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

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

Financier recipe, classic french almond cake and marbled one

The financier... I actually think it's my favourite cake of all,

with a tea or a coffee or for a snack in the afternoon. It's an amazing cake.

Made with eggwhites and almond powder,

there is no more "what to do with eggwhites ?" obviously, a financier cake !

His name comes from its shape of a gold bar,

swiss Chefs took the recipe and gave it this original shape and name.

It really suits that cake :)

It has a thin gold crust outside and a tender almond taste inside. 

Its texture is unique, this cake is fresh and surprising.

The financier will rise a bit during cooking, it may also break on the top just like madeleines

I have individual molds in silicone, but I used some big brownie pans, and then cut it in squares.

The recipe is the one I took from my mom's cookbook a few years ago, I may have changed it a bit since but I don't remember ! This is the one I use.

For around 10 individual financiers (~4inch x 1.6inch)

   You will need :   

3 eggwhites

3.9 oz of white sugar (110gr)

2.5 oz of grounded almond powder (70gr) 

4tbsp of slightly melted butter (2.1 oz / 60gr)

- in a casserole to reach hazelnut shade, without too much cooking -

1.6 oz of flour (45gr)

 1tsp of apricot marmelade

- I don't always put some, just when I have some -

Mix with a fork or a whisk eggwhites and sugar for 1 minute

- and apricot marmelade if you have -

Add the almond powder, mix with a wooden spoon, then add the slightly melted butter

- that you've put in a casserole or in the microwave to melt it gently, without cooking -

It has to be smooth and homogeneous

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

Turn on the oven at 450°F

Let the dough rest in the bowl for 10 minutes

- if you put it in the oven when really hot, it helps the contrast crust outside/soft inside -

After 10 minutes, put it in your mold/cakepan, almost full

- butter them if they are not in silicon -

Put in the oven at medium high and turn down the oven at 350°F

Let it cook 25 minutes

Depending on your mold, it can go to 35 minutes of cooking

One more time, metallic molds are quicker to cook the cake, so be aware.

They have to be real gold, especially on the edges

Turn out the cakes when it got a bit cooler

- exterior gets harder, so it's easier to turn them out -

They are better the day you made them, don't try to keep them a long time !

                      

  

   To make the marbled one :   

Before adding the flour, cut your dough in half, in the first one, 

add 5tsp of unsweetened cocoa, and 0.7 oz of flour (20gr)

- it will be a bit thicker -

and in the second one, add 0.7oz of flour

When you will fill up th molds, pour at th same time the cocoa and the regular one,

by the separation half/half on the longest side

- 2 long lines -

Langue de chat - Cat's biscuit

How to get rid of eggwhites...

There is the financier, some salted apetizers, the tuiles, the cigarettes and the langues de chat !

My favourite one is the financier, which a almond flavoured,

but those little biscuits can be pretty good

with a lot of various way to eat them

It's a really easy recipe, here is the basic one, 

you can multiply it depending on the number of eggwhites you have

   You will need :   

0.8fl oz Heavy whipping cream (2,5cL)

1.4 oz of white sugar (40gr)

1.4 oz of flour (40gr)

1 eggwhite

drops of vanilla extract

Turn on your oven at 360°F

Mix the cream with the sugar and the vanilla, until it's smooth and foamy

add the flour in 2 times, mix well everytime

Beat the eggwhites until stiff and add them in 2 times

Put small teaspoon of that mix on a buttered tray,

give them a long oval shape

- 0.6 to 0.8inch wide to 1.6inch long -

Let it cook for 12 to 16 minutes depending on your taste, they will flatten

the edges will turn gold but the heart will stay white

Let it cool on a grill

Keep them in an hermetic box or plastic bag, with not much air
after they cooled down completely

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

Suggestions : 

Grated chocolate on the top when they are out of the oven

Dip them in melted chocolate once they are cool

Orange or lemon flavour instead of vanilla

Add 1tsp of unsweetened cocoa with the flour

Add 1tsp of coconut with the cream

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

Enjoy !

Tuiles - Almond biscuit

This morning I heard the news : a couple of skydiver having sex while jumping,

A video was shown... amazing to hear something like that on the news !

Well it made me laugh, poor couple :) 

I was actually thinking of doing a drawing of skydiving with a tuile as a parachute,

It seems even more appropriate ...

- with the tuiles recipe -

The "tuiles", are commonly almond flavoured 

- as shown above -

They are delicious with an icecream,

and a good way to use eggwhites

Really crusty, with a nice taste of sugar

Here is Vovoï's recipe

   You will need :   

1 eggwhite or 3tbsp. of heavy whipping cream

1.5oz of white sugar (40gr)

a small 1/4 cup of flour (1oz/30gr)

3tbsp of sliced almonds

A frozen orange

Turn on the oven at 430°F

Mix the cream with the sugar, it has to be a bit foamy,

- or the eggwhite -

then you can add the flour, 

When you have a nice and creamy mix, add small and thin slices of the frozen orange

To finish, add the sliced almonds, and mix carefully so they won't break too much

Prepare a parchment paper on your tray, and put a nutsize of that preparation for each tuile,

Use a fork to flatten it as much as you can, using the almonds to make it flatter

The almonds allows them to be flat, otherwise they would be biscuits.

- I had some issues at first, Vovoï didn't say to put any almonds in it -

Put them in the oven for 15 minutes, they have to be gold everywhere

Then, use a spatula to put them on your rolling pin or a small bottle/glass

to give them the curve

They get cooler really fast so you have to be quick to curve them,

don't burn yourself by rushing

- but when they get cooler, they get harder ! -

- you can put them in melted chocolate, and then in the fridge ;) -

Enjoy with ice cream or regular cream ;)