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...  :)

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 <<

Spinach Flan

I've worked on this recipe for a while, a few miserable try and deception.. 

Couldn't unmold it, then there was too much flour, not enough flavour etc... 

I've finally found a good balance between ingredients :)

I tried with ham, less cheese more milk... Finally the dry-ripened tomatoes are perfect !

For 4 people

   You will need :   

for the spinach batter

1lb of fresh spinach

- around 1.1lb if possible -

7oz ricotta (200gr)

3 eggs

1oz flour (30gr)

- 2 small tbsp -

1/3 cup + 1tbsp of milk (3.4 fl oz.)

1tbsp olive oil

"herbes de provence"

- mix of thym, rosemary, oregano, basil, lavander, sage... -

1/2tsp of salt

pepper

If you have some agar agar, you can add some so it will be even more flan-texture

for the heart

#tbsp of dry-ripened tomatoes(1.4 oz/40gr)

1tbsp of flour

2,1 oz ricotta (60gr)

Prepare the spinach

Rinse them well and remove the biggest stams.

Put your spinach in a big sauce pan  full of salted water and bring to a boil. After 2 minutes at a gnetle boil, drain them well in a strainer. Use a spatula to press and remove as much water as you can.

Put them on your cutboard and coaersely chop. Reserve.

Turn the oven on at 360°F

Prepare the flan

Beat egss and salt, pepper ans ricotta for 2 minutes with an electric beater.

When the batter is homogeneous, stir in by hand the flour and the milk

Pour it little by little, starting with the flour, ending with the flour.

Finally, add the oil and the herbs. Mix well and stir in the spinach. Reserve.

Prepare the heart

Chop finely your dry tomatoes, remove the excess of oil with an absorbent paper and mix them with the flour. Stir in the ricotta. Reserve.

Cooking

Cover your mold with parchment paper and use some cooking spray on it.

If you have a silicone mold, oil it with an absorbent paper.

Pour 3/4 of the spinach-batter in the mold, and in the center, 

pour the tomato-mix as a long strip in the center of the cake. 

Use 2 teaspoons to help you shape that stripe.

Pour on the top the end of the spinach-batter.

Cook 40 to 45 minutes

Turn the oven off, slightly open the door and let it cook 20 more minutes in the oven.

You can enjoy it as a main course : still warm with rice, salad or a tomato sauce. 

But it's also good when cold, as an appetizer.

Well, and next, what should I do...

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 :)

Sweet and tender muffins with cranberries and nuts

I replaced nuts by praline :)

Awsome muffin recipe :3 It's the Cook's Illustrated recipe " Very good pecan cranberrie muffins recipe"

Yvonne Ruperti has worked on this recipe and did a great job ! I haven't done the streusel this time :) 

They are gorgeous, I strongly recommand them !

I wanted to get a subscription but they just accept credit cards... 

- Ami ? -

For twenty small muffins, or a dozen big ones

   You will need :    

For the muffin

1 3/4 cup of flour (6.3oz/180gr)

1 cup of white sugar (7oz/200gr)

6 tbsp of melted and cooled softely butter (2.5oz/70gr)

1,5 tsp of baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup of milk (4.2 fl oz/12,5cL)

- whole milk is better -

1 1/4 cup of pecan halves toasted and cooled (3.5oz/100gr)

- 7 minutes in the oven at 350°F,  stir every 3 minutes -

1tsp of salt

For the cranberries

2 cups of fresh cranberries (7oz/200gr) or frozen, or dry...

- You can replace by other red fruits, or dry grapes... -

1tbsp of confectioner's sugar

- powdered -

For the streusel

3tbsp of flour

4tsp of white sugar

1tbsp of light brown sugar

2tbsp of unsalted sugar, softened (20gr)

Pinch of salt

1/2 cup of pecan halves (40gr) 

Making the streusel

Turn the oven on at 425°F

Put sugars, flour, salt and diced butter in the food processor until mixture resembles coarse sand 

OR

use your hands :-)

- 4 or 5 pulse -

Add the pecan halves in the food processor and pulse it 3 or 4 times until coarsely chopped.

Set aside in a bowl.

Prepare your fruits 

If you are using dry ones, pour boiled water on them, real warm water and let them soak in 5 minutes.

If they are frozen, use the microwave to unfreeze-them and dry them out.

Baking the muffins

Butter and flour your molds

Whisk flour, salt and baking powder, set aside.

Chop coarsely nuts and sugar until mixture resembles coarse sand

- 10 to 15 secondes in the food processor -

Put that sugar in a bowl, pour the eggs in and whisk it together. 

Then, add the butter mix with a whisk, and the milk.

Finally pour the flour mix little by little

- 1 : eggs and sugar-nuts // 2 : After adding butter and milk // 3 : After adding the flour mix -

Set it aside 30 minutes

Chop cranberries with confectioner's sugar and the salt in the food processor until coarsely chopped. Pour it in your muffin dough.

Use an ice scoop to fill equally your muffin-tin

Try to get the center of the muffin a bit higher.

Spray some streusel on it and press gently with your fingers so it wil stick on the dough.

Bake 17 to 18 minutes, until golden and just firm, don't overbake.

Rotate muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking.

Let them cool 10 minutes in their tins, and 10 more minutes on wire rack

before eating them all :)

! See all the muffins recipes !

All muffins recipes

#1 100% chocolate muffin

source : Figaro cookbook

#2 Cranberries and nut muffin

source :Cook's Illustrated

#2 Banana and chocolate muffin

source :Cook's Illustrated

#3 Lemon scented, Blueberry muffin