Tag: easy cooking

Two slices we recently tried and liked

Today is about the story of two slices which we made recently. If I post about them it is also because we liked them!  Both recipes are easy to make. Give them a go!

The roasted almond and chocolate slice

I was looking on the internet for a quick recipe for dessert and I opened a french Facebook group on cooking. There was a post on quick dessert fixes and I found this recipe in the comments.  By placing the slice to cool and set with its chocolate topping in the freezer (must be horizontal!), you can have this for dessert! What really makes this recipe work is roasting the almond meal. It brings in so much flavour!

The recipe is HERE.

The salted chocolate and walnut caramel slice

Barre choco caramelThis is a caramel slice with a more complex toping.  The recipe is adapted from one in the Magazine Delicious.  The toping is dark chocolate with roasted walnuts (that makes them extra-crunchy) and small flakes of salt here and there which explode in your mouth when you don’t expect it!  The recipe is HERE.

And while I was preparing those pages today I almost forgot my Gateau Battu which rose and rose and is now baked and cooling down!

 

 

 

Quick and beautiful

Did I find that camera again?

Some photos!! Finally!  Some photos means something to put on the blog.  There is plenty cooking going on but often no photos being taken. The reason is not always not finding the camera. It ranges from making time to not having anything to photograph any more because somebody ate it!

Some quick dishes

Sometimes I decide to bake something at the last minute, or I push the boundary of getting a dish done while doing many other things or having to leave the house soon. At other times, I am just coming home and need to cook something for dinner. Inspiration is not forthcoming until some ideas just pop up. Today, I am sharing some of these ideas with you.

Comfort food for an easy lunch or dinner

boulettes viande sauce tomate

Last weekend, I did not feel like sausages for dinner. I am not fan of sausages I must say. We had some mince and while the sausages were cooking (for the children who normally are sausages bug fans!) I just went on making meat balls.  The thing with meat balls is you can really put a variety of ingredients in them.  Some corn on the cob I was boiling because it had to be used ended up in the meat balls, so did some parsley, onion, garlic and more good things.

I simply served it with a green salad (as in lettuce dressed with olive oil&balsamic vinaigar).

Recipe HERE.

Chocolate fondant for a neighbourhood party

We got that invitation for a party which we weren’t sure what to bring or if to bring anything. I decided the children – there were bound to be quite a few – would always appreciate a little chocolate cake.

That recipe was found online a few days before I did it, I just gave it a try. Making:  5-10 minutes.  Cooking time: 8 minutes. It is a bit like a brownies but not so heavy.  The fun bit was for the children to decorate it using tagliatelle and icing sugar.

The recipe can be found where I found it, on ELLE website.

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A recent encounter with Alain Ducasse chocolate cream

I am on this home cooking facebook page where one day I saw and wrote down this recipe from a french chef for some “petits pots de creme au chocolat”.  These are little ramequins of chocolate cream.  This dessert does not contain any cream nor flour or cornflour. It is a creme anglaise with chocolate, good chocolate, and a fair bit of it!

I have now done them quite a few times in the last three month, they are easy to make and so pleasing.  This is the first time I manage to snap a photo of them. Recipe HERE.

petits pots au chocolat petits pots au chocolat

And I had not made these for a while….

These is my tke on the protuguese custard tartlets. All you need is a good puff pastry, a vanilla custard and a little extra butter and sugar!  The recipe is already on the blog HERE. The photos here are the last batch. They smelled so good when we were taking the photos, it was hard to resist!

potuguese style tartlets potuguese style tartlets potuguese style tartlets

Le Cake

“Le Cake” is a cake, yes, but the fun bit is that in French that cake is called “un cake”.  It is close to what it referred to as a butter cake I guess. It is firm, yet not dry, has crunchy edges, is simple in taste and delicious.

Le Cake allows for different flavours: lemon, sultanas (soaked in tea or rum) or candied fruits. My favourite us the lemon version.

Preparation: 15 minutes, cooking: about 45 minutes

Ingredients
  • 200 g of soft butter
  • 250 g of caster sugar
  • pinch of salt
  • lemon zest (about 1 teaspoon) – if you prefer sultans or candied fruits, use 100 g of them
  • 3 eggs
  • 300 g flour
  • 1/2 tsp of baking powder
Method
  1. Butter and flour a log tin. Preheat the oven to 170°C.
  2. Cream the butter (use the flat beater of your kitchenAid or a spatula and elbow oil).
  3. Add the sugar progressively while mixing.
  4. At this stage, it is probably better  to mix manually or some of the mix wil remain on the side of the bowl.  Add the egg one after the other one mixing in between. Then, add the lemon zest  and salt (if adding sultanas or candied fruits, add them with the flour to ensure they do not sink at the bottom).
  5. Add the flour and baking powder (and sultanas /candied fruits if doing that version). Mix well starting from the middle of the bowl and extending to the outer edge.
  6. Transfer to the prepared tin
  7. Bake for about 45 min until cracked on top and golden. A baking needle inserted through the crack should come out dry.
  8. Remove from the oven and turn over a wire rack, allow to cool down before serving.

This cake keeps for a few days easily.  It makes a great treat for lunch boxes.

easy log cake

I posted this recipe some time ago.  I recently did this cake with a lemon icing. To make the icing mix about 1 cup of icing sugar with a little lemon juice, adjust lemon juice or icing sugar (use a whisk) until you get a slightly runny paste. Then pour on the top of the cake.

le cake
Le cake, lemon butter cake with lemon icing

Chocolate and raspberry tart

A chocolate and raspberry tart! Miam! It also has a balsamic vinegar finish. The raspberries are not only on top but also mixed with chocolate.

This recipe is one from Pierre Herme’s book “Le Larousse du Chocolat”.  Recipes in the book are not necessarily Pierre Herme’s own recipes but have been selected by him across his professional and personal network.

This is the case for this one, it comes from a Patisserie in Strasbourg, in Eastern France, and is by Thierry Mulhaupt.

raspberry chocolate tart

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

  • 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
  • 150 g soft butter
  • 95 g icing sugar
  • 250 g of flour
  • 2 pinch of salt (except if using salted butter)
  • 1 egg
  • 30 g of almond meal

This will make 600 g of pastry. You only need a bit more than half. Keep the rest for another dessert, it will keep in the fridge a few days.

For the filling:

  • 20 cl of thickened cream or liquid creme fraiche
  • 250 g of raspberries
  • 270 g of dark cooking chocolate (64%)
  • 70 g of soft (NOT MELTED!!) butter

For the garnishing:

  • 150 g of raspberries (fresh)
  • balsamic vinegar
Method
  1. Mix all the pastry ingredients without working the dough. That is combined them quickly. Place in cell wrap and rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
  2. Use a 22 cm diameter tart tin. Butter it. Roll the pastry about 4 mm thick. transfer to the tin.  Trim the edges.  Pick the bottom of the pastry with a fork (this prevent air bubbles forming during cooking).
  3.  Place the dish (with the pastry ready to bake) in the fridge for half an hour before baking. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  4. Place a piece of baking paper at the bottom of your tart, add baking stones (or beans or rice).  Bake for 17 minutes or so (depending on the oven). Remove from the oven and remove the baking stones. Cool down the tart base on a cooling rack (handle gently, it is fragile).
  5. To prepare the garnishing, juice the raspberry through a sieve.  Cut the chocolate in small chunks.  Heat up the juice, heat up the cream to boiling point.  Place hot cream and juice on top of the chocolate. Mix until melted. Add the soft butter and mix until fully incorporated.
  6. Place your tart shell on the serving plate.  Pour in the chocolate mix, it will level on its own.
  7. Use the garnishing raspberries to place on top pushing a few down, little hole up.
  8. Fill those raspberries with balsamic vinegar using a little spoon.

raspberry chocolate tart raspberry chocolate tart

 

Chocolate Mousse

A real chocolate mousse is light and airy.  The chocolate mousse is made only from eggs and good quality cooking chocolate.  There is no sugar, no cream! Chocolate mousses for cakes are different and would include whipped cream.  You will find this recipe with small variations on pretty much every French chef website.

Make it at least 4 hours before serving as it needs to set in the fridge.  You can make it the day before if you want.  You can put the mousse in individual ramequins or serve it as one dish to share.

For 8 people.  Preparation- 10 minutes. Resting – 4 hours minimum.

Ingredients

  • 200 g dark cooking chocolate (I like to use 70% but it may be a bit strong for children, use as a minimum a 50%+ chocolate)
  • 6 large eggs separated
  • 10 cl milk (preferred) or water

Method

  1. Melt the chocolate with the method of your choice.  For non-couverture chocolate, I would typically break the tablet in chunks in a bowl, add the milk or water and microwave for 2 minutes on 50 or 70% power depending on the strength of your microwave.  It is important that the chocolate does not burn.  Once melted, mix until silky smooth.  If using couverture chocolate you will want to melt it in a bain Marie (once melted add the milk) and ensure your eggs are at room temperature.  The role of the milk is to make it easier to mix in the egg whites.
  2. Add one egg yolk at the time and mix well.
  3. Beat the egg whites to snow quite firm and insert them by folding them into the chocolate slowly.
  4. Transfer to a bowl or individual ramequins, cover with cell wrap and place in the fridge.  The mousse will settle in the fridge.
  5. Remove from the fridge 20-30 min before serving (in summer 10 min is enough), serve with a madeleine or other plain biscuit.

 

Bonne mousse au chocolat