Pain de Gêne, Almond Bread !

Think almond cream, frangipane... oh my god this cake is sooo good :)

evrybody agreed :

" This cake si soooo good ! "

For 8 to 10 people

   Il vous faut :   

0,5lb of almond powder/ground almond

0,5 lb of white sugar

1.2 oz of butter (120gr)

4 eggs

3.5 oz of flour (100gr) de farine

3 tsp of kirsch

- more almonds ! -

Turn on the oven at 450°F

Melt the butter in a casserole on low heat, it must be tepid, not hot

Stir the grounded almonds with the sugar,

do a well in it and add the beaten eggs, 

stir it with a wooden spoon from the center of the bowl

stir in the melted butter

Add the flour, stir it by hand

At the end, stir in the kirsch

Pour in a buttered pan or with parchment paper

Put in the oven and change the settings to 370°F

Vovoi says 40 minutes cooking, but it took me 1h20 in a silicone mold...

It was a pretty thick mold

Take a regulat meat loaf pan :)

By using so much almond powder, I'll have to bring back some more from France ! :)

It's kinda hard to find here, but I saw an "almond meal" that looked like it at Trader's Joe, it might be interesting to check it out.

Chocolate cake #3

Cake #3

Done ! I've tried the 3rd recipe of Vovoi !

Compared to the other ones, it's more friable/cripy because of the grounded almond and it has to be done in a high mold (at least 2.2 inches)

It's taste is well-balanced between almonds and chocolate, it's a tea-time cake, or to mix in some yogurt, with some fruits, something to make it less dry.

You can keep it really well, and it's really different from the other ones. 

I would advise this one to people who are not huge fans of chocolate

For a 7 to 8 people cake

For 4 eggs, 5.6 oz of butter, chocolate and sugar (160gr) , 2.3oz of flour (65gr) and 2.8oz of grounded almonds (80gr) 

   You will need :   

4.4 oz of dark chocolate (125gr)

3 Tbsp of water d'eau

3.5 oz of butter (6.5 tbsp / 100gr)

- Vovoi puts 4.4 oz -

3.5 oz of sugar (0.4 cup / 100gr)

- Vovoi puts 4.4 oz -

3 eggs

1.4 oz of flour (2.5 tbsp / 40gr) de farine

- Vovoi puts 3tbsp -

2 oz of almond powder (4 tbsp / 60gr)

1 pinch of salt

Turn the oven on at 325°F

Melt the chocolate with the water in a casserole on low heat

Stir the butter in it when the chocolate is half-melted

When it's shiny and smooth, remove from the fire and pour in a bowl

Add the eggyolks one by one

- keep the eggwhites in a bowl, in the fridge -

Then stir by hand with the sugar for at least 3 minutes

Add the flour and the almonds little by little,

stir by doing small circular movements

You have a dense dough, don't stir it too long

Beat your eggwhites until stiff with a pinch of salt

Integrate them to the dense chocolate dough in 4 times, 

do it slowly, always the same way, cut and rise with your spatula

Pour in a buttered mold

Put in the oven for 45 minutes, check the cooking by inserting a knife in the middle of the cake, 

if it comes out clean, it's baked. Start to check after 35 minutes

Turn out when tepid

Chocolate sweets

An easy and quick recipe, it reminds me of chocolate "Charlotte"

Vovoi has a lot of sweets and candy style recipe in her cookbook.

But this is more a cake than a sweet, they are easily sliced and eatable by hands though.

It doesn't need to be cooked.

Biscuits have a rhum syrup in them, the inside is a chocolate mousse.

Alcool is pretty strong, it's not a recipe for children ;)

The cake has to be made the day before

For 6 to 8 people

   You will need :   

 4.2 oz of solft lady finger (120gr) 

4.2 oz of dark chocolate (120gr)

3.2 oz of butter (90gr)

3 eggs

For the syrup

2.1 oz of sugar (60gr) de sucre

- 12 squares, I think it's a bit too much -

- I've put only ten,1.8oz (50gr) - 

3tbsp of rhum

2.4 fl oz.

1 large pan or dish, 3inch hight

Make the chocolate mousse

Separe yolks and eggwhites, keep your eggwhites with a pinch of salt in the fridge.

Put the chocolate in a casserole on low heat, make it melt with 1tbsp of water

When the chocolate is half-melted, add the butter,

Let it melt at low heat, stirring until smooth and homogeneous

When it's the right consistency (as on the picture), pour it in a bowl and add the yolks one by one

Stir well after each one

Beat the eggwhites until stiff and add them to that mix

- but cutting, rising, not squeezing them, use a spatula -

If you want to put a frosting, keep some of the chocolate cream before adding the eggwhites.

Making the syrup

Melt the sugar with the water in a casserole on low heat

It takes approximatively 7 minutes, then add the rhum

Stir it and pour it in a plate with edges

Put the soft lady fingers in it

-  3 to 4 seconds on each side -

Place one layer of biscuits, then a layer of mousse, another layer of biscuit

Depending on your dish/mold, display them as you want

I made it in a silicone mold, it allowd me to turn it out easily

The frosting

 Vovoi says to frost it with the chocolate cream you have kept (before adding the eggwhites), use a spatula or a flat tool to cover your cake with it

Enjoy :) 

Soft Savoy Cake with lemon and Almonds

I'm discovering new recipes in Vovoi's cookbook, this one is a pleasant surprise !

It's named "fondant", like soft and tender but it has nothing to do with the usual chocolate fondant. 

It's really light, a bit dry but so soft it melts in your mouth.

There is no butter in it but "crème fraîche" I used table cream.

With that soft texture goes a delicious crust of roasted sliced almonds, I had never tried it, it's really good :)

I liked it so much I did it again the day after at another flavour : orange instead of lemon, I liked it both, maybe a slight preference for lemon !

- orange -

A savarin mold seemed perfect but it can be baked in a round cake pan too.

The cake rises well while cooking, it creates a canyon in the middle

By turning it out, you can see the almonds, that's why I liked the savarin mold. With a round cake pan, you can't show the bottom (it rised too much)

- lemon -

For 8 people

   You will need :   

2 eggs

8 oz of sugar (1 cup / 225g)

5.3 oz of flour (1 1/6cup / 150gr)

6Tbsp of table cream

- around 4.4 oz -

1 organic lemon

- or an orange if you want to try ;) -

sliced almonds

Turn your oven on at 375°F

Butter your mold generously, including the edges

Spread sliced almonds all over it, and shake the mold to make it stick everywhere, including the edges.

Beat in a bowl the eggs with the sugar for at least 4 minutes, you can use an electric beater

you must obtain a white and liquid cream

Add the grated lemon zest

Add the flour little by little by stirring from the center

Finally, add the table cream

Pour delicatly in your mold to keep the almonds in place,

put in the oven for 30 minutes or so

- metallic mold : 25 to 35 minutes -

- glass mold : 30 to 40 minutes -

- It may be longer in a silicon mold -

Check the cooking by inserting a clean knife in the middle of the cake,
if it comes out clean, it's cooked !

Turn out when tepid

Eat when cooled

Visitandine of Vovoi - Soft and sugar cake

I'm discovering new cakes with Vovoi !

This cake uses eggwhites, really soft, tender, almost fluffy ! It has a thin sugar crust

Almost no flour, it's mostly eggwhites and sugar, we love it with our coffees.

You can make it in pie pans, financier pans, cakepans, as you want !

 For 1 eggwhite - 2 muffins or 3 to 4 financiers

1 oz of sugar (30gr), 0.5 oz of flourg (15gr) and 0.6 oz of butter (18g)

For 1 pie pan

   You will need :   

0.6 cup of sugar (5.3 oz / 150gr)

0.6 cup of flour (2.6 oz / 75gr)

3.1 oz of slowly melted butter (90g)

5 eggwhites

Turn the oven on at 300°F

Keep the eggwhites in the fridge with a hint of salt,

Slowly melt the butter in a casserole, without almost heating it up (low heat)

Beat your eggwhites until stiff, set aside.

Stir sugar and flour,

add carefully the eggwhites to that dry mix

- cut and rise the spatula -

Add the butter, mix it slowly and carefully

- before and after adding the butter -

Pour in the buttered piepan or in your molds

- buttered even if silicone -

Put in the oven, change the temperature to 360°F 

Let it cook 25 to 45 minutes depending on your molds  

Let it cool down 10 minutes in the turned off oven

- for me it was 30 minutes, then 10 more minutes in the turned off oven

 it was in a silicone mold, it has to be as gold on the edges as on the top -

Bon appetite :)

Fruit "crust", apple and rhubarb, apple and raspberrie !

I promessed I would post this one, took me a bit longer to to do it as I wanted :)

But at least you have many flavors :)

For 6 people

   You will need :   

For the crust

1.5 cup of flour (7oz / 200gr)

0.6 cup of brown sugar (5.3 oz / 150 gr)

3/4 cup of butter (3.5oz / 100gr / 7.5tbsp)

2tsp of honey

- or 2tsp of grounded cinnamon -

a hint of water

Rhubarb and apples

7oz. of peeled rhubarb

6 regular-sized apples

- I had braeburn -

Raspberries and apples

7oz of frozen raspberries

1.7 fl oz of water(1/5 cup / 5cL) d'eau

1 tsp of lemon juice

6 regular sized apples

- I had braeburn -

For the rhubarb, a few hours before :

Wash and peel the rhubarb, cut it in dice and put it in a bowl with 2tbsp of brown sugar, 

Stir it and set aside in the fridge

- this is how you remove water from the rhubarb -

After 2 hours, remove the water, blend it again and add more sugar if needed,

leave it one more hour in the fridge

For the raspberries :

Put the raspberries with the water in a caserole at low heat to unfreeze them,

 crush them with a wooden spoon to make a sauce

When they are soft and crushed, turn it off and add the lemon juice

Turn on the oven at 450°F

Wash and peel the apples, cut them in dice

Put in your glass-dish, or your ramequin one layer of apple

Spread some brown sugar on it,

\\ then you put the rhubarb if you've chosen that flavour //

Put another layer of apple

\\ pour the raspberrie sauce on the top if you've chosen that flavour //

Blend the flour and the sugar with the butter with your finger, just like to do a cookie dough

Add the honey and a hint of water to make a dough

Flatten it on a floured parchment paper to have 0.2 inch of thickness

Turn over on your fruits, cut the edges and make some holes with a fork

Put it in the oven for 5 minutes, then lower the heat at 360°F for 35 minutes

Turn off the oven and let it 5 more minutes

Let it cool down 10 minutes out of the oven, eat it warm :)

Murder in Menlo Park

It's Halloween !

For this theme, a bloody cake :)

"Biscuit pour gateau au chocolat" Vovoi©

I had planned on doing this cake for Halloween, the biscuit is a soft lady fingers kind of recipe

Multi-layer cake with a chocolate cream, but it could be with many different fillings.

It was my first try and it made us think about how to enhance it.

I've chosen this shape to stab it, but it can be flatter and have any shape you want.

   You will need :    

for the biscuit

3 eggs

8oz of sugar (225gr)

7.1oz of flour (200gr)

2.4 fl oz of water (7cL)

for the chocolate cream

3.5 oz of chocolate (100gr)

0.35 oz of butter (10gr)

1.7 fl oz of milk (5cL)

for the exterior

the rest of the chocolate cream

1.7 fl oz of water (5cL)

- or milk -

0.7 oz of grated unsweetened chocolate (20 gr)

- for topping -

for the homemade raspberrie coulis, sauce

7,1 oz of frozen raspberries (200gr)

1tbsp of sugar

1/2 tsp of vanilla extract

2.4 fl oz of water (7cL)

Making the biscuit the day before:

Separe the eggwhites and the yolks, reserve the eggwhites in the fridge with a pinch of salt,

Mix the yolks with the sugar to obtain a clear homogeneous cream,

mix for 5 minutes at least with a wooden spoon

- as shown on the picture -

Turn on the oven at 300°C

Add the flour, stir and incorporate the water

- to soften the dough -

Beat the eggwhites until stiff, incorporate them in 3 times

Cooking the biscuit

Pour in a buttered mold and let it cook for 50 minutes to 70 minutes,

check the cooking by inserting a clean and smooth knife in it, it must come out clean

Turn off the oven, let the cake inside until cooled down

Home made raspberrie sauce

Put in a small casserole the raspberries with the sugar for 3 minutes at medium heat, stir it

then lower the heat for 7 minutes, stir in the water in 3 times 

- after 2 minutes, 5 minutes et 8 minutes -

Mix it with a blender if it's not smooth enough,

Filter it by squeezing the pulp to remove the pips

Set aside in the fridge

The day after, build the cake

Do the chocolate cream by putting in a casserole the chocolate with the butter
and the milk at medium heat for 2 minutes, and then at low heat for 5 more minutes

When it's smooth and homogeneous, set aside and let it cool down in the casserole.

Cut your cake by layers of 0.4 inch thick with a big knife

Give it the shape you want, put between the layers the chocolate cream 

or what you have decided to put in it

- buttercream, custard, jam or nutella ? -

Once your cake has all its layers, do the frosting

Warm up the rest of the chocolate cream by adding the 5cL of water left

- to liquify it a bit - 

Pour in a bowl and let it cool down in the fridge for 30 minutes

Use a spatula or a flat instrument to spread it on the outside of the cake

Top it with grated unsweetened chocolate

You can eat it right away with the raspberrie sauce, or put it in the fridge

You can conserve it pretty well

-----------------------------------

Suggestions

Pour some liquor or syrup on the biscuit while assembling the cake

Alternate fruits layers and chocolate layers instead of full chocolate

-----------------------------------

Salmon & tuna bread

I did the recipe 3 times, this one was the best !

I thought it had to rise and stay like that, actually it will flattn a bit, it doesn't matter what to do. I tried for nothing :) anyway, it was really good everytime !

I made a few changes to the recipe, it's now half tuna, half salmon, I think it makes it lighter

For 4 people

   You will need :   

  1 can salmon

 - ~5.3oz skinless and boneless -

1 can tuna

- ~5oz, in water, -

8.5 fl oz of thick sauce bechamel

- 1tbsp 1/2 of butter (20gr), 1 oz of flour (30gr) and 8.5 fl oz of milk (25cL)

3 eggs

1 lemon

Herbs

- chives or basil or aneth -

Use a fork to mix salmon tuna (dry), half of the lemon juice and 1tbsp of the herbs, 

with 1 pinch of salt and pepper.

Cover and keep in the fridge for at least 20 minutes

Break the eggs and separe yolks and whites, keep the eggwhites in the fridge with a pinch of salt

Beat the yolks in a glass

Turn the oven on at 375°F

   Preparing the sauce béchamel :   

Put a hint of salt, pepper and ground nutmeg in the cold milk, 

in a small casserole on low/medium heat, put your butter to melt slowly

then add the flour to the butter and use a whisk to mix it

wait 2 minutes and then add the milk,
Then put on medium/high heat and keep stirring with the whisk until it boils

Let it boil for 10 seconds maximum and turn the stove off

Then, quickly incorporate the yolks and stir it with a wooden spoon,

set aside, let it cool down a few minutes.

Meanwhile, beat the eggwhites until stiff,

incorporate the salmon/tuna to the sauce bechamel,

Add the egwhites with a spatula in 3 times

- cut and rise, don't stir -

Pour in a buttered mold if not silicone and put straight in the hot oven

- the oven has to be warmed up -

Let it cook at least 1hour without opening the oven

- 1h30 if silicone -

Let it cool down in the opened oven for 20 minutes, then turn it out and seve with greens, 

you can use the half lemon to make a sauce or a vinaigrette for it

- vinaigrette ou sauce blanche -

Here was the first try, 100% salmon, no eggyolks :