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

Lemon Tart with lemon french custard

Lemon tart with mandarines, it's a season dessert by the French Pastry Chef Christophe Felder.

I love citrus fruits and his recipe sounded great ! Who doesn't have a few lemons and mandarines ?

This recipe comes from the book "Exquises pâtisseries pour les fêtes" of Christophe Felder. 

 There is a lot of amazing recipes in it, even some muffins :)

I did my own cookie dough and I flavored it, but I followed all his steps for the lemon cream.

My cookie dough is mandarine flavoured, with the zests and a bit of juice.

I divided all the proportions by half and did 2 medium tarts instead of a big one.

  Preparation   I tried to follow his instructions, but it got harder than it is supposed to be... I felt like I lost a lot of time. But there is no difficulty in the recipe. It lacked of details, but I'll explain it clearly on this post. Still, it took me about 1 hour to prepare... mainly because of the mandarines.

  Tasting   I've never been disappointed by Christophe's recipes ! That cream is absolutely delicious, though too buttery for some people. It's a fresh, rich and buttery cream... it's an all-season dessert actually. A lot of flavor with a hint of sugar... I really don't think I could find better, unless there is less butter in it ahah. For the mandarines, I'm not convinced, it seemed like a nice touch but it's not worth it !

  Conclusion   I keep the recipe, without the mandarines :)

For a 9 inch pie : serves 6 to 8

Christophe Felder gives a recipe for the cookie dough :

Same as mine but +2tbsp of butter and no zests. Softened butter mix everything with a wooden spoon.

Keep 1 hour in the fridge, then cook at 350°F for 15minutes. Turn out when cooled.

   You will need :   

For the cookie dough

1lb of cookie dough with :

2 mandarine's rinds, shredded finely

3tbsp of grounded almond
1/2 cup white sugar

- instead of 2/3 cup -

For the lemon custard

5 meyer lemon's rind, finely shredded

1 1/4 cup sugar (270gr)

3 sticks of butter (350gr)

- it hurts ! -

5 eggs

2 mandarines
1/3 powdered gelatin bag (0.07oz/2gr)

Turn the oven on at 325°F

Making the dough

Finely peel the mandarine's zests with a cheese grate. Chop them.
Add it to the flour with grounded almonds and sugar. Then follow the recipe of cookie dough.

Flatten it on 0.2 inch (5mm) and place it in your buttered mold. Press gently on the sides so it won't fall.
Put 20 minutes in the oven.

Turn out when cooled.

Prepare the custard

Prepare the gelatin by following the instructions on the package.

While your dough is cooking, peel coarsely your lemons to get the rinds.
They may be thick, it doesn't matter... do as peeling an apple.

Cut the butter in dices, set aside.
Press lemon juice in a saucepan, with zests, gelatin, sugar and eggs beaten, whisk.

Turn the stove on at low/medium heat while stirring.

- ingrédients non battus - après battage - après cuisson -

After a "while" (15 to 20 minutes) the cream will thicken and start simmering.
Turn the stove off, add the diced butter and stir until homogeneous.
Use a strainer to pour in a bowl and remove the zests.
Once filtered, beat with an electric beater at medium speed for 1 minute.

Making the tart

Remove all the thin white skins from your mandarines.

- it takes a while ! -

Cut them in dices if too big. 

On your pre-cooked dough, Pour half of the custard, then the mandarines.

Keep the center of the tart without mandarines (circle of 2inches) so it will be beautiful when served. 

Pour the end of the custard, flatten it.

Decorate with a vanilla bean and a few mandarines... a rasperrie or whatever you have :)

Refrigerate 2 hours before serving !

Breakfast full of vitamines : French citrus crepes - Thin pancakes

Here is my participation to the contest "Breakfast of the World challenge" on Very Good Recipes.

I've decided to make a twist to a french classic breakfast recipe : The french crepes.

After the recent success of a grapefruit cake, I wanted to keep that freshness of citrus fruits in another recipe ! The Chandeleur is coming in France (2nd of february), which is the national Pancake Day.

I've been influenced by a Guy Savoy recipe called "Crêpes aux agrumes". 

From his recipe, I took my own recipe of crepes and added that citrus twist.

The traditionnal recipe of crepes is already really good, but we always add a lot of jam, creams, ice creams or nutella in it... This recipe is just delicious as it is, and with a light syrup made with the fruit juice, they become amazing-crepes !  :)

I strongly recommend it to you, I've rarely liked crepes so much !

  Preparation    I did it randomly but I've been careful to write down everything, it's a really easy recipe... a few grams more or less won't ruin the recipe :) There is some resting time for the dough, count 15 minutes or preparation, and reserve for an hour.

  Tasting    Nothing to say ! Best when just cooked =)  Don't refrigerate :)

  To conclude    For a sweet and full of vitamins breakfast...  these are just perfect !

For 15 crêpes of 8 inch each : 5 people

If you have a smaller pan, serve 4 pancakes per person : one for each quarter of the plate :)

   You will need :   

7oz of flour (200gr)

1.1 oz of white sugar (30gr)

- 3tbsp -

17 fl oz of milk (50cL)

- I use 2% less fat -

3 eggs

3 tbsp of butter (30gr)

2 tsp of arome de fleur d'oranger 

"orange tree flower aroma"

- If you don't have any, replace by "Grand Marnier" or "Cognac" -

1 pinch of salt

\\ I did it for 6 crepes/2 people :  65gr of flour, 1tbsp of white sugar, 15cL of milk, 1 egg, 10gr of butter, 

1tsp of fleur d'oranger aroma, 1 pinch of salt  // Syrup : 1,5tbsp of white sugar, 2tbsp citrus zests //

Citrus fruits

25gr of white sugar (2tbsp)

2 grapefruits (organic)

1 meyer lemon (organic)

1 navel orange (organic)

Prepare the batter

Stir flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center.

Beat the eggs and pour them in the well. Start whisking by hand, add some milk while whisking.

Incorporate the milk at the same time you whisk in the flour.  

Whisk well in the center, do not integrate the flour too fast.

\\ You whisk must always been free of movement, otherwise it lacks milk //

When the batter is homogeneous,

melt 2tbsp of butter in a sauce pan or in the microwave at really low temperature. 

It must be melted but barely warm.

Pour the melted butter in the batter, stir by hand.

Pour that batter in a really thin strainer

Add in the "arome de fleur d'oranger" ! 

Cover the bowl with a plate. Let the batter rest at least 1 hour at room temperature. 

\\ It has to rest at least 1 hour, the more you wait, the better the crepes are ! //

Prepare the citrus fruits

Wash and rinse your fruits. Dry them.

Peel the rind of a half lemon, the orange and the grapefruit using a cheese-grate or a knife.

Chop finely.

You will have 3 to 4 tbsp of finely chopped citrus rind.

Bring some water to boil, put the rinds in for 10 seconds and rinse them with cold water.

Do that twice, it will remove some bitternes of the citrus fruits and the keep the flavour :)

You don't have to do that... But it gets sweeter like that. Reserve.

Optional: 

Peel completely your orange and you grapefruit. Remove the flesh of the fruits, without the white-skins.

Keep those fruits in a bowl.

\\ Do it over a bowl to recolt the juices //

Once peeled, you can also slice them finely if you prefer :)

Reserve for serving.

The syrup

In a small saucepan, pur 3tbsp of lemon juice, 4tbsp of orange juice and 4tbsp of grapefruit juice.

Add in the sugar (2tbsp) and bring it to a gentle boil for 2 minutes. When it has reduced about the half, turn the stove off and keep that syrup in a small cup. Reserve for serving.

Final batter

Once your batter is ready to use, stir in the rinds.

If you've let your batter rest the whole night, add 2 to 3tbsp of milk.

\\ Depending of the temperature in your place, you might have to add more milk, 

the consistency of the batter must look like a heavy whipping cream //

Put a non-stick pan on your stove at high temperature.

Melt 1tbsp of butter in a bowl in the microwave. 

Use an absorbent paper to butter the warm pan with the melted butter. 

Pour a half ladle of batter in your pan, spread it using the bottom of the ladle, 

or by moving in circle the pan.

\\ Do as you prefer, the goal is to have a circular shape ! :) //

Let 1 minute on each side.

Each one is a piece of art, it's impossible to get the same pattern twice ! I just love it...

 \\ The first crepe is always a bit longer to get golden ! //

Pile them in a plate.

Use the absorbent paper after each crepe to spread evenly the butter on the pan.

Serve 3 pancakes per person, fold them in 4 

and display in a plate with some syrup on them and some fresh fruits.

\\ For a beakfast, you have to eat well and healthy ! //

>> http://verygoodrecipes.com/breakfasts-of-the-world-challenge <<

Chocolate and lemon cake... Soft and buttery cake !

It doesn't look that great...

But in fact *glups*

I don't know anymore, my favorite chocolate cake recipe may have become this one....

This is a recipe from Sébastien Gaudard's book with Françoise Bernard

"Le Meilleur des desserts"  It's a bible of the most famous classic french family recipe.

 Each of them gives its recipe of a classic cake, his advice and his knowledge of the cake.

It's a really nice book, though the pictures are really bad...

Françoise Bernard gives the classic recipe of the "Quatre-Quart", but Sébastien Gaudard 

proposes a "Cinq-cinquième" with a fifth ingredient in it : CHOCOLATE !

1/5 sugar, 1/5 eggs, 1/5 butter, 1/5 flour, 1/5 chocolate... oh my god.

Try it, it's awsome and really easy :)

Lemon and chocolate are a perfect match...

For 6 to 9 people

   You will need :   

Each ingredient at room temperature

2 eggs, weighted

- mine were 4,4 oz -

Same weight of sugar

- 4,4 oz -

Same weight of salted butter

- 4,4 oz -

Same weight of flour

- 4,4 oz -

Same weight of dark chocolate : 70%

- 4,4 oz -

2 tsp of baking powder

Finely shredded lemon zest (1/3 of a meyer lemon)

Turn the oven on at 350°F

All the ingredients at room temperature

Prepare the zest

Peel the thin skin of the lemon, without grating the white part. Cut it in small pieces. 

- You can use a cheese-grate to peel it -

To avoid having a dry lemon after that, put some plastic film all around it.

Make the cake

Beat the eggs with the sugar and the zests until white

- about 3 minutes at high speed -

Melt the chocolate in the microwave in a bowl stirring it each time

- 4x30 secondes - 

When it's melted, stir in the softened butter

Stir in the chocolate-mix to the previous batter. 

Stir by hand to have a soft and souple batter.

Mix flour and baking powder together and stir that mix little by little in the previous batter.

Butter and flour your mold (or use a cooking spray)

Fill the mold to the 2/3

- it raises pretty well -

Put in the oven at least 30 minutes

- mine took 35 minutes -

Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake to check moist.

I hope you will like it as much as I did :)

My carrot Cake - Happy Birthday to me !

I've worked a lot on this one, usually carrot cakes are a bit too heavy/buttery for me, 

I can't eat it all without filling a bit sick.

My recipe contains no butter and no oil and a lot less flour than the usual one, it's a lighter cake,

with a surprisingly smooth texture, a bith firmer than the usual one

 but with as much or more flavour in it.

This recipe is one of my favourite, that's why I did it for my birthday :)

We went on a little road trip for Thanksgiving, we brought it with us :)

- Me : My cake is so cute -

- Him : My Poupoule is so cute (Poupoule is my nickname) -

For 8 to 10 people

   You will need :   

for the cake

4 oz of brown sugar (120gr)

2/3 cup of flour (80gr) de farine

1tsp of baking powder

-5gr-

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp of almond meal, grounded almonds (80gr)

4 eggs

10.5 oz of carrots (300gr)

- 5 to 6 carrots -

3 tbsp of lemon juice

1/2 lemon zest, grated

1.5 oz of coarsely grounded nuts (40gr) 

3tsp of ground ginger

3tsp of cinnamon

1/2 tsp of salt

for the icing

3.5 oz of creamcheese (100gr) 

2tsp of lemon juice

1/2 lemon zest, grated

4 to 5 tbsp of confectionner's sugar (powdered)

Prepare the carrots

Rinse, peel and grate the carrots

put them in a bowl with lemon juice, salt and half of the sugar

- 1.7 oz / 50gr  of sugar -

Put in in the fridge for at least 1 hour

Prepare the nuts

Blend them coarsely and add a hint of salt in it, set aside

turn the oven on at 420°F

Prepare the cake

Beat the eggs with what is left of sugar in a bowl for at least 3 minutes, it has to be foamy

In another bowl, stir the flour and the baking powder, make a well in it and stir in the eggs+sugar mix

Stir by hand until smooth and stir in the almond powder, the spices and the lemon zest

Stir for at least 2 more minutes, the dough has to be soft

Finally, stir in the carrots and the nuts

- 1st: eggs and sugar, 2nd: added flour and almond, 3rd: added nuts and spices -

Pour everything to fill your buttered mold at 3/4 

Cook approximatively 45 minutes

Check the cooking by inserting a smooth and clean knife in the middle, if it gets out clean, it's cooked!

Creamcheese and lemon icing 

Soften the creamcheese with your electric beater at low speed for 2 minutes,

add in the lemon juice and the zest, keep mixing at low speed

Add in the sugar, spoon by spoon, you can go up at medium speed,

it must be thick enough, but soften enough to be spread

Keep it in the fridge until use !

Bon appetite :3