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...  :)

Pear cake with honey and lemon

      

Original and with a lot of flavours, this recipe is Camille Lesecq's recipe, pastry Chef of Le meurice, Paris. I changed a few things in the recipe, because I've baked it a few times already.

- did I get fat ? -

Really soft and tender, it can be made in a meat loaf pan,

it has always been a huge success :)

For 6 people

   You will need :   

Pears

2 pears

3.5 oz of honey (100g)

- pine honey -

2.8 oz of butter (80gr)

- Camille Lesecq puts 3.5 oz -

the dough

4.2 oz of white sugar (120gr)

1.8 oz of butter (50gr)

4.4 oz of flour (125gr)

1.7 fl oz of milk (5cL)

1.7 fl oz of olive oil (5cL)

- Camille Lesecq puts 2.5 fl oz -

- you can use vegetal oil if you prefer -

2 eggs

1 grated lemon zest

3tbsp of lemon juice

0.2 oz of baking powder (6gr)

Prepare the pears

In a casserole, melt the butter with the honey on low heat.

Rinse, peal the pears and remove the heart with the seeds. Cut them in dice of 1/2 inch

- Camille Lesecq cuts them in 8, not in dice -

Add them to the melted butter, cover and let it cook at medium heat for 20 minutes.

Let it cool down in the butter sauce. They must be translucid. Set aside.

Turn the oven on at 375°F

Prepare the cake

Beat the sugar with the egss and the lemon zest for at least 3 minutes,

it must be light and foamy

Pour the milk slowly while stirring

Integrate the flour and the baking powder with a wooden spoon 

by doing small circular movements from the center

Finally, stir the lemon juice, the melted butter and the oil

By hand, stir it all together 2 to 3 minutes. Set Aside

Dry of the pears with a colander, use a clean absorbent paper to remove delicatly the excedient butter

In a buttered pan (you can use the butter +honey sauce to butter it), pour 2/3 of the dough, them place the pears carefully with a spoon, and pour the rest of the dough on top of them

- Camille Lesecq puts the pears aside the cake, but I like it better in it -

Put in the oven for 35 to 50 minutes, depending on your mold

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

it must come out clean

Thanks to Camille for this recipe, the first time I made it, I followed all the instructions, it had 300 gr of butter in it (12oz of butter...)

It's a bit too much butter for me :D

"Cake aux poires juste confites" is the exact name of that cake

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 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 :)

Halloween recipe, a soft and tender pain d'épice (gingerbread)

Le Pain d'épices from Vovoi's cookbook :) Special Halloween season recipe !

It's a pretty classic cake, especially around halloween time ! The warmness of the mild spices as honey, anis and ginger are perfect for the autumn when the weathr gets cooler.

 I had never made one before, I thought I didn't like it, obviously I was wrong !

It's a light recipe, with no butter 

The cake is soft and tender, really tasty and smells really good.

I love it with my caffeine free tea, the honey has a lot of charm, and it mostly tastes like honey :)

The dough has to rest 1 hour, but beside that it's really quick-made cake, 5 minutes top.

For one big cake pan or two small ones :

  You will need :   

8.5 oz of flour (less than 2 cup / 240gr)

1tsp of baking soda

1/2 cup of white sugar (4.2 oz / 120gr)

4.4 fl oz. of milk (12 à 14cL)

- I've put whole milk -

1.4 to 1.8 oz of honey ( 2 big tbsp / 40 à 50gr)

1 big pinch of anis

a hint of ginger

In a bowl, put the flour, the sugar th baking soda and the milk,

blend it with a wooden spoon, cover with a wet napkin and let it rest for 1h

After 1 hour, turn on the oven at 275°F,

Add the hony and the spices, mix

Butter the cake pan, if it's a metallic one (non-silicone) butter & flour it

Fill the cakepan by half and put in the oven

It will double its size, the middle of th cake will rise at the end of the cooking.

It took mine 35/40 minutes of cooking, in 2 small silicones cake pan.

For metallic cakepans, it will be quicker, check the cooking after 25 minutes 

by inserting a clean and smooth knife in the middle, it has to go out clean.

For one big cakepan, it can be slower (like 50 minutes) 

you will have to check every 5 minutes after 30 minutes of cooking.