Berry Tart

Nicole organized a last minute dinner party at her house, with the usual suspects. They know who they are!!
I only had about two and a half hours to come up with a dessert and make it too!!
I went to the store and as it happens most of the time, I found my inspiration there.

A berry pie!
You already know my strawberry pie, so this time I changed the fruit, got a new crust recipe and with the help of a quickly prepared pastry cream, and ... voila!

Berry Tart

Serves 8

Recipe for one Sugar Crust (the recipe is for two crusts)

One Vanilla Pastry Cream recipe

Blueberries
Blackberries
Raspberries

1/3 cup raspberry jam, or other berry jam
2 Tbsp raspberry liquor (or any liquor of your choice)



Bake the crust according to directions. Let cool
Spread the pastry cream on the crust.
Place the berries in circles on top of the cream.

In a small saucepan, heat the jam. When hot, pass through a sieve to remove the seeds. Add a the raspberry liquor.

Brush the top of the berries with the jam mixture.
Reserve in a cool place, but you do not need to refrigerate before serving.

Should you have leftover (and I seriously doubt you will!), you may keep the pie in the fridge. The crust should stay dry and crunchy!

Buche de Noel - Yule Log

This is my favorite time of the year! Everyone is in such good spirits, town squares and shops are decorated. It is getting cold and we are all waiting anxiously for snow, although here on Cape Cod there is seldom any snow for Christmas, but we keep hoping!

White or green, Christmas is a time for decorating the house, inside and out, a time for shopping and party-hopping!

Christmas is also a time when I spend many an hour in the kitchen!!

On Christmas Eve, we usually have a late light dinner of Smoked Salmon over Blinis.

The feast is on Christmas Day! We might have an appetizer of more smoked salmon, with blinis if there are any left, otherwise on pumpernickel bread. We then have Duck Breasts, also known as Magrets, with Pomegranate Sauce, and a side of Mushroom Risotto.

And for dessert, the famous French "Buche de Noel", or Yule Log. It is a cake shaped as a log, filled with a cream and covered in a chocolate ganache. The log is then decorated to look like a real wood log you'd find in the woods. I sift powdered sugar over it for snow and decorate with small meringue mushrooms to give it an authentic look!!!

It seems like a lot of work and I will not lie, it does take some time to put it together. But the result is really worth it!!

Buche de Noel

Yule Log

Cake (Genoise):
6 large eggs, separated
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
12 Tbsp sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder + 1 Tbsp

Vanilla Mousse:
3 dl milk
3 dl heavy cream, or whipping cream
100 g sugar
5 large egg yolks
1 vanilla bean
2 tsp gelatin powder (10g)

Chocolate ganache:
8 1/2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
300 g heavy cream
50 g butter
5 cl liqueur (your choice!)



Make the Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter a 15x10x1 - inch jelly roll pan, or a cookie sheet. Line the bottom with parchment paper, allowing a 1-inch overhang on the short sides. Butter and flour the paper.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk, beat the egg whites until foamy. Add the Cream of Tartar and whisk until soft peaks form. Add 6 Tbsp of sugar and whisk until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In another bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1/3 cup cocoa powder and the remaining 6 Tbsp of sugar until thick, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/4 of the egg whites to lighten the batter. Fold in the remaining whites. Gently spread the batter in the prepared pan.

Bake the Genoise until the cake springs back when you press the center, about 15 minutes. Transfer pan the rack and let cool completely.

Unmold on a slightly humid kitchen towel. Peel off the parchment paper.
Sift remaining cocoa powder over the cake and roll tightly, lenghtwise. Set aside.


Filling:
Make the vanilla mousse:
We start by making a "Creme Anglaise", or vanilla custard.

In a heavy medium saucepan, heat the milk with the vanilla (cut lenghtwise and scraped), and half the sugar. Stir frequently to prevent the milk from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

In a small bowl, mix the gelatin with a couple of tablespoons of the warmed milk. Stir to dissolve.

Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk, mix the remaining sugar and the egg yolks until light and fluffy. Add half the warm milk mixture; stir and return to saucepan.
Cook over medium low heat, stirring with a wooden spoon, until thickened, or temperature reaches 85 degrees Celsius.
Remove the vanilla bean, add the gelatin, making sure there are no clumps. Let cool.

Finishing the mousse:
In the chilled bowl of an electric mixer - whisk should be chilled as well - whip the cream until stiff peaks form (you have now mastered a Chantilly!). Add it delicately to the custard.
Set aside while you get back to the cake!

Slowly unroll the cake and spread delicately the vanilla mousse on top. Roll the cake back. Cut a piece of the roll at an angle, about 3 inches. Place the bigger cake on a serving plate and place the short piece angle side touching the big cake. It should look like a real log. Set aside in a cool place.


Now prepare the ganache:
In a medium heavy saucepan, heat the cream. Add the chocolate, butter and liqueur. Whisk and remove from the stove. Let cool, whisking regularly. The chocolate mixture should thicken.


Finish the Buche de Noel:
Spread the chocolate ganache over the cake. With a fork, draw lines lenghtwise to make it look like a log.

It is ready and just needs decorations!!!

Apple Crumble

It has been a long time since I have been able to get to Charlotte & Spice! The culprit?!! Home improvement! It all started Labor Day weekend when I painted the kitchen. We are now in the middle of installing hardwood floors throughout the first floor...kitchen included! Needless to say that the house has been totally disorganized since we have started this project!

Instead of thinking out meals, I was scheming to get dinner at friends!!! Thanks you guys! And when dinner was at home anyways, it was ordered in or frozen pizza, or pasta with store bought sauces! Lame!!!

It seems though that life at the Steven's is getting back to normal and I have resumed cooking.

Fall is here with its temperamental weather, its incredible colors, especially here in New England, the World Series, Football and ...cooking indoors! Now is time for stews, crumbles, roasted meats and vegetables, soups...

And I am going to start with dessert!

Fall is Apple Season. Had we not been so taken by the wood floors, we would have gone apple picking. So many varieties are grown around here. My favorite apple is the MacIntosh, firm and juicy. I use it in most desserts as it cooks without getting mushy. I often mix it with the Macoun, a bit sweeter.

A wonderful pairing for the apple is the Cranberry, widely available on the Cape, as it is produced here. Its tartness balances the sweetness of the apples and they look like red jewels hidden in the crumble!

Apple Crumble

8 Macoun apples
8 MacIntosh apples
1 tsp ground Jamaica Allspice
1 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 cups fresh Cranberries


Crumble:
1 1/2 cup all wheat flour
2 sticks butter, room temperature
2 Tbsp brown sugar
3/4 cup oats
1 cup walnuts, crushed


Preheat the oven at 320F.

For the crumble, mix together the butter, flour and sugar until blended. Add the oats and the walnuts. Set aside.

Peel and core the apples. Cut them in small pieces. Sprinkle with the brown sugar, the cornstarch and the Allspice. Mix well. Add the cranberries and mix.

Transfer the apples in baking dish, sprinkle the crumble over the apples and bake for about 1 hour, or until bubbly.

Serve warm or at room temperature, by itself or with Vanilla ice cream!

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

As we do every year with our friends John and Peggy, and their children, we are going camping this weekend! Not very far from home...This way, if it rains, we can just pack up and go!! No!! We are not wimps, but we had a bad experience before !!!

We go to Nickerson State Park, on Cape Cod. And this time it will be three families joining efforts around the fire. We go biking, hiking, sightseeing...and we eat! Not just mere camping food - although what that is I do not know - but gourmet! One of my favorite is the butterflied pork tenderloin marinated in mustard and lemon. But that will be in another post!

Breakfast is a big moment...Barely awake you have to earn your coffee...No fire...No breakfast!

My italian coffee percolator is perfect for this first morning cup without which I would be totally useless!! And I also bring our double sided cast iron griddle for pancakes! This recipe is also great for home!!!

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

3 cups Whole Wheat Flour
6 tsp Baking Powder
3 large Eggs
2 1/2 cups Buttermilk
6 Tbsp Salted Butter (do not add salt), melted
2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Fresh (or frozen) Blueberries
Butter
Maple Syrup


Sift together the flour and baking powder.
Beat the eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla until blended.
Pour the buttermilk mixture into the dry ingredients and stir only enough to moisten the batter. Do not beat or your pancakes will be tough.

Bake on the griddle: butter the griddle and pour dollops of batter on the hot griddle. Place the Blueberries on top of the pancakes and once the batter bubbles, flip the pancakes over.
Put a small piece of butter on each pancake and serve with warmed Maple Syrup!

Instead of Blueberries you can try Chocolate Chips! The kids favorite!!!




When outdoors camping or on the beach for a BBQ, the easiest dessert is grilled Bananas with Dark Chocolate. Try it!

Grilled Bananas with Dark Chocolate

1 ripe Banana per person
3 Squares of Dark Chocolate per Banana

Place the bananas with their skin on the grill and cover until bottom is brow/black. Turn the bananas over nad cover again until the skin is dark and begins to split open.

With a knife open each banana, one at a time, and push the 3 squares of chocolate inside the hot Banana. The chocolate will start melting the dessert is ready to be served!

Don't stress with the chocolate. Some love it really dark (for this recipe I use at least 85% cocoa, sometimes even 99% cocoa!) but some prefer lighter shade of it! Try to use at least 64% cocoa as it really brings the flavors together better.

Clafouti aux Cerises - Cheery Clafouti

School is over and as we do every summer, we flew to France for a month. The whole family gathers at my parent's house, coming from all regions of the country, for a huge dinner.

Planning the meal requires patience! The choice of the main dish will dictate what the appetizer, side dish and dessert will be. We will then build the wine list according to each part of the menu. A staple of the summer table is the Rosé wine. It is served chilled and is light and refreshing. French rosé are not sweet nor heavy and the choices are endless.

Meals in France are a big deal. Unlike a typical dinner in an American family, which usually lasts no more than half an hour, dinner in France can last for hours. We start with the aperitive: wines, whisky, gin or Campari, olives, peanuts and canapes.

Dinner follows with appetizer (traditionally not a salad), the entree (or main dish), one or two side dishes, a salad, a selection of cheeses, and dessert.

This is the time to savour every flavor, enjoy good company and animated discussions... for a couple of hours!!!

For dessert, since there were so many of us, we had to make a few. A raspberry trifle and the traditional Clafouti aux Cerise were among the sweets.

Clafouti aux Cerises

2 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp butter

3 lbs cherries, pitted

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup flour

a pinch of salt

6 eggs

1 cup of light cream

2 cups of milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp almond extract

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Butter the baking dish and sprinkle with the 2 tbsp of sugar. Transfer the cherries to the dish.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, flour and salt.

In a larger bowl, mix the eggs, the light cream and the milk. Add the vanilla and almond extracts.

When well blended, add the dry ingredients to the egg bowl and mix well. Pour over the cherries.

Put some small pieces of butter on the top of the dish and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for about one hour, until golden. serve at room temperature or cold.

Raspberry Trifle

Summer has finally arrived and we are celebrating with another dinner with friends! Weather on the Cape has been absolutely dreadful and I was ready Friday night to start a fire in the fireplace. And Saturday morning...80 degrees!!! Cape Cod as always unpredictable.

Dinner was at our friend's house, here in Mashpee. Like me, Nicole is french, her husband, Mike, is american, and our children are a little of both! Our other friends, Peggy and John, were there of course!

As the self proclaimed "Dessert Lady", I brought dessert! Something fresh and light, with seasonal fruits...Raspberry trifle sounded perfect! The best part? It is better made the day before!

Raspberry Trifle

Syrup:
2/3 cups dry white wine
2 Tbsp sherry
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/3 cup superfine sugar

Sponge Cake:
4 eggs, separated
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp superfine sugar
3/4 cup flour
4 Tbsp butter, melted

Vanilla Custard:
4 large egg yolks
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 1/3 cup milk
1 vanilla bean, split lenghtwise
1 1/3 cup chilled whipping cream

9 cups raspberries



First prepare the syrup:

Put all the ingredients in a bowl, mix, cover and reserve in the fridge, overnight or at least 4 hours.



Now prepare the sponge cake:

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy.
In another bowl beat the egg whites until stiff pick form. Add remaining 2 Tbsp of sugar and wisk again until stiff. Add one third of the egg whites, one third of the flour and one third of the butter to the egg yolk mixture. Gently fold together. Repeat two more times.
Spoon batter onto the baking sheets, two circles on each.
Bake until golden and springs back to touch, about 14 minutes. Transfer to rack and let cool.



Prepare the Custard:

In the bowl on an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks to blend. Add the sugar and beat on high speed until thick and pale yellow, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add the cornstach.

Heat the milk in heavy medium saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean and put it all in the milk. Bring to boil.

Gradually add milk to eggyolk mixture. Return mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium heat until very thick and center of mixture is bubling, whisking constantly, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk for another minute. Let cool. Place plastic sheet over surface and chill for at least 3 hours. Can be made the day before! Keep refrigerated.

Whik the cream until stiff peaks form. Whisk the custard to loosen and fold in 1 cup of whipped cream into it. When well blended, add the remaining whipped cream. Cover and refrigerate.



Assemble:

Gently fold all but 2 cups of the raspberries in the custard.

Place two of the spongecake circles in a 10-cup triffle dish. Pour about half of the strained syrup on it, a little at a time, pressing the cakes to make sure they absorb the liquid.

Pour half the custard-raspberry mixture on top of the cakes. Cover with the two remaining circles, pour the rest of the syrup, pressing lightly, and pour the rest of the custard.

Cover with the remaining fresh raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve.



I made it one whole day ahead and the flavors really blended well together.