Light Panacotta with rhubarb

It's the way I like it served at Le Fellini (italian restaurant in Paris), turned out from the mold :) 

served with raspberrie sauce, or in that case, a rhubarb sauce !

I made a mix of a few recipes, picked up what I liked, here is the result :

For 4 to 5 glass mold

  You will need :   

10 fl oz of evaporated milk (30cL)

- ou half & half -

6.8 fl oz of milk (20cL)

1.7 oz of white sugar (40gr)

1tsp. of vanilla extract 

- or a half vanilla pod grated -

0.2 oz of gelatine (6g)

- 3 slices -

Put 2tbsp of cold water in the powdered gelatine, stir and set aside for 10 minutes

Put the milks and the vanilla in a casserole at medium heat, stirring slowly

After 3 minutes, the cream will be warm and smoky, put the sugar and use a whisk to stir it

Put the temperature higher until the cream starts small bubble/shaking

- it must not boil -

Turn of the stove and let it cool 3 minutes, stirring slowly

Integrate the gelatine and let it cool 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes

Pour in your molds/glasses, cover with a plastic film and let it cool for at least 6 hours

Serve with a home made rhubarb sauce 

- market's rhubarb -

   To do a rhubarb sauce :   

17.7 oz of prepared rhubarb

2 oz of sugar

 vanilla extract 

- panacotta has some, don't need to put more -

Rince, peel the rhubarb and cut it in dices

Put it in a casserole with the sugar at low heat for 5 minutes, then put it on medium heat
and let it cook approximatively 10 to 15 minutes,
until the rhubarb lost her water and that all the water disappeared.

The rhubarb must be tender

Pour in a bowl and let it cool down

Rhubarb and vanilla is a great mix =)

Vovoï's Swiss chocolate cake

Seconde recipe :)

Swiss Chocolate Cake, gâteaux suisses...

the recipe seemed alright, stiff eggwhites were promessfull :)

Compared to the first one, he is less creamy,

the chocolate/sugar quantities are different, less sugar, 

more chocolate, its tasting is lighter, 

it doesn't have the sugar crust either.

It's less dense and more crumbly because it has more flour than the other one (and more butter) 

It's a basic chocolate cake recipe, as we have all eaten at an anniversary when we were kids

My other half prefered the first one, 

I prefer this one, chocolate cakes are often heavy on my stomach, 

this one is exactly what I need :)

But why cake"s" ?

And why the Swiss origin ?

If you have an explanation... I've looked online but haven't found any !

   You will need :   

a half pound of 72% chocolate (250gr)

a half pound of sugar (240gr)

1 cup of flour (125gr)

1/2 cup of slightly melted butter (4.4oz / 125gr)

- 15 to 25 sec in the microwave -

3.4 fl. oz of water (10cL)

4 eggs

Turn on the oven at 350°F

Put the chocolate and the water to melt in a small casserole

- low/medium gas -

Reserve the eggwhites in the fridge and blend the yolks with the sugar until white

As soon as the chocolate has melted, add it to the yolks/sugar and blend it together

Pour the flour little by little by doing growing circular movements from the center of the bowl

with your wooden spoon

Add the slighlty melted butter and blend it for 5 to 6 minutes,

it should get a bit thicker and heavier to blend

Beat the eggwhites until real stiff and add them to your mix at the last minute, in 3 times

Blend them by cutting, and rising the dough, as if you wanted to close the chocolate on the eggwhites

Butter the cake pan"s", fill them and put in the oven

I would say to try in small cake pans (muffins pan ?) instead of a big one,

I did it with a cake pan of 8.6inches (22 cm), it cooked 30 minutes 

so it's one big swiss cake instead of many :)

Depending on your pan, the cooking time will change,

check the cooking by inserting a clean and smooth knife in the middle of the cake, 

if it comes out clean, it's cooked.

Chocolate truffle, a christmas recipe

We are planning our christmas holidays, so I thought I could try Vovoi's cookbook christmas recipe.

You can't miss this one !

I hadn't done some in ages, I had completely forgotten what it was exactly.

Chocolate ganache, covered with unsweetened cocoa (photo 1), 

grated chocolate  (photo 2) or coconut (photo 3)...

For 30 to 40 truffles

   You will need :   

5.6 oz of grated dark chocolate 70% (160gr)

2 tbsp of evaporated milk or half & half

2 tbsp. of white sugar 

1tsp of vanilla extract or 8g of vanillasugar or 1/4 of a grated vanilla pod

2.1 oz of diced butter (60gr)

2 egg yolks

for the topping 

unsweetened cocoa, grated chocolate or grated coconut

Put in a bowl your chocolate and make it melt the "bain-marie" way, stir until melted

- put water in a casserole, and make your bowl float in that water,

 it must not touch any surface of the casserole, just the water -

When the chocolate is fully melted, stir in the eggyolks one by one to have a smooth and shiny texture

Add your diced butter and the sugar,

let it melt 5 to 6 minutes until the sugar is well melted

you've done a ganache chocolat

Remove your bowl from the bain-marie, 

Set aside 30 minutes and put in the fridge for 30 minutes

Prepare a small bowl in which you put the topping (cocoa, chocolate or coconut)

Use a teaspoon to gather a big hazelnut of ganache on the top of your fingers

make it rowl in the bowl, using the edges to make it an approximatively round-shape 

When it's fully covered, put it in a plate or small papers and do the same for the rest of the bowl

Put all your truffles in the fridge for ten hours

- Tips : If the ganache is too hard after too much time in the fridge, 

use your hands palm to warm the exterior of the truffle to put the topping -

They are eatable as soon as they are out of the fridge,

I'll do more next time :)

First recipe of a creamy chocolate cake

Cake #1

This is the one I've tried this week-end, according to my other half, it's really (really) good

- he is a huge fan of chocolate -

It has to be done in a flat pan, like a pie or a brownie pan. 

It's indeed a brownie style chocolate cake ! 

      You will need :     

4.4oz of chocolate 60 to 70% (125gr )

1/2 cup  of sugar (4.4 oz / 125gr) 

2tbsp of flour

4tbsp of butter (2.1oz / 60gr )

3 eggs

Turn the oven on 280°F

Separe white and yolk eggs, and reserve the whites in the fridge

Melt the chocolate with the dice butter in a small casserole,

when it's homogeneuous, pour in a bowl

add the yolk eggs, mix

add the sugar, mix

add the flour little by little while mixing

You will have a dense dough, that's normal

Beat the eggwhites until stiff with a pinch of salt

This cake has a light crust/toffy outside, butter your pan and put white granulated sugar in it,

make it turn/shake the pan so it will stick on the butter everywhere, 

remove the excess sugar by shaking it over the sink.

- this technique also exists with butter+flour, to avoid the cake stuck in the pan - 

When the oven and your pan is ready, 

add the eggwhites to your chocolate dough, in 3 or 4 times.

Put it straight in the pan and in the oven for 35 minutes

Check the cooking by inserting a clean and smooth knife in the middle of the cake 

- it must come out clean -

Remove of the pan once it cooled a bit 

- it's rectracting -

With a crème anglaise, I love it too ;)

Fruit Cake, just the way we love it

 

It's not the first time I'm doing this cake, I already loved it, and this time even more.

Really soft and tender, sweeter than the gingerbread.

Not much butter in it, I love to start the day with that kind of light sweetness :)

It's a breakfast or teatime cake :)

I made a few changed from Vovoï's recipe, but really small ones

For 1 cake (11inch long, 4inch wide)

   You will need :   

2.5 oz of dry raisins (brown ones) (70g)

2.5 oz of dry raisins (blond ones) (70g)

- smyrn et corynth -

2 oz of cranberries or cherries (60g)

- I used dry ones -

 Vovoï puts 3.5 oz of each raisins and 1.7 oz of fresh cherries, but cherry season is long over :)

3tbsp of rhum

1egg

5oz of white sugar (140g) and 1.8oz of brown sugar (50g)

-  she puts 7oz of white sugar -

3.5fl oz of milk (10cL)

- 1coffee cup -

1.8oz of butter (3.5tbsp / 50g)

8.8 oz of flour (250g)

1tsp and a half of baking powder 

Wash your fruits in water, dry them with a napkin 

and put them in a bowl with the rhum

Cover and let it rest for at least 1h

Turn the oven on at 370°F

Prepare your mold if needed

- if not silicone, you have to butter/flour it or put a parchment paper in it -

Beat the egg with sugars until it's lighter and foamy

Add the milk, blendAjoutez le lait et mélangez

Add the slightly melted butter

 - 20 secondes in the microwave, blend to make all the butter melt -

Blend to have a smooth and still a bit foamy cream

You can now add the flour and the baking powder, in 4 times, 

put in on the side and blend with a wooden spoon from the center

You dough is ready, you can put the raisins without drying them from the rhum,

but leave approximativly 2tbsp of the rhum in the bowl 

- you can put some flour on raisins (1 or 2 tbsp) to avoid them getting in the bottom of the mold, 

but if you put it straight in the already hot oven, you won't have this issue -

Pour quickly in the mold and put straight in the oven

My cooking time was of 55 minutes, it can be between 45 and 1h depending on your molds.

Check by inserting a smooth and clean knife in the middle of the cake, if it goes out clean, it's cooked !

Vovoï used a cookie box, with butterred paper on the inner surface, ahd she says it takes 1h to cook

but with my mold of 11inch long, 4inch wide, with a glass bottom and silicone borders,

it took me almost 1h too

PS : This squirrel is named Pynut !

Chocolate Mi-cuit with a liquid heart

Always more chocolate... mi-cuits are fondant cupcakes. The inside is partially cooked but the outside has a small crust of regular chocolate cake because the oven is really hot when you put it in. 

It's really tasty (only chocolate !) original and quick to make !

Some recipes have a flavoured heart (white chocolate, caramel etc.)

You can make them in different kind of molds, muffins, cupcakes, metallic, silicone...

For 6 to 8 muffins molds (depending on their size))

   Il vous faut :   

4tbsp of salted butter (2.1 oz / 60 gr) 

4.4oz of dark chocolate (125gr) around 70%

2 eggs

1.4 oz of brown sugar (40 gr)

1.4 oz of white sugar (40gr) 

1 hint of salt

0.8 oz of flour (1tbsp / 25gr)

Turn the oven on at 500°F

Melt the chocolate and the butter in a small casserole on low fire

Beat eggs and sugars in a bowl with a fork or a whisk for 1 minute, until it's foamy.

As soon as the chocolate has melted, add it to the eggs and sugar, blend

Pour the flour and the salt and mix it from the center

When the dough is shiny and smooth, fill up your molds at 3/4 and put in the oven

Let them 6 to 7 minutes if they are metallic ones

9 minutes if they are silicone's mold

The top of the cake may seem soft, but if it's broken, it may be too cooked (depends on the size of your mold)

Wait for 3 to 4 minutes before turning out the mi-cuit, if the tops gets a bit flatter it's a good sign.

Serve with a creme anglaise or fruits :)