Saturday, November 11, 2006
Un orage, deux voitures et un millionaire’s shortbread – Petits carrés au caramel et au chocolat
[A storm, two cars and a millionaire’s shortbread] 
Ivonne and Orchidea, asked us to share a special dish both comforting and full of memories. Here is my little story:There are some days that are
unforgettable; I mean, not willingly unforgettable. Those kinds of days you'd prefer not to remember or actually, days that end up making great stories for long winters' nights.
Indeed, if I knew an effective mean to reprogram my brain in order to dismiss memories from these days, I'm not sure I would go for it (though, I certainly would if asked right after
'la catastrophe' [the disaster]).
Looking back, I - now - remember those times with a hint of emotion because of all the lessons they taught me and all the benefits I've retained over the years.
Funnily enough, it seems that the benefits in question are mainly food-related.
As if I was more keen to cook (or more possibly to eat) when utterly shocked. Last July - the 29th to be accurate, my home-town was hit by a
violent storm. My parents had left the house a few days before for a three-week journey.
The thunder started rumbling.
Without being aware of it, I started counting the seconds to get a rough idea of the location of the storm.
1, 2... Still far!
The minute after I felt what was unknown for me before - a loud crashing noise echoed and a bright light made me blind for a short moment. All this at the same exact time. The lighting had just hit the small road in front of my house.
I rushed to the kitchen and turned off all the electric appliances - including the oven, where a cake was being baked for
'le goûter'. Then, without thinking, I grabbed my father's car keys and jumped into the car, heading towards the south to escape to the storm.
When I finally got to my boyfriend's house I felt relieved yet shocked.
That night I received a text from my parents saying they would not be reachable for the next three days.
It was ok. I was in a safe place now.
But as the saying goes,
'il ne faut pas mettre la charue avant les boeufs'.The next day, I was waited for in Cannes. But before going there, I had to go home to change clothes.
Just four kilometres away from home,
the car stopped and wouldn't start again. I tried to reach my dad with no success - then I remembered the text and wondered why such a thing happened while I was alone. Alone. I must have prayed really hard because a few moments later I could finally hear the motor.
I was more than happy to be home again.
When ready to leave, I decided to take the other car - my mother's. I didn't want to risk to stay stuck in Cannes.
I went to the party. Everything went well. But then, later that night, when I got into the car and tried to start it, everything went from 'well' to 'dark'.
The battery was dead*.Can you believe that in two days I faced a storm and the loss of two cars?I was devastated. Devastated yet willing to bake. I picked up the first book on the shelf and decided I would make the first recipe I would spot. Millionaire's shortbread, it was; sounded good and comforting. Just what I needed. That THE benefit from this experience. Indeed I've made this recipe at least twice since that day of July.
And everytime I make these shortbreads, I still feel the same comfort they brought me after this awful day, which obviously make them taste even better (if possible!).
Hopefully, incidents do not happen that often. That would be too exhausting a life (even if you got a keeper-recipe each time)!
* Apparently the magnetic vibes of the storm had emptied the battery.
Millionaire’s shortbreadApart from the fact that these squares brought me all the comfort I needed after that tiring event, they are very good.
The base calls for coconut, which is a great twist for the regular shortbread. The caramel mixture is so yummy I could eat it straight from the pan with ‘une petite cuillère’ and the use of oil (I prefer to use cocoa butter, but you can easily substitute it with sunflower oil) in the chocolate layer help getting a glossy look without having to temper the chocolate.
Note – I couldn’t help but use salted butter in the caramel mixture. I am such a ‘caramel au beurre salé’ lover!Milionnaire's shortbread
for the base135g flour
45g dried coconut
100g brown sugar
125g butter, melted
for the caramel layer130g golden syrup
125g salted butter (see note above), melted butter
800g sweetened condensed milk
for the chocolate layer185g best dark chocolate
3 tsp cocoa butter (use sunflower oil if not available)
Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a 20cm x 30 cm pan with baking parchment.
Make the base by mixing the flour, coconut, sugar and melted butter. Spoon this mixture into the tin and press to make an even layer. Bake for 10 minutes and transfer to a wire rack.
Place the golden syrup, butter and concentrated milk in a large pan and cook over low heat for 7 minutes. The mixture should be thick and caramel-brown in colour. Pour this over the base and bake for 20 minutes into the preheated oven. Allow to cool completely at room temperature, and then go on with the chocolate.
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Mix in the cocoa butter and pour over the caramel. Chill until set.
Cut into small squares and eat!
Labels: bites of sweetness, favourites, recipe inside
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Eclairs et choux a la vanille
I hate to fail with something - especially when it comes to the cooking realm.
I remember my
vain attempt at making a piece montee for my sister's birthday. I had to face the truth - i utterly failed. I tried again and again (making pate a choux at least twice in one afternoon), but the result was always the same: the choux rose in the oven then fell flat. It was what i can now call a
disaster.
Something like a month ago i decided i should try again. So i did. And though it wasn't as successful as i expected, the choux weren't flat at all and tasted great.
But this time, the problem was the icing; can you imagine i used cold water to bind the icing sugar? This resulted in an awful grainy icing.
Eclairs a la vanillemakes 12 eclairs
I like the way Pierre Herme cooks his eclairs - with the open oven door so that they don't get soggy or flat at all.
As for the creme patissiere, i must say i am addicted to Christophe Felder's. It's so light and creamy.For the pate a choux125g water
125g milk
5g salt
2 pinches of caster sugar
125g butter
4 large eggs
Preheat the oven to 200C and line two baking sheets with parchement paper or better still silicon baking mat.
Put the water, milk, salt, sugar and butter in a large sauce pan and heat until the butter is melted and the water has just begun to boil. Take the pan off the heat and add all the flour in one go.
Beat with a wooden spoon and put the pan back to the heat for 2-3 minutes; you should get a smooth ball. Turn off the heat.
Now beat in the eggs, one at a time. The dough should be stiff enough to hold its shape.
Pipe 10cm long tubes leaving a space of 5cm between each tube.
Turn down the oven to 180C. And bake for 15 minutes. Then, to let the steam out, maintain your oven's door open with a wooden spoon and bake for a further 8 minutes.
Remove to a cooling rack.
For the creme patissiere500ml milk
20g butter
2 vanilla pods
100g caster sugar
40g cornflour
40g flour (preferably tipo 00)
4 egg yolks
In a large pan, put the milk, butter, vanilla seeds, split vanilla pods and half of the sugar. Bring to the boil.
In a large bowl, sieve the flours and beat in the egg yolks. Add the sugar and whisk until light-yellow.
Remove the vanilla pods from the pan and pour a laddle of milk over the eggy mixture. Whisk well and put back into the pan.
On a medium heat, bring this mixture to the boil while stirring constantly.
When thick, remove from the heat and put the creme patissiere into a bowl. Allow to cool and keep in the frigde until ready.
Now you can fill the eclairs with the creme patissiere and top them with a simple icing made of icing sugar and water.
Labels: bites of sweetness, pierre hermé, recipe inside
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Coconut macaroons - reading a good old favourite
I love cookbooks, that's a fact.
I love to read them again and again and sometimes -when i'm feeling like- cook from them. Indeed i don't cook that often from cookbooks as i tend to go off-shore and add a pinch of this, a dash of that...
But one of the cookbooks i cook most from is
How to be a Domestic Goddess writen by Nigella Lawson. This book is a compilation of delicious sweet treats and yummy salty things.
I might have made something like 5 recipes from this book and maybe even more.
But this much cherished book of mine was sadly forgotten of the shelf. I got it from my fiance last Christmas. One of my first english cookbooks. And the beginning of an addiction - i can't buy french cookbooks anymore, except Pierre Herme's. A month ago or so, i opened it again and decided it was one of my favourite baking cookbook. The recipes work perfectly, the pictures are great and i like the fact that Nigella clearly gives the source of the recipe. OK you might think she did no job on the book, but god this is Nigella. And the pictures are mouth watering...
I made a list of all the recipes i wanted to give a try. I warn you, it is long.
CAKES- Flora's famous courgette cake p.18 (i must check on Clotilde's blog, she might have tried it before)
- butterscotch layer cake p.20
- Boston cream pie p.21
- cherry almond loaf p.28
- banana bread p.33
- fairy cakes p.39
BISCUITS- coconut macaroons p.50
- pistachio macaroons p.53
- sweet and salty peanut biscuits p.55
- ricciarelli p.56
- hot discs p.64
PIES- supper onion pie p.85
- courgette and chickpea filo pie p.93
- cornish pasties p.97
- black and white tart p.112
- blackberry galette p.115
PUDDINGS- apple syrup upside down pie p.135
- Calvados syllabub p.139
- Om Ali p.140
- profiteroles, my way p.142
- pistachio souflés p.145
- cheese blintzes p.154
- New York cheese cake p.157
- Joe Dolce's Italian cheesecake p.161
CHOCOLATE- torta alla ganduia p.172
- chocolate cheesecake p.175
- Chocolate coffee volcano p.181
- goey chocolate stack p.185
- chocolate raspberry tart p.187
- pain au chocolat pudding p.190
- white chocolate and macadamia brownies p.194
- cappucino cupcakes p.199
- banana cherry and white chocolate cupcakes p.200
- florentines p.203
CHILDREN- Snickers and peanut butter muffins p.218
- peanut butter squares p.223
- dreams bars p.227
- cinder toffee p.229
- Roxanne's millionaire's shortbread p.240
CHRISTMAS- Certosino p.255
- baklava p.273
- cranberry upside down cake p.284
- Christmas creme brulée p.287
BREAD AND YEAST- potato bread p.298
- garlic and parsley hearthbreads p.306
- apple kutchen p.319
- almond danish p.328
THE DOMESTIC GODDESS'S LARDER- passionfruit curd p.344
- spiced apple chutney p.357
- Edith Alif's lime pickles p.361
I hope i will be able to make all these soon.
Coconut macaroons
makes 8
These are what we call in French: rocher à la noix de coco ou congolais [coconut rock or Congolian]. But they seems to be know as macarrons over the Channel.
They are very easy to make and delicious, though a little dry but that may be because i hadn't any cream of tartar.
2 large eggs whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
100g caster sugar
30g ground almonds
1 tsp vanilla extract
250 shreded coconut (i only used 125g)
Preheat the oven to 170°C.
Beat the egg whites until frothy - no more - then add the cream of tartar and carry on beating, Missuss, until soft peaks are formed. Add the sugar a tsp at a time and whisk until the peaks can hold their shapre and are shiny. Fold in the almonds, salt, vanilla and coconut. The mixture will be sticky but should, all the same, hold its shape when clumped together.
Form inyo clementin-sized domes (i made 'quenelles').
Cook for 20 minutes or until they're just beginning to turn golden in parts.
Yum!
food - Nigella Lawson - How to be a domestic goddess - coconut macaroons - recipeLabels: bites of sweetness, cookbooks, recipe inside
Monday, August 29, 2005
When i am craving for sugar i make delicious scones
Recently i've been literally craving for sugar. It might be the stress of the new university year coming or it might simply be me. Anyway, just 2 hours after lunch i began to feel the hunger again. I wanted to make the cake for my D letter, but didn't have the main ingredient at home so i decided i could make the never-fail scones from Mrs Beeton's cookery and household management.
Me, taking the pictures in my boyfriend's lovely garden
FRUIT SCONESMakes 7
200g flour
1/2 tsp salt
50g sugar
50g cold butter
4 tsp baking powder
125ml milk (fanny : i found it was a little too much, 100ml would have been enough)
50g dried fruits (fanny : i used half raisin, halfs golden sultanas)
Heat the oven to 220)C. Sift together the flour, salt, baking powder and sugar. Rub in the fat. Add the milk and miw lightly to form a soft dough. Knead until smooth and add the dried fruits. Roll out on a flour surface to 1,5-2cm thickness (fanny : see the picture below) and cut into rounds, using a cookie cutter. Place on a floured baking sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes until well risen and golden-brown. Cool slightly on a wire rack. Cut each scones in 2 and fill with whipped creme fraiche and strawberry jam. (fanny : i like to use creme fraiche instead of double cream because i love the contrast between the intense sweetness of the jam and the great sourness of the cream; but use mascarpone if you prefer.
Labels: bites of sweetness, recipe inside
