Le Far Breton : Pitted prunes batter cake

The "Far breton" is a famous cake from Brittany, France. Some versions have Rhum or Kirsch.

Vanilla flavoured, it looks ands tastes like a French Flan (Custard Tart) 

though a bit heavier and dense, BUT it's so easy and quick to make, that we don't really care :)

This recipe has been perfected along the years by a family from brittany :

my step-brother's mother kindly shared it with me, thank you Yvonne !

  Preparation    Hard to do easier than that ;) Cooking time can change depending on your oven. 

I used a glass-pan (Pyrex) and it was longer than expected. 

I have added more prunes than I was supposed to, for a perfect dose of fruits :)

  Tasting    It has to be eaten fresh and cool, so you'll have to wait a bit before tasting it ;) 

According to me, proportions seem perfect. I've seen others on websites with more sugar or flour. 

This one was delicious. It was not as heavy as I remembered some bought in stores !

  To conclude    It took us a few days to finish the pan, there is only 2 of us :) But we both liked it.

Serves 8

   You will need :   

1cup 3/4 flour (7oz/200gr)

1cup white sugar (7oz/200gr)

4 eggs

4 cups hot milk (34 fl.oz/1L)

12 to 15 pitted prunes

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven at 350°F (180°C) with the buttered pan inside.

Hot milk

Heat the milk with the vanilla in a medium saucepan. (it must not boil)

Main batter

In a large bowl, mix sugar with flour. Add in the eggs one by one until homogeneous.

Pour the milk

When the milk is steaming but not boiling, pour it slowly on the previous mix, 

stir by hand with a wooden spoon. 

\\ Take your time, don't pour it at once or you will completely miss the recipe //

Pouring

Take the warm pan out of the oven, place the pitted prunes in it 2 inches apart.

Add more or remove some depending on the size of your mold.

Pour slowly the batter on them, really slowly or the prunes will move.

Baking

Bake 1h or so, turn off the oven and let it bake 15 more minutes.

Mine took 1h15 to bake completely. (+15minutes in the oven)

- If you use a stone-pan it can be quicker -

The top must be golden

Mine had a strange shape when out of the oven :D

I should have turned it front to back at halftime-baking... do so !

Let it cool down at room temperature, then cover with a plastic film and reserve in the fridge.

Eat after at least 4 hours in the fridge !

The Lemon cake : one of my favourite classics

Each one has its own recipe, its own version of that cake. More or less buttery, acid etc...

I hadn't done it in a few months and suddenly I realized it shoud be on my bog since it's a recipe I've kept in my cookbook for a while now :)

I hope you'll like it as much as I do. Its advantage is that it can be baked in different kind of mold, 

it's really easy to make and it suits all seasons.

Why don't I have an lemon or an orange tree in my garden ?

  Preparation    Easy, it takes 15 minutes to put in the oven

  Tasting    I really do love that cake :) So fresh but amost like a pound cake, delicious !

  To conclude    It's definitly a recipe that I'll keep all my life

Serves 10 to 12

   You will need :   

1 stick softened unsalted butter (4oz)

- vous pouvez arrondir à 100gr en France -

2/3 cup white sugar (4.6oz/130gr)

1 cup 1/3 +1tbsp flour (6oz/175gr)

4tbsp milk :)

2 eggs

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 organic meyer lemon

2tsp baking powder

For the icing

2/3 cup powdered sugar (100gr)

lemon juice

Making the cake

Grate the lemon zests. Reserve

Preheat the oven at 360°F

Butter your mold with a cooking spray

Using a food processor

Mix butter and sugar, then add in eggs. Add in the milk, the vanilla. 

Add in the flour and the zests. Mix everything at least 2 minutes.

By hand

Work butter and sugar until creamy,

stir in the eggs until homogeneous.

Stir in milk, vanilla.

Stir in the flour with the baking powder and the zests.

Pour it in your mold unil 2/3 full

Bake 30 to 45 minutes

Check cooking at 30 minutes by inserting a toothpick in the cake to check the moist.

Let cool down 20 minutes before turning out.

Making the lemon icing

Mix the sugar with the lemon juice. Add the emon juice spoon by spoon. 

Stirring after each spoon. And keep adding spoons until you have the right consistency.

It must be a cream, liquid enough to be spread, but not too liquid !

Pour it on your cake when it's out of the oven

Vanilla rice pudding - Creamy rice

Another classic recipe !

I followed Françoise Bernard's advice but I made my own mix of ingredients !

As a result, it's really creamy, sweet and tasty rice pudding, 

especially with a spoon of quince jam on the top :)

Serves 6

   You will need :   

7oz. / 200gr pearl rice, arborio rice

- I used the same rice as for sushis -

3 2/3 cups fresh milk (30.4 fl.oz/90cL)

3tsp vanilla extract or a vanilla bean grated

1/3 cup + 2tbsp white sugar (2.5 oz/70gr)

1tbsp of butter

To serve

Jam from a citrus fruit :)

Precook the rice

Rinse the rice until water is clear

Bring to a boil in a saucepan full of water with 1 pinch of salt.

Let it boil 5 minutes, turn the stove off and drain the rice.

Preparing the rice pudding

Pour in a wet saucepan the milk, the vanilla, the sugar and the drained rice.

Cover and let it cook at low heat until almost totally absorbed by the rice.

It takes 40 minutes or so. Stirr a few times while cooking.

After 40 minutes, turn the stove off, stirr in the sugar and the butter.

Pour in ramequins or any dish you prefer, cover with a plastic film.

Refrigerate 2 hours before serving

- well, try to refrigerate :) -

Serve when cooled, nature or wih a jam, a syrup... etc.

The French Flan - Custard Tart

A Home-made flan like in french bakery shops. A touch of vanilla, it's a really fresh dessert.

That's the first flan I have ever made, and I really think it was perfect... not too heavy, 

not too much flour, great colour and shape... this recipe convinced me !

I've looked in many books and magazines, finally it's Sébastien Gaudard's rcipe that I've chosen, 

But I followed others advices and tips (Françoise Bernard's) and I've added vanilla.

The book it comes from : "Le meilleur des desserts"/"The best of desserts" lacks of details...

Honestly, if you follow it word by word, you won't succeed....

Well, I already knew the tricks so I haven't had any problems, here is the detail recipe :)

Enjoy that delicious flan !

  Preparation   There is a few tricks but I explain everything carefully in the recipe

  Tasting    Amazingly good, at least as good as in the french pastry shops !

  To conclude    I'm not looking further for a flan recipe right now, I'm happy with this one :)

For a 9inch mold

For 8 people

   Il vous faut :   

1 cookie dough, vanilla flavoured

3 cups + 3tbsp of milk (75cL)

4 eggs

3/4 cup of granulated sugar

3,5tbsp of Maïzena (2.1oz)

- cornstarch -

1 vanilla bean, grated

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

Turn the oven on at 320°F

Making the dough

Follow the recipe of pâte brisée

Add in 1 tsp of vanilla extract with the water

Place some parchement paper in your pie-mold so you can unmold it easily afterwards.

Flatten you dough (2mm) place it in your mold, pressing gently on the edges.

Use a rolling pin to remove the excess

- roll toward the exterior of the mold -

Create an alluminium circle so the dough won't go down. 

Do that only if the edges are vertical like mines.

Put in the oven 15 minutes

Set aside at room temperature.

Put the oven on at 375°F

Prepare the vanilla bean

Open he bean in half, remove the seeds and set them aside for another recipe.

Doing the pastry cream

Bring the milk to a boil with 1tbsp from the sugar in a saucepan

- putting sugar avoids milk burning/sticking on the sides -

In the meanwhile, whisk the eggs with what's left of sugar. Stirr in the maizena until homogeneous.

- that's quick -

When the milk simmers, put in the vanilla bean and pour the half of it on the previous batter, whisking !

Whisk for 15seconds and put it all back in the saucepan at medium heat, whisk well.

Leave it 2 to 3 more minutes, whisking continuously especially in the corners of the sauce pan !

It will thicken quickly. Remove from the stove and pour in a bowl. 

You have made a french pastry cream :)

Remove the vanilla beam, and beat with an electric beater 1 minute at low speed.

Pour the cream in the mold, flatten the top.

Put in the oven 45 to 50 minutes in the middle of the oven until real golden on the top.

 

- it's alive ! -

- After cooling down, it flattens and creates a thin layer of dough :) -

Let it cool down at room temperature, 

then refrigerate at least 3 hours

Serve cold !

Thin Apple Tart - French Apple Pie

A French classic recipe : "Tarte fine aux pommes" = Thin apple tart

The Tarte fine is made with really thin slices of fruit, 

you could make some with pear or apricot but the most famous one is the apple tart.

Being so thin makes it evenly cooked, being golden but not black 

and creates a beautiful pattern on the tart.

You can make one with a Puff dough or a Cookie dough as you prefer.

It can be flavoured with cinnamon and served with whipped cream or a vanilla ice cream.

  Preparation    Slicing the apples takes some time, making a home-made dough too. Beside that if everything is well explained, it's easy and it's really quick to bake.

  Tasting    Amazing, so thin and crusty with the dough, tender and sweet.

  To conclude    It's a classic you are sure everybody will love it. You won't take any risk doing that recipe, it's an universal one !

For a 9inch tart or 4 small individual tarts.

   You will need :   

1 puff dough 

Add 1/2 tsp of vanilla exract in it

- with the water, in the four -

5 or 6 apples

- golden, braeburn, boskop... -

Dark brown sugar, cinammon, vanilla...

For a syrup

I baked mine with a little syrup in the oven

Stir 4tbsp of powdered sugar in 6tbsp of water and 1tsp of vanilla extract

I poured the half during the cooking and the other half at the end.

- my father doesn't like cinammon, so I wanted to add some vanilla :) -

Turn the oven on at 440°F

Prepare the dough

Flatten your dough : 0.1 inch thick (2 to 3 mm)

Cut the extremity in a circular shape with a clean and smooth knife so the dough will rise well.

Using the opposite side of a knife-blade. Draw a circle on the dough at 0.7 inch (2cm) from the edges.

This will show the limit to place the apples and will make the dough rise mostly on the edges.

Set aside in the fridge.

Prepare the apples

Rinse and peel your apples, cut them in halves and remove the seeds with a spoon or a small knife.

To keep a nice shape, cut them in thin slices in the height, not in their width. 

Place them on the dough, without separating them from each other. 

Start by putting them as an outer circle, going one way (let's say clokwise) then, do an inner circle going counterclockwise. Fill your pie with those circles of apples, keeping them pretty tight but flat.

For a small pie : 2 half circle going clockwise, and counterclokwise, meeting in the center.

Use the small pieces of apple to fill the middle or the small holes.

Spread some dark brown sugar on the top and bake 30 to 40 minutes

After 15 minutes, Pour some syrup on it

If the extremity of an apple starts to darken, use a knife to flatten it.

- here, I had to flatten thatpiece of apple -

You can easily let oit bake a few more minutes to be sure your dough is well cooked

When out of the oven, spread some more sugar, cinammon and serve with syrup, 

vanilla ice cream or whipped cream !

This tart has to be eaten the day it's baked OR on the morrow, 

put it back in the oven at 300°F for 5 to 10 minutes.

- Keep cooking my child, what's next  ? -

The Soft Chocolate Tart of Antoine Zestermann

A new Chef Recipe... Let's have some chocolate !

 I had tried his Christmas cake with madarine "Bûche alsacienne aux clémentines confites" ... which was amazing, I wanted to try another recipe from Antoine Westermann

- The chef of our wedding's restaurant -

Antoine Westermann, in his book "La cuisine ménagère d'un grand chef" - Homecooking of a famous chef Antoine gives us a recipe of a soft chocolate tart with a topping made of ganache.... 

Really light of texture, it's almost a mousse. 

You have to keep the tart at room temperature to conserve its softness.

   Preparation    Easy and quick, you won't have a lot of dishes to wash :)

The recipe was well made but I 've missed a line... an important one : Pre-cook the dough !

I've also replace the cocoa buteer by regular butter so the icing-ganache may be a bit different in texture. You will also need a cooking thermometer... but if you don't have any, you can still manage it.

I could do better, but the chocolate cream was awesome !

   Tasting    Surprising taste on the first slice... The cream tastes like a chocolate cake ! Sweet and really soft... The icing is more than welcome, it's a really dark touche of bittersweet chocolate :) 

It was even better a day later The cram was even softer !

   To conclude    A soft, tender, with a "fondante" texture, which has satisfied everyone, dark chocolate lovers a much as milk chocolate lovers....

A real treat with a dark coffee !

For a 9inch pie

   You will need :   

1 cookie dough

- 350gr -

for the chocolate cream

3.4fl oz of milk (10cL)

3.4fl oz of half&half (10c)

2.5 of white sugar (70gr)

2.8 dark chocolate 70% (80gr)

5 egg yolks (2.8oz)

for the icing/ganache

3tbsp of half and half

4tsp of white sugar (20gr)

4 tsp of water

2.8 oz bittersweet chocolate (70gr

2tbsp softened butter

Prepare your cookie dough, flavour it with chocolate, vanilla or keep it natural.

Flatten it on 0.1inch (3mm) and place it in your tart pan, so it holds well on the edges.

Spread some beans or rice on the dough and put in the oven at 350°F for 15 minutes.

Let it cool down in the tart pan at room temperature.

Preheat your oven at 340°F

Prepare the chocolate batter

Coarsely chop the chocolate in a bowl

Put the eggyolks in a smal bowl and take a whisk.

Pour tje cream the milk and the sugar in a small saucepan at medium/high temperature.

Bring to a boil while stirring with your whisk to melt in the sugar.

Whisk in that cream on the chocolate and keep beating until well melted and integrated.

Add in the eggyolks and stir by hand with a spatula so the eggs won't be beaten or foamy.

Pour that chocolate batter in your tart and put it back in the oven for 15 minutes.

On the top, there will be a small crust but the inside will be really soft. Don't overcook !

Prepare the chocolate icing

Melt the sugar with the water and the chocolate woarsely chopped in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil at medium fire. At the first boil, add in the butter and the cream. Keep a gentle boil 20secondes. Pour in a bowl, let it cool down and keep refrigerated.

To use, heat it until you reach 100°F and pour it carefully on the chocolate tart.

OR

Instead of refrigerating it, wait 20 minutes or so at room temperature, to reach 100°F  

and the right consistency, then, pour it on the tart.

Keep the tart at room temperature !

Bon appétit...  :)