, before getting this shipment from Todd and Diane. Oh how I remember that first encounter. Could be one for the "what not to do" list. They look like rounded kumquats and I did what I usually do with kumquats. I popped a whole one in my mouth. Then I remember distinctly squinting my eyes, feeling my cheeks draw themselves inward. I love tart and I love sour but this on a scale from 1 to 10 was 25 in the sour-tart department. Oh my, did I squint!!

This time I had a plan. I zested about half of them and juiced them all and believe me, that took a little while and I was left with about 3/4 cup of juice. I immediately thought about making curd for tartelettes and mixed it with whipped cream to tone done the sour factor. The mousse was just right for everyone. For the shells, I used my favorite short crust dough but added some freshly chopped lemon balm to enhance the hints of citrus. Lemon verbena or lemon thyme would work quite well here also.

Since all the little limes from the box had been used for juice, I candied some sliced kumquats to crown the tartelettes with. This almost did not happen as we had a full house munching on them the day I made them and barely saved enough for the tarts. These are like crack in our house. They take a bit of time with slicing and removing the seeds but they are well worth the time. I used them in breads instead of raisins, on tartines with herbed goat cheese, and my favorite way is to tuck pieces into a bowl of my freshly made rice pudding.

The combination of flavors worked out perfectly well from top to bottom. Literally. I know Calamansi limes are not available everywhere but you could easily replace them with limes or lemons, any citrus would work beautifully here.

Calamansi Mousse Tartelettes With Candied Kumquats:

Makes four 3-inch tartelettes

For the sable crust:
1/2 stick (55 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons (25 grams) sugar
1 egg yolk
3/4 cup (95 grams) all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon freshly chopped lemon balm

For the Calamansi lime mousse:
3/4 cup (190 ml) calamansi juice (or lemon or lime juice)
1 cup (100gr) sugar
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup (190ml) heavy cream

Prepare the crust:In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip the butter and sugar until light and creamy. Add the egg yolk and mix for a short minute. Add the flour, salt and chopped lemon balm and beat until the dough just starts to come together. Gather the dough into a ball, flatten it a little to a small disk and wrap it well in plastic wrap. Refrigerate one hour before using.

Preheat oven to 350F.
Roll the dough between two sheets of parchment paper or on a well floured board until 1/4-inch thick. Cut out four 4 inch rounds of pastry dough and fit them inside four 3 inch tartlet molds, patting the dough in with your fingertips if needed. Place a small piece of parchment paper inside the tart shells, fill with beans or pie weights and blind bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and remove the shells from the rings.

Prepare the curd:
In a heavy medium saucepan, stir together the Calamansi juice and sugar and bring to a simmer over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks to break them up. Beat some of the Calamansi mixture into the egg yolks to temper. Scrape the mixture back into the saucepan and cook stirring constantly until it thickens up, about 5 minutes. Remove the curd from the heat, stir in the butter until it is completely incorporated. Let cool completely. If not using immediately, place a piece of plastic wrap over the top.
Whip the heavy cream to medium stiff peeks and gently fold it in the citrus curd in two additions or until no streaks of whipped cream remains.
Place the mousse into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipes rosettes of mousse inside the shells. You can also simply spoon the mousse inside the shells. Top with candied kumquat slices if desired and refrigerate.

Candied kumquats:
You can blanch the kumquats in boiling water for a minute before candying them but I forgot to one year at the restaurant and honestly did not see a difference in taste or time. If you think yours have been treated heavily with chemicals before packaging, I encourage to drop the kumquat slices in boiling water for a minute, drain them and proceed to the candy part.
1/2 cup (125ml) water
1 cup (100gr) sugar
1 pint fresh kumquats, washed, patted dry, and cut in 1/8 inch thin slices

In a heavy saucepan, combine the water and sugar and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the kumquats, being careful not to overcrowd your pan. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the fruit become translucent, about 20-30 minutes. Remove the fruit with a slotted spoon and place it, separating the slices, on a piece of parchment paper or silpat. Use as desired.

Ahhh The Weekend!

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:21:00 +0000

Ah the weekend! I love this time of year when we are all gearing up for the holidays and getting crafty. I've been quite busy with work which really feels like play so I am far from complaining but I have had little time to put together a proper post. It's been over a week since I candied, shot and ate the kumquats in the picture above...see what I mean!! Working on it today since I am off. Promise.

There will be kumquats, Kalamansi limes that I received from my friends Todd and Diane and tarts. At the present time I am filling Candy Cane and Eggnog macarons for a block party. It's fun. And torture. I want to eat some before we go!!

In the meantime, I want to thank all of you who have showed great interest and support in this year's Menu For Hope initiative. I just want to add that if you emailed me with a "I wish to participate with x gift" but did not provide all the information needed, I can not complete your participation and give you a prize code which you need to obtain to be part of the raffle. Thank you for understanding.

We need you! So keep brainstorming and putting together awesome prizes for the raffle or promote the initiave on your blog! You can read a lot more about P4P here.

Menu For Hope 6: Call For Prizes!

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 13:55:00 +0000

I am honored and thrilled to be the East Coast host for this year Menu For Hope, an annual fundraising campaign hosted by Pim of Chez Pim and a revolving group of food bloggers around the world. Along the years, Menu for Hope has raised nearly a quarter of million dollars in support of the good work of the UN World Food Programme, helping to feed hungry people worldwide.

This year, Menu For Hope is supporting a new initiative called Purchase for Progress (P4P). P4P enables smallholder and low-income farmers to supply food to WFP’s global operation. P4P helps farmers improves farming practices and puts more cash directly into their pockets in return for their crops. This will also help local economy by creating jobs and income locally.

How does it work?

People from all over the world join the campaign by offering a delectable array of food-related prizes for the Menu for Hope raffle. This year the raffle will start on December 14th and end on December 25th. For every $10 donated, you earn one virtual raffle ticket to bid on a prize of your choice.

How can you help?

- Participate in Menu for Hope VI by donating a raffle prize or by promoting Menu for Hope on your blog.

- Please contact the host in your area (the list is below) to obtain a prize code and be listed on the official Menu for Hope prize list. (Important: please do this before you list your prize on your blog, unrecognized prizes will not be added to the main list.)

- The prize you offer need not be of high monetary value, but it should appeal to your readership. A small rule of thumb we'd like to suggest is that each prize offered should have the potential to raise at least $200.

- Each donor is also responsible for shipping their prize to the winner so please make sure your budget covers it. It's important that you specify where your shipping area will cover when you offer the prize. No restrictions is always a plus but if you must, then please be very clear in your blog post so as not to confuse our donors.

To recap:If you'd like to participate, please send to your regional host, before December 10th:
- your prize information/description (100 words or so)
- shipping restrictions or other "to be used by" details if needed
- two images: 75x75 thumbnail and 200x200px
- your name, preferred email address and blog name

Your host will issue your prize code and give you further instructions on what to do for the Menu For Hope raffle launch on December 14th.

Here are your local hosts for this year's Menu for Hope:

US: West Coast
Shauna of Gluten Free Girl (glutenfreegirl[at]gmail[dot]com)

US: East Coast
Helen of Tartelette (mytartelette[at]gmail[dot]com)

Europe *and* the UK:
David of David Lebovitz(david.lebovitz[at]yahoo[dot]com)

Canada:
Tara of Seven Spoons (tara[at]sevenspoons[dot]net)

Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand:
Ed Charles of Tomato (gastrotom[at]gmail[dot]com)

Special Wine Blog Host:
Alder of Vinography (alder[at]vinography[dot]com)

Come back to Chez Pim on Monday December 14 when the campaign goes online for a link to the donation site.

The raffle is handled by an online fundraising company called First Giving. The bloggers never touch the money. The WFP don't waste overheads on processing mini-donations, the majority of which are between $10-$50, that's a whole lot of tenners to make up $90K.

Whether you choose to bid or buy raffle tickets, thank you! You guys ROCK. I'll never this enough...

Don't be shy...Ok, I'll start:

For this year MFH I am donating a one day 101 macarons making class (here in SC unless you are willing to ship me!) and three 8x12 prints from my etsy shop. Details to come next week.

Grapefruit And Pomegranate In White Tea Jelly

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:21:00 +0000

I hope that those of you celebrating Thanksgiving last week got to spend some quality time with their family and friends. Maybe there were a few odd moments and uncomfortable silence but heck, that's family dynamic right?! Our holiday was kind of bittersweet. A house full of close friends, kids, games and laughter interrupted by the news of B's uncle passing away the day before Thanksgiving. Lots of time spent on the road visiting relatives and work/gigs that would not take a vacation (except for Thursday of course).

When calm finally found a momentary reprieve on Friday, I looked around at the little bodies running about the house, verrines of Grapefruit And Pomegranate in Tea Jelly being lined up on the table, friends sitting down together and decided to keep the sweet part of bitter closer to my heart.

I've had this recipe and post in my draft box since Friday but have not had much chance to sit down with my thoughts and write something coherent. The first thing I did that morning was to rush out of bed and drink about a gallon of grapefruit juice. My body was obviously gearing up for detox mode. I pretty much spent the rest of the day noshing on grapefruits, oranges, kumquats (citrus season is just around the corner here in the South) and drinking copious mugs of tea. When I get into this mode, I make sure to never run out of anything tart, sour, juicy and fresh (hmm sounds like I could be describing B's sense of humor!).

It's not that we ate a lot, we just ate at odd hours and foods prepared by salt-shaker happy relatives. I know I am not the only one who drank a pond came Friday morning but I always wonder: what type of foods do you crave after a few extras?

It hit me at three in the afternoon that I should turn all these lovely, clean and fresh ingredients into a dessert that we could all enjoy. One of our friends loves those little fruit and jello cups sold at the grocery store and I know from a sure source (his wife) that it's about the only instance he'll be seen with a fruit. I like the concept (I'm French, anything "aspic" related is part of our food DNA) but I don't like the idea of additives, extra sugars and what not. I also like fruit over gelled mass a lot more. Plenty of reasons to make these at home and play a good game of Scrabble while they set.

I packed glasses and other ramekins with a combination of white and red grapefruits, sprinkled a small handful of pomegranate seeds over each of them and poured just enough white tea jelly to seal the deal. After a couple of hours in the fridge, we had the healthiest and most flavorful fruit dessert of the week. Suddenly my feet starting tapping on the floor, I began to giggle and fidget in my seat. My energy was back! So was my brain and the ability to come up with endless possibilities for these! We made a couple of other batches, one with pomegranate juice and one with Grand Marnier for a more festive and grown up version.

Can hardly wait to make these with Spring berries paired with some green or bergamot tea, or Summer stone fruit with some ginger beer or Champagne...

Grapefruit And Pomegranate In White Tea Jelly

Makes 4

Notes:
For a clean presentation, I like to spend some time making sure I properly segment the citrus, removing as much of the white membrane as much as possible. Click here for a good explanation on how to do it.
On the same vibe, pomegranate can make a royal stained mess and if more cleaning is not on your list that day, click here for an illustrated step-by-step.

2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons cold water
1 bag white tea or 1 tablespoon loose white tea leaves
1 cup boiling water
2 tablespoons sugar (more if you like a sweeter tea)
2 red grapefruits, peeled and segmented
2 white grapefruits, peeled and segmented
1 pomegranate, seeded

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water. Reserve.
Steep the tea into the boiling water for 2-3 minutes or to the strength you prefer. Add the sugar and reserved gelatin mixture until both are completely dissolved. Let cool a few minutes.
Divide the grapefruit sections and pomegranate seeds evenly among four glasses or ramekins and pour just enough tea jelly to reach the top.
Refrigerate until set, about 2 to 3 hours.

Pumpkin Semifreddo With A Side Of Gingerbread Houses

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:58:00 +0000

Instead of making pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving this year, I am bringing Pumpkin Semifreddo to my sister-in-law's. It's a riff on one of the desserts we had last week in Asheville and given that we devoured 8 of them in record time, I am pretty sure his family will also appreciate the change. It's cold, creamy, mousse-like with a nice crunch from the gluten free streudel on top. Makes me think of Fall with every bite.

I have always had a soft spot for Asheville during Fall and Winter. When we lived in upstate SC, we would take the beautiful mountain roads and drive around the area, always making a pit stop in there. We had an impromptu getaway in Asheville one Christmas years ago and I dragged B. through the gallery of gingerbread houses on display at The Grove Park Inn. I knew there had been a competition. I had no idea I'd be judging it one day, 5 years later! And with a beautiful friend and work peer as my traveling companion to boot.

Arriving at The Grove Park always makes me feel like I have steppped back in time, somewhere around 1935 when F. Scott Fitzgerald could have been my almost neighbor in room 441 (we were in room 552). Truly a special place, yet one that evolved perfectly with time and where people are the embodiement of Southern hospitality. Fun, gracious, never stuffy and most of all with some of the best foods and drinks around.

I love the view out my kitchen but waking up with this everyday made me rubb my eyes quite a few times. Was I dreaming? What do they put in those drinks that one is constantly beaming to be so peacefully there? Wait, don't answer that one.

Maybe it's the food. Maybe it's the mountain air. On Saturday night, we all gathered for a "Meet&Greet" among the judges and were treated to some fabulous finger foods prepared in the nick of time by one of the hotel kitchens. Crab salad shooters, various kinds of sushi, potstickers, sliders, shots of lemon mousse and Tiramisu. A special drinks menu prepared just for us and greatly enjoyed by yours truly. The Gingerbread White Russian was as close to liquid dessert as one can get. Don't be fooled though...they hit you like a brick about an hour later.

In hindsight I am quite glad I started the day with a virgin Bloody Mary at Corner Kitchen and burned a couple of calories walking through the River Arts District with Tami and Dodie whom we met on our previous trip there (from Asheville CVB).

Yes, there is something magical about The Grove Park this time of year and if you are a sucker for holidays, Christmas, trees and ornaments as much as I am, you will be in heaven walking through the hotel right now. There is a tree in front of every window, each with its own theme. Whether you are a coffee or vintage addict to a Santa and gingerbread figurine lover, you are sure to find a tree for you!

My head was spinning at every corner of the hotel with all this whimsy! Glad I found a compass to navigate my way around, down the stairs, up the elevator, around the piano bar and back to our room!

Actually, this much fun is highly conducive to good nights of sleep. I sleep very little and yet I had no problem here putting my brain to rest, close my eyes and sleep a full night. This proved extremely important for the reason I was there in the first place: judging the National Gingerbread House Competition™. Yeah! Get to work Helen! Stop having that much fun with trees! Trust me, this is not an affair taken lightly by anybody. From the competitors entering, to the staff wheeling the houses in the main ballroom to the judges, armed with clipboards and scoring sheets.

One random thing that hit me around noon is that I should have had more than coffee that morning. After looking at two full rows of houses, the smell of gingerbread was making my stomach growl and my concentration weep. We had 5 criteria on which to base our scores and we took plenty of time to evaluate each and every house thoroughly (from 9.30am to 4.30pm).

There are times when putting the camera down is appropriate, especially when you are surrounded with such seriousness as Colette Peters, Nicholas Lodge, Mark Seaman and Steve Stellingwerf pointing to you the latest trends and techniques. To be honest, just to hear the words pastillage and wafer paper was sending me back years ago when I use to eat, drink and sleep that stuff for work and I *had* to put the camera gear to the side.

I did however sneaked in toward the end and while a hired team was taking full shots of the houses, I wanted to focus on the details and the artistry behind some houses. These are some of my favorites in design and whimsy although they did not make it to my top picks as they did not have enough "gingerbread" elements which is what we had come here to judge. Sometimes you have to put your heart waves aside and focus on that spread sheet. The grand prize and other winners in each category can be viewed here.

I did marvel at The Fruitcake House (pictured above). All the details were blowing me away. From the floor tiling to the cracked eggs on the work table, the nonpareilles, the fruit cake tally chalk boards and so forth and so on.

Another one I admired was the first place winner. It reminded me of the of A Christmas Story and the details were so whimsical and aesthetically perfect that everyone had to stop and admire that one. For some judges, there was "not enough gigerbread" to win Grand Prize for others, it was "the one". Yeah, I know, we're tough, but in the wash-out of scoring and tabulating, I think that we indeed picked all the houses that deserved to be in the Top 10.

I just love the aesthetics and color scheme of that one!

It was a long and exhausting day but we were rewarded with a fantastic dinner at Horizons where I had the chance to sit across Colette and Steve and talk shop, sugar and cake for a few hours. I was also blown away by Mark's fluent French and truly envy his yearly excursion to France to tour Patisseries.

Before I get to the recipe I want to extend a huge "Thank You" to my fellow judges, to Jeff, Brian "The Gingerbread Man", Susan, Ron and Rick who made our stay so pleasant and memorable. You guys know your stuff and do it well. Bravo.

We have had many reasons to feel lost this year but we have many more reasons to be grateful, starting with our family, our friends and your constant support and visits. Thank You. Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Now...let's talk Pumpkin Semifreddo...

During our lavish dinner at Horizons at The Grove Park Inn, we were presented with a delicious selection of desserts, some I had had the pleasure to make before and one that made everyone ask for more, the Pumpkin Semifreddo. I did not ask for a recipe because it is pretty straightforward to reproduce and instead of doing a full blown plated dessert as we had that night, I served mine in jars and other ramekins for a more casual presentation.

Pumkin Semifreddo

Serves 8

For the semifreddo:
1 cup (250ml) heavy cream
3 tablespoons (65gr)honey (I like wildflower the best)
2 tablespoons (25gr) sugar
2 tablespoons water
3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (120gr) pumkin puree (I used canned as I was making 150 of these for a catered event but feel free to make your own puree from fresh and cooked pumpkin)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

For the crumble topping:
1/2 cup (80 gr) sweet brown rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca (30gr) flour
1/4 cup sorghum (30gr) flour
1/2 cup (100 gr) light packed brown sugar
1/2 stick (55 gr) unsalted butter, softened

Prepare the Semifreddo:
In the bowl of a stand mixer equipped with the whisk attachment or hand held one with ballon whisks, beat the cream until it just holds soft peaks. Refrigerate it while you prepare the base of the ice cream. Wash your bowl and whisk attachment.

In a heavy saucepan, stir together the honey, sugar, and the water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Since you are not making caramel, it is ok to stir occasionally until the sugar is dissolved. Let it boil and bring the mixture registers 238°F on a candy thermometer.

This second part is easier to do with a hand held mixer than a KA for example since the quantity of egg yolks is small and the bowl tends to be deep in some models. It works, have no fear...it's just easier with a hand held one.

In the clean bowl of your mixer, still using the whisk attachment, beat the yolks for a minute to loosen them up. Reduce speed to medium and pour the hot honey mixture in a steady stream over them. Go fast enough to prevent the eggs from scrambling but not so fast that you end up with most of the syrup on the wall of the bowl or the whisk. Continue to whip at medium-high speed until the mass is completely cold and airy.

Fold about one third of the chilled whipped cream into the semifreddo base to loosen it up and make it easier to incorporate homogeneously. Add the pumkin puree, the spices and the remaining whipped cream and fold until everything is incorporated.
Divide mixture evenly among dishes cover with plastic wrap and freeze until set.

Prepare the topping:
Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a medium bowl, blend the flours, sugar and butter with your fingertips or a pastry cutter to form large clumps of dough. Lay them on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature before breaking the clumps into smaller crumbs.

When ready to serve, take the ramekins out of the freezer 15 to 20 minutes ahead of time so they have a "half frozen' consistency and top each semifreddo with some crumble and some whipped cream if desired.

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[Full Disclosure] As a guest of The Grove Park Inn, I did not pay for the room and dinners (friday through monday). Any meals and drinks that were not part of the group scheduled ones (saturday brunch-nightcaps at the hotel) were paid by me. I drove my own little self there, on my own little gas money.

Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Before I tell you about this Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt, I want to thank everyone who stopped by to enter Ree's cookbook giveaway. The woman is well loved, that's for sure! My random number generator this time was my friend Tami with whom I went to the National Gingerbread House Competition™ and to be fair, I didn't take into account the entries coming in past the deadline. Congratulations to Patricia in Texas, a., and Jelli Bean. Email me your snail mail addresses at mytartelette[at]gmail[dot]com and I'll pass the info on to Ree.

I have been back from Asheville for a couple of days yet and I am not done processing pictures from the weekend. We did a lot, ate a lot and well, drank a lot too! Instead of throwing down a few comments and a few photos here and there, I want to make the competition, competitors and judges justice (Ha!) so that will be in an upcoming post. I was part of an amazing group of people who tackled each house one by one and evaluated every square each of every display, no tasting though. I think I behaved...

Fall-iage in Asheville, NC.
That part lasted from 9.30am until 4.30pm. Yep. Tami who was not on jury duty booked a nice and lengthy massage at the spa, (another kind of heaven!) and there was a brief moment I wished I was there with her but I had a serious task at hand. Gingerbread houses at The Grove Park Inn is serious business folks! As in every competition, some of my chosen picks did not win Grand Prize or first place in some categories but that's ok, it's part of the maths behind it all.

Driving the 250 miles to Asheville gave me my fix of gorgeous Fall colors and foliage. I did stop a couple of times along the way to take it all in. I called B. and yapped about the reds and the golds I was seeing while he was racking brown dried leaves in the yard under a hot sun and no wind. He asked if there was some Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt he could have afterwards and lucky for him, I had not completely eaten the batch I had made from Jaden's cookbook!

Trust me, I am not kidding when I say I almost ate the entire batch. That frozen yogurt is seriously addicting. I was hoping B. would focus on all the other dishes I had prepared in anticipation of my weekend away but no, he had to ask about the frozen yogurt! My fro-yo, how dare he?! Eh, that's alright, I was feeling bad he was stuck at home with work while I was ~~gallivanting~~ working hard with Tami in the mountains of North Carolina.

I discovered Asian peasr for the first time when I moved to the US where almost every week I would be faced with a new item, either typically Southern or completely exotic as was the case with these pears (as well as prickly pears, dragon fruit, jicama, okra, etc...). I was intrigued. It was juicy, firm, sweet but the flavor was completely unique. You can easily find your share of bland ones, but if you pick the small ones, they will be packed with flavor and juice.

Jaden's frozen yogurt recipe couldn't be any simpler: pears, sugar, ginger, sugar and Greek yogurt. Chop, process, churn. And eat. She tops hers with some crushed pink peppercorns for a little sweet kick but I was out and particularly pressed for time to get more. Instead I topped ours with pomegranate seeds which gave the frozen yogurt a nice tart note.

Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt, adapted from and with permission of Jaden Hair:

Makes 1 1/2 pints

2 large Asian Pears
1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used lime)
1 tablespoon finely grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 cups (375gr) Greek yogurt
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
generous pinch of fine sea salt
1 tablespoons pink peppercorns (crushed) (I used pomegranate seeds)

Peel and chop the pears into small 1/2-inch chunks. Toass them with the lemon juice to prevent oxidizing. In a blender, combine the pears and ginger and puree until smooth. Use 1-2 tablespoons of water if this is difficult to puree.
In a large bowl, combine the pear puree with the yogurt, sugar and salt. Refrigerate for an hour.
Note: I skipped this step by refrigerating the pears for a couple of hours before.
Churn the mixture in your ice cream amker according to manufacturer's directions.
Once churned, freeze until firm. Serve topped with the pink peppercorns.

Potato Leek Pizza and A Giveaway

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 16:56:00 +0000

When I ask my father what vegetables he wants with dinner, his response is often "potatoes" to which I reply "Dad! We already have a starch. What vegetable would you like?" He then looks me with an obvious smirk and repeats "potatoes". I am very much my father's daughter in that regard. Love them. And noodles. I hope I never have to chose between the two. As much as I am a potato gal, I never thought of putting them on pizza, until last week that is. This Potato-Leek Pizza from The Pioneer Woman has surely changed my mind. "More!" I say!

I remember very distincly the first post I read on Ree's site. I was on the phone with a friend back home who wanted to know how to make cinnamon rolls. We may have many a delicious pastry back home but I think we sorely miss out in the cinnamon rolls department. As a very occasional baker, she needed visuals. I searched step-by-steps online and stumbled on Ree's site. Bingo! My friend had an official teacher, willing to take her by the hand through the whole process. I had found a treasure trove of All American classics that my husband grew up on. He never says so but it's good to split my cooking between my French and his American. Makes for a fun relationship. Much like potatoes and pizza actually.

Ree lives on a ranch in the middle of vast great lands. I live in a house on stilts in the middle of marsh land. She has four 2-legged offsprings, I have two 4-legged companions. She married a cowboy who herds cows for a living. I married a man of the last frontier, history teaching. In her cooking, Ree makes do of what is available in her neck of the woods. I had to learn quickly what is Lowcountry cooking. Her cookbook is #1 in the New York Times Best Sellers list. Mine is still being edited (more on that later, promise) See...completely the same. Ahah!

Don't these fancy baby leeks look like glorified green onions?
I don't know Ree. Sure I have met her at BlogHer Food in San Francisco and exchanged a few words but that's about it. Yet, and I don't know how she does it, she is one of the most kind hearted ladies, taking time in her incredibly busy schedule and many roles to make you feel like what you say did not get lost in the big emptiness of the internet. I can guess it has got to be mind boggling for her how life has changed for her family in the last few years. It would make people feel uneasy, others would get the big head. Yet, Ree remains her natural, super nice, dorky self. I do need to say that she made me blush bright red when she put me in the same sentence a Matt Armendariz at BlogHer. Ugh!

Ree's cookbook reads like a novel. There is food and there is life on the ranch, life with the kids, daily thoughts and aspirations. The one most excited about getting the book was my husband however. He can relate to the recipes, they were part of his mom's stapples. He thought that whereas I fought the generation gap with his mother and the can of Ro-Tel, I would relate to Ree's fresh approach to life and cooking as she was trying to adapt to her new territory. He was right. Copies of my mother-in-law's Little League cookbooks are collecting dust but The Pioneer Woman Cooks is being earmarked by the both of us. He seldoms cooks so he loves the step by step pictures while I skip those for the stories. I like stories.

Ree's book does not need another review, yet I can tell you that B. is extremely excited to eat "Pioneer Woman" this weekend while I am away. I have been invited by the great folks of The Grove Park Inn in Asheville to be a judge in their annual National Gingerbread House Competition. I am not only extremely honored but thrilled to be in a group comprising Colette Peters and Chef Lodge to name a couple. I thought that B. would be able to accompany me but he's stuck with gigs this weekend. Instead, gal pal Tami from Running With Tweezers is coming up from Atlanta to share some of the fun and mountain air. In preparation of the trip, I made a few things that Bill loved and that he could easily reheat at night. One of them was this potato-leek pizza except it was devoured the moment it came out of the oven (well, after a few pictures).

I felt a bit pioneer-ish shopping for the ingredients when the only leeks I could find were fancy baby ones (did not have time to get to another store). Despite the double price tag, they looked a lot like green onions to me and I think I even aggravated the store clerck when I said so. I hate to aggravate them because they do order fancy stuff for me when I ask them. Ah well, they did taste like leeks however so all's well. The combination of potatoes, leeks, bacon ang goat cheese made me think of Frenchified loaded American baked potatoes meeting their Italian cousin on a bed of mozarella and tender pizza crust. Awesome...and I am packing two slices for the road.

I hate to tell you I'm going to frolic in gingerbread goodness in a paradise like retreat while some of you have to work, play hard or are stuck sick at home. That's why I am psyched that Ree generously offered to giveaway THREE copies of her book to three readers. If you want a chance to win, here is what to do:
- leave a comment on this post
- ONE entry per person - if you don't see your comment right away, give me a few hours before re-posting as I have the moderator on.
- Enter until Wednesday November 18th at midnight, US eastern time.

Have a great weekend!

Potato Leek Pizza, with permission of Ree Drummond:

6 slices thick bacon, cut into 1-in pieces
3 leeks, sliced thinly
Extra virgin olive oil
5 small red or Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced paper thin
16 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly
4 oz crumbled goat cheese (I used twice that much:))
Parmesan cheese, grated
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Unbaked pizza crust

Preheat oven to 500 degrees
Begin by frying bacon pieces in a skillet over medium heat until cooked but not crisp. Remove bacon from pan and pour off most of the grease. Set bacon aside.
Return skillet to stove and turn heat to medium-low.
Slice leeks very thinly. A sharp knife helps.
Add leeks to the same pan and sauté over medium-low heat until soft, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Using a sharp knife or mandoline, slice potatoes very thin.
Prepare pizza crust according to directions, and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt. Arrange potatoes in a single layer all over crust, slightly overlapping edges. Sprinkle potatoes lightly with salt, then lay mozzarella slices in a single layer over the top of the potatoes.
Place sautéed leeks over the top of the cheese.
Next, sprinkle the fried bacon pieces over the top, followed by a generous addition of crumbled goat cheese.
Finally, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper.
Bake pizza for 8 to 11 minutes, or until edges of crust are golden brown and cheese is melted and bubbly. Cut into wedges or squares and serve immediately.

Pizza Crust
Makes two pizza crusts
1 ½ cups warm water
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Extra olive oil for drizzling

Pour warm water into a mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast over the water.
Stir together flour, olive oil, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add water/yeast mixture and stir together until just combined. Dough will be very sticky.
Drizzle a little olive oil into a clean mixing bowl. Toss the ball of dough in the bowl and turn over to coat in oil. Cover bowl and place in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours, or cover in plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Pomegranate and Caramelized Pear Panna Cottas

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:57:00 +0000

I appreciate this time of year when night falls so much earlier. It makes me want to rush home and cozy up with loved ones, a book or a good project. Unlike summer when things are so bright up in my face, I love that Fall and Winter are seasons of shadows and angles with night and day playing cat and mouse so well. So many holidays around the corner. So many friends dropping by, parties hosted and kitchens in full roar. Time to connect and reconnect with people and things. Time to lose half your brain too if you don't pay attention!

When things get plenty busy, it's always good to have a few staples in your kitchen repertoire that are not only show stoppers but easy to prepare and make ahead, almost ensuring your guests will ask for more. My holiday staples almost always include cremes brulees, pots de creme, and panna cottas. Among the variations I like on this traditional Italian favorite, these Pomegranate and Caramelized Pear Panna Cottas have come to rank high on the list.

Panna Cotta is said to have originated in the northern region of Italy where dairy is one of the main agricultural productions but spread out to the entire nation and the rest of the world throughout the years. Variations of panna cotta exist in almost every country as it is a very convenient way to use up extra dairy like cream, milk and yogurt. I grew up on Blanc Manger for example which is a close cousin to the creamy silky no-bake Italian custard.

There are many, many reasons to start putting panna cottas on your list of "reliable-good-things-to-make-for-people-I-love." For starters, what is really fun about panna cotta (beside listening to an Italian saying it outloud) is that you can add flavors and ingredients inside, outside, above and below. You can also mix up the choice of dairy to be used as long as you make sure to balance the acidity and fats of each appropriately. You can prepare them up to 48 hours in advance and keep them snuggled up in the refrigerator until ready to eat. You can top them with whatever strikes your fancy that day or what is available during the season. And...they are gluten free!

November is synonymous with pears and pomegranate to me. Where my mother-in-law tries to find the biggest Comice and Bosc pears for cooking, I tend to favor Seckel and Forelles, my absolute smaller favorites. Where she feels like she hit the jackpot with the biggest pomegranate on the shelf, I always dig for the tinier ones. Yes, I like small and tiny anything but for a reason. Almost everything here is bigger than where I am from. Bigger roads, bigger houses, bigger stores and bigger produce which unfortunately doesn't always mean bigger on taste. I often find that smaller fruits and veggies pack so much more flavor and I'd rather have a small anything full of aroma any day like small servings of creamy and silky Panna Cotta.

Can I say out loud how much I love caramel? If you know me a tiny bit, you know that the mere idea of caramelizing anything gets me moving. When I made these panna cottas for a catered event earlier this week, I kept the base relatively simple with just a touch of vanilla bean and focused more on the toppings. I caramelized some seasonal Forelle pears with just a touch of butter and brown sugar and kept them at room temperature until the guests were ready for dessert. However, when it comes to pomegranate, nothing beats eating them straight out in their natural form. I just love the tart pop that comes with biting into pomegranate seeds. They were just the perfect texture and color contrast to the richness of the panna cottas.

One thing that you can play with and never reach the end of your playtime when it comes to Panna Cottas (beside the flavors) is the combination of dairy you use. Most recipes give you a combination of heavy cream and milk, some add buttermilk or/and yogurt to the mix. All are good, all work...in the proper ratios. If you use more acidic dairy like buttermilk and yogurt (even full fat) make sure to keep twice the amount of heavy cream in the mix. The more acidity is mixed in, the greater risk you run of the base separating into one part cream, one part whey. Nothing to do at this point but to start from scratch. Live and learn. If I can save you a major "Oh no!" and an extra trip to the store, then I've done my job!

If you are vegetarian or vegan, panna cottas can still be well within your dessert favorites. You can substitute any of the dairy for their vegetarian or vegan equivalent such as soy, almond, oat, hemp milks or vegetarian cream as long as they are the full fat kind. Panna cottas rely on the addition of gelatin which is a no-no if you are not a carnivore but kosher gelatin is often vegetarian and agar agar and carrageen are often used as substitutes. I am not proficient with any of these but you can find more information in this article on their nature and preparation.

Panna Cottas are pretty much a bottomless well for your tastebuds and imagination.

Pomegranate and Caramelized Pear Panna Cottas:

Notes: I make my own yogurt and used a freshly made batch in this recipe but you can substitute with store bought plain full fat yogurt, just don't use light, pretty please.
If you are not used to working with gelatin, in all its various forms, I recommend this article written by David Lebovitz. Gelatin won't be a mystery anymore!
Serves 8

For the panna cottas:
2 tablespoons cold water (more if using sheet gelatin)
2 teaspoons (5gr) unflavored powdered gelatin (1.5 sheets to 2 sheets gelatin)
2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
1/3 cup (70gr) sugar
1/2 vanilla bean, split lenghtwise and seeded
1 cup (250ml) plain whole milk yogurt

For the caramelized pear topping:
1 tablespoon (15gr) unsalted butter at room temperature
2 tablespoons (30gr) light brown sugar, packed
2 Forelle or Seckel pears or one Bosc pear, peeled, cored and cut in small dices

One pomegranate, seeded

Prepare the panna cottas:
Place the water in small bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Reserve.
In a large heavy bottomed saucepan placed over medium heat, bring the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla bean seeds to a simmer. When the cream is hot, remove from the heat and whisk in the reserved gelatin until it is completely dissolved. Add the yogurt and whisk until well blended.
Divide the mixture among 8 glasses or ramekins. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes and then refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving to let the cream set properly.

Prepare the caramelized pears:
In a heavy sautee pan set over medium heat, melt the butter and sugar together. When the mixture starts to sizzle, add the pear dices and sautee them until they start to become translucid and a little soft to the touch, about 2 minutes. If you cook them too long, you will end up with pear compote which is good too, but does not have the same biting contrast as barely sauteed pears.
Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.

To serve:
Top the panna cottas with some caramelized pears or pomegranate seeds as desired.

Chocolate Wontons And Tonka Bean Ice Cream

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:27:00 +0000

If I were to wait for the proper weather to bake certain desserts, I'd never get to turn the oven on or fry some donuts and the ice cream machine would be churning year round. Take Halloween day, it was near 90F pretty much all day long and yet I wanted to bake some fun goodies for the neighbors. We spent the day in short sleeves, going about the neighborhood with the kids steaming in their costumes. More than one of them thought ill of their parents for dressing them up as a furry teddy bear or a heavy padded alligator. I know these feelings disappeared when I brought down these hot Chocolate Wontons and a batch of Tonka Bean Ice Cream that we had with glasses of apple cider...on ice.

Years ago we used to have a different chocolate special everyday at the restaurant and certain mornings proved difficult to come up with a bright idea at 5am when I was hand deep into kneading baguettes. I remember opening Chocolate Passion by Timothy Moriarty and Tish Boyle with the assurance that I'd have a winner and often recommended it to patrons asking me for a recipe. When I stumbled upon Maury Rubin's Book Of Tarts, I think I baked just about every one of them they were so creative.

Sometimes it's a technique or a subject that makes me delve in a cookbook. Sometimes it's the story behind its coming to life, an anedocte, the writing. Sometimes it's the author and her/his journey. In short, something that moves me beyond the recipes (I have quite a head full of those already) which is the case with Jaden's first cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook, from which I made the chocolate wontons. Having shared a plane, meals, drinks, and a panel with her, I can tell you that Jaden is good people and I am extremely proud of her. I knew her book would be one I could open at any page and cook something new, delicious and fresh. All four recipes I have made so far were a hit with us and our friends.

If you were to come to my house you'd think I spend all my spare change on cookbooks. If you looked a little closer, you would see a fine print on most reading "preview copy", "press release copy", etc... About twice a week, the mailman makes the hike up to the front door and drops a new box on the porch. He also leaves a couple of doggie treats for the pupps. They know it, they go crazy until I get to the door. What do I do? I open the box, I flip through the book and get the post-its out. "This one will be great for friend S." or "This is one for R." and so forth.

I am very appreciative of this situation, believe me and I am under no obligation to review or pimp them out on this site. I know that a friend would benefit from a crockpot recipe book more than I will since I don't own such a beast, or my baking-challenged friend S. might enjoy a basic dessert cookbook more than I will. But there are books I hoard, read, cook and bake from, hoard again, read some more and cook from until the hinges get worn out. Jaden's book will be one of them.

I must give Jaden kuddos for the dessert section though she said it was tough to write. Her approach to dessert is very much what we like throughout the week: fresh fruits, easy to prepare frozen treats and the occasional splurge like the chocolate wontons. The headnotes say they will make little girls squeals and little boys break out into a disco dance (I am paraphrasing) and the neighbors' kids did just that on Halloween when I handed them out! I think I even saw a couple of adults shake their bootie in delight too!

These are so easy to make and if you get an extra set of hands to help out, you can make a double batch in a flash. Plan on that as they disappear very fast! There is no need for a deep fryer and if you keep the oil at a steady 350F you end up with perfectly crisp, never oily wontons which chocolate center oozes out as you bite into them. I had planned to serve them with her Asian Pear Frozen Yogurt but we devoured that one too fast so I went with my own tonka bean ice cream instead. The almond and vanilla flavor of the tonka paired really well with the chocolate once again. (see recipe notes)

Chocolate Wontons, from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook, with permission of Jaden Hair

Makes 12

1 egg
1 tablespoon water
12 wonton wrappers
12 pieces of chocolates (I used about 4 chocolate chips per wonton)
high heat oil for frying (I used canola)
Powdered sugar for dusting

In a small bowl, make an egg wash by whisking together the egg and the water.
On a clean, dry surface, place a wrapper down with a point facing you. Place a piece of chocolate or chocolate chips near the top end of the wrapper. Brush a thin lauer of egg wash on the edges of the warpper. Fold the bottom corner up to create a triangle and press down at the edges to remove as much air from the middle as possible. Make sure the wrapper is sealed completely. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and chocolate pieces. Keep the prepared wontons covered with a piece of plastic wrap or a damp towel to prevent them from drying.
In a wok or medium pot (I used a 9-inch cast iron pan), heat about 2 inches of oil to 350F and gently slide a few wontons into the hot oil. Do not crowd the pan as the oil temperature would lower too much and you would end up with grease-soggy wontons.
Fry 1 to 1 1/3 minutes on each side until both sides are golden crisp.
Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with powdered sugar

Tonka Bean Ice Cream:

Notes: Yes, tonka beans are banned from import in the US by the FDA, yet they are used by many countries in food preparation and desserts in particular. Consumed in large quantities, they can be toxic as they contain an anticoagulant which many blood thinning medications are based on, courmarin. So, it's banned, but its main agent is used in meds here and you can purchase tonka beans on ebay. UGH?!! Gotta love the FDA and large medical companies politics. Since I use 2-3 beans a year in recipes that feed no less than 8 people each time, I know we are ok but research and educate yourself before cooking with tonka beans if you are interested.

By the way, if you have vanilla extract from South America in your pantry and wonder why it smells like a vanilla bean got too close to an almond one night, that's probably because tonka beans were used instead of real vanilla or diluted with it to make it cheaper to sell. Nothing wrong with that if you are aware of all the facts.

Tonka beans smell like a cross between vanilla and almond extracts and if you can't find or do not wish to use tonka beans, substitute with each extract in the ice cream recipe and you will get close to the actual flavor.

6 egg yolks
1 cup (100gr)
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tonka bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla + 1/2 teaspoon almond extracts)

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and the sugar until pale and thick. In a saucepan set over medium heat, bring the milk, cream to a simmer, without letting it come to a full boil. With a microplane, grate the tonka bean right over the milk and cream simmering (I add the little knob left for extra flavor). Slowly pour the hot cream over the egg yolks mixture while whisking to temper the egg yolks. Pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the cream coats the back of spoon. It should register 170F on a candy thermometer. At this point you have made a custard sauce, also known as "creme anglaise". Let cool completely, strain and refrigerate until cold, preferably overnight.
Once and the custard is cold, process according to your ice cream maker manufacturer's instructions.

Mom's "Tupp" Apple Cardamom Cake

marinette1@comcast.net (Tartelette) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:21:00 +0000

Let's talk winning tickets, shall we? First, my dear human random number generator, B., picked Brandy from Nutmeg Nanny to receive Nicole's The Baking Bites Cookbook. Congrats! Send me a quick email and I'll pass the info along. Now on to this cake...

I know I am going to jinx it. I just know it. Maybe if I whisper it very softly: It finally feels like Fall around here. Mostly in the wee hours of the morning when I can finally feel a chill in the air and a dry breeze through the marsh. Actually, not having a free day on the schedule until April means that the season has indeed changed. Drastic times call for drastic measures and I often turn the comfort of my mom's apple cake during the Fall and holiday season. The one cake that earned her the affectionate name of Maman Tupp and the one we know as "Gateau Aux Pommes Tupp".

I am pretty sure that most French people reading are familiar with the "Gateau aux Pommes 5-4-3-2-1" that the brand Tupperware® introduced during home demonstrations of their products. A very simple, very unassuming and particularly delicious appple cake, soft and moist all the way through. It was especially known for its creamy butter and sugar topping forming a tempting thin crust while baking. For years, I thought that was my favorite part of the cake. Now I know. Two slices with some creme fraiche is my favorite part!

When you are 5 or 6, saying that you would like the "Gateau 5-4-3-2-1" for "gouter" (4pm snack) is not only long but it does sound silly. However, it made it very easy to start baking with mom at an early age since the recipe went something like "5 spoons of flour, 4 spoons of sugar, 3 spoons of milk"...and so on. One bowl, one spoon, dry before wet, one apple, whip it all and bake.

We made it so often in my family that it became much easier for everyone to call it the "Gateau Aux Pommes Tupp" (Tupp Apple Cake) and over the years to make it even shorter with a simple "Gateau Tupp". See, it works so much better to beg mom for it this way. This simple gateau became the one we would gather around during tea time on a cold and rainy day, the one that made any bad school day be forgotten in a few whisks of sugar. It solved a few arguments and mended broken hearts too.

Yes, my mom was a Tupperware® lady back in the 80s. She never played the sales game, but she loved to host parties for friends getting in the biz. That was her thing, the hosting. And the baking, the cooking, and passing around trays of items made with the brand's products. Let's face it mom, you also loved getting new stuff for the kitchen. To this day she is still very well stocked in containers, molds and measuring instruments of all sorts from the big T company.

It was very fortunate that my parents in law dropped off a basket full of apples from a recent visit to an orchard in North Carolina and I made a big dent in it baking a few of these cakes. In the end, the cakes are nothing like the original recipe. I made ours a tad less sweet and gluten free which is perfect here to keep the cakes moist, thus not following the original "5-4-3-2-1" formula. Then, there was the matter of the spoon measure called for in the original version. I don't own such an instrument but I figured that since the company was American, a large spoon such as the one mom used had to be close to 1/4 cup. Yes, in this cake, precision to the gram has very little importance and that's just what I need when swamped.

Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for my daily slice...Or mini cake.

Mom's Tupp Apple Cake:

Notes: if you do not intend to make a gluten free cake, replace all the gluten free flours (rice, tapioca, sorghum) with 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour.
The cake bakes in two separate times: first for 10 minutes, the remove it from the oven to add the cream topping and bake for an additional 20 minutes.
I added cardamom just because it reminds me even more of my mom but you can skip that part or add cinnamon instead.

For the cake:
1/2 cup (80gr) sweet brown rice flour
1/4 cup (30gr) tapioca flour
1/2 cup (65gr) sorghum flour
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon (5gr) baking powder
3/4 cup (190ml) whole milk
1/3 cup (80ml) oil
1 egg
2 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced (I like Granny Smith but any kind will do here)

For the topping:
5 1/2 tablespoons(80gr) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Prepare the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Spray or butter the inside of a 9-inch round baking pan or several 3 to 4-inch baking pans if you want smaller cakes. Place them on a baking sheet and set aside.
In large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cardamom, salt and baking powder. Reserve. In another large bowl, whisk together the milk, oil and egg until just blended.
Slowly pour the liquids over the dry ingredients, whisking well to make sure that everything is well incorporated, about 40 to 50 strokes.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and arrange the apple slices on top in a circular pattern.

Prepare the topping:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg and the vanilla extract and whisk until smooth. Reserve

Bake the cake(s) in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the cake(s) from the oven and spread the creamy butter topping over the top(s). Bake an additional 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted near the center comes out clean.