Julia Child has a way of taking classic French techniques and turning it into something outstanding. I have not done any real Julia Child dessert baking for while. I have been watching a lot of episodes of "The French Chef with Julia Child" lately. I have watched this episode a few times and it just made me want to make this cake more each time I watched it. So this morning I got up and headed straight for the kitchen...well... I did make a quick pit stop first! Feel free to laugh! Just kidding! This cake has so much flavor. It is a chocolate cake flavored with almonds and lightened with beaten egg whites. Before you even make this, just like Julia advises, I urge you to read the entire recipe through first. The reason being is that once you start the recipe, you cannot stop and run to the store. You must get it in the oven as soon as you can. Also, before you start mixing the batter you should get all of your preliminaries done first. For example, get the chocolate melting, measure out all of the ingredients, and getting your cake pan prepared. Also, this recipe uses cake flour. If you do not have cake flour, you can make your own. I explain how in the recipe at the bottom. With melting the chocolate, it is melted with rum or coffee in a bowl over simmering water. Now, to begin, you cream butter, sugar, and egg yolks in a mixer or bowl with hand mixer. You then set that aside. Then, in a separate clean and dry bowl you beat the egg whites with cream of tartar, salt, and sugar until they are soft and shiny but not stiff. It is crucial that you do not over beat them. Then, you add your melted and smooth chocolate to the butter, sugar, and egg mixture. Then, you add pulverized almonds (just skinless almonds ground in a food processor), almond extract, and cake flour. The French use pulverized almonds in a lot of desserts. Then, quickly you stir in one-fourth of the egg whites to lighten the batter. Once the batter is lightened, you then delicately but quickly fold in he remainder of the egg whites until the batter is well incorporated but you don't want to deflate the egg whites as much as possible. There is no baking powder in this cake so the egg whites are what is going to make the cake rise. Once the batter is made you immediately pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. You then must swirl the cake pan by tilting it to allow the batter to run up all the sides of the pan. This allows the batter to be distributed evenly and prevents there from being a hump of batter in the center. You then bake the cake for about 25-35 minutes. The cake is done when you prick a toothpick around the outside and it comes out clean, and when inserted in the center it is slightly wet. There will also be a faint jiggle when you shake the pan slightly. You then allow the cake to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes and then remove it and allow it to cool on a cake rack for at least two hours! Once the cake is cool, you then have to ice and decorate it. Julia also provides a recipe for a Chocolate-Butter icing. It is basically just melted chocolate, melted in the same way as the cake and whipped with softened butter. Then all you have to do then is ice it any way you would like and then to decorate it just make a pattern with almonds on the top or sprinkled chopped almonds as I did in the picture above. The flavors of this cake are unbelievable. The flavor or the almonds on top and in the cake matches so very well with the chocolate. This is (like Julia says on her show) truly one of if not the best chocolate cake I have ever made and tasted. I will now tell you what I have below for you. This recipe is the one Julia uses on her show "The French Chef". It is also in her cookbook that goes with the show, "The French Chef Cookbook". She has the same recipe in her very first cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. I", although that recipe has slightly different proportions. I have typed the recipe up and slightly condensed the steps so it is easier to read. If you would like, you can also watch Julia make it herself and it will make understanding the steps a little easier. The recipe looks daunting but, it truly only took me about 20 minutes to prepare the batter. Give it a try. The steps can ease you into the world of French Patisserie! In Julia's words..."Bon Appetit"!
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With the weather being so hot and humid lately, I thought it the perfect time to have a nice and light citrus dessert as opposed to a heavy pound cake or chocolate pie. This is one of the earliest desserts I can remember making. I first made them for a dinner party my Nan had for her neighbors. She made a cake and I made these. Since then, she is always asking me to make these. Everyone loved these and asked for the recipe. I am not a big chocolate person. If there is a choice between something chocolate and something citrus, I would go for the citrus. The wonderful thing about this is that you can use and citrus flavor you want. It is not strictly for any one flavor. They are so simple yet so good. All you do is blind bake some tart shells. Then, make a mixture of a citrus curd of your choice, yogurt, and powdered sugar. Once the shells cool completely, simply fill them with the citrus mixture and top with whipped cream. They are meant to be served chilled, I wouldn't leave them at room temperature for too long. They are great during the summer for a picnic or pool party. I prefer them year round due to them being so simple to make. These can be found on page 62 of my cookbook above. Bon Appetit!
If you are in need of a quick dessert, here is a great option. These only take a few minutes to assemble and a few minutes to harden. You are basically taking tempered chocolate and coating anything you want in it. This is really an all purpose recipe and it is meant for the person who is making it to open his mind and be as imaginative as he or she wants. You are only limited to your imagination and creativity. The recipe involves a mixture of both milk and white chocolate. You use the microwave to temper it. You microwave it for 30 seconds, stir, and keep doing that in 30 second intervals until the chocolate is almost melted. Then when it is almost completely melted you add a little more chocolate and stir. This brings down the temperature and allows for it to harden once it is applied to the thing you are coating it in. If you were to just blindly melt it it will turn gray and not harden. The classic marriage is chocolate and strawberries. But I like to do dried fruits such as apricots and pineapple, as well as fresh fruit like apples and Maraschino Cherries on the stem. Some unlikely pairings include salted pretzels and Potato chips. Definitely try the chips. There is something quite satisfying about the combination of the salty chips and pretzels with the sweetness of the chocolate. Like I said you are only limited to your own imagination. This is a great option for a fun dessert to have with a glass of wine after dinner or if you want to involve your guests in the making of it, you can have them make their own. The recipe for this can be found on page 70 of my cookbook above or download the recipe below! Bon Appetit!
It had been a while since I did some baking at school. I prefer to be sticking with the Savory Kitchen upstairs. But, I found this recipe online and thought it would be a nice treat to make for my fellow students for family meal. I went into the bake shop in the early hours of the morning to get this done before I got to work making the morsels for the lunch rush. It is quite a nice feeling being by yourself with no loud noises from others, concentrating on a wonderful recipe like this. Although I am going on a bit. It turned out very well and I let it sit overnight to chill. We had it for lunch as well as some other desserts that other students made for us. It was tangy, sweet, creamy and crunchy. For those who love the actual treat in the freezer section, this is the perfect incarnation for the baker. Please make it and thank me later. Bon Appetit!
I stumbled upon this recipe in the October 2014 issue of Food Network Magazine. It was in a section with about 25 ways to use apples. I got to thinking, this would be a great idea. It also helped that my mom was given about 50 apples by our neighbor. So, it was a perfect excuse to try a new recipe. I did however tweak it a bit. For example, the recip doesn't call for cinnamon, but I am partial to cinnamon. There is also no flavoring to the meringue, so I added vanilla. I did however put a little too much meringue, but its all going to the same place. I had it for dessert last night. It was delicious. I highly recommend it. I also think I will give it to my baking instructor, Debbie to try it. Bon Appetit!
I first discovered this recipe watching Ree Drummond's "The Pioneer Woman". She said that this was her family's favorite snack/breakfast. She explained the right and wrong way of making cinnamon toast. Apparently I have been making it wrong my whole life. The wrong way is to toast bread and spread butter and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top. WRONG!
When I saw her make cinnamon toast the right way, I tried it and it is almost like a heavenly moment. The clouds part, you see sparkles. Here is the correct way to make Cinnamon Toast:
I guarantee once you make this, you will never go back to the old method of making cinnamon toast! Bon Appetit! I am a Lemon Lover! Whether it is a roast chicken with Lemon and garlic or a Lemon Meringue Pie. It doesn't make a difference to me, they are all delicious. When it comes to sweet dishes, one of the most versatile ingredients you can keep in the refrigerator is Lemon Curd. It is a sort of custard that is made with eggs and lemons and sugar. It can be used as a tart or pie filling. You can fold it into whipped cream or made into a mousse. It has dozens of uses. You make it by peeling the zest off of a few lemons and mix it in a food processor with sugar until it is processed with the sugar. You then cream that sugar mixture with room temperature butter until combined. You then, juice the lemons and mix that with the butter-sugar mixture. It will look curdled but that is the way it is suppose to look. You then cook it in a saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened, about ten minutes. You then cool and refrigerate it. It has no preservatives, so it is best to use it quickly. It is simply delicious. I personally like spooning a bit over some vanilla ice cream. This recipe below is Ina Garten's recipe. It is the easiest recipe I have found! Bon Appetit!
This is one of my top five cookies. Whenever I make these, they are gone by the end of the day...mostly by me! I made these for my cousin's graduation party once. There was probably over a dozen desserts and these were the most popular. What I love it that they are so simple to make. Sugar cookies coated and baked in cinnamon sugar. If you decide to make them...make sure you bake enough. They will disappear before your eyes. If you don't have a lot of time, and you still want to make a delicious dessert, these are a great option. I will warn you, you will be hooked from then on! Cheers!
Here is the final part of my blog post: British Food Products in the USA! Obviously this is only the tip of the Tower (pun intended), but this is just a basic knowledge of the most well known brands common to Britain. 11. Walker's Crisps - The thing to know if you go to Britain if you want Potato Chips, they are called "Crisps" over there. If you say "chips" they will give you what we call french fries. Walkers is the biggest name in Crisps over there. They are owned by PepsiCo. and are the British Brand of our Lay's Potato Chips. They come in a number of flavors, such as: Salt and Vinegar, Pickled Onion, Prawn Cocktail, Worcester Sauce, and Tomato Ketchup. These are just a few. 12. Bisto - This is basically just instant gravy mix. They have many numerous flavors over there. They come in resealable containers. The flavors include: beef, chicken, vegetable, cheese sauce, parsley sauce, white sauce, roast onion, and Chip Shop Curry. 13. Haywards Pickled Onions - If you like onions for a snack, these are for you. they are small white onions, pickled in a brine. They are delicious as a snack with some cheese and crackers, or with a Ploughman's Lunch. I highly suggest you try them. 14. Jaffa Cakes - My friend will kill me if I don't mention Jaffa Cakes. They are one of my favorites. They are small bite size sponge cakes topped with an orange jelly and coated in dark chocolate. They are oh so good. They can be addictive. There are a few brands: McVities', Jacobs. Try them immediately. 15. Irn Bru - Pronounced "Iron Brew". Irn-Bru is a soda from Scotland which is extremely popular in the UK. In fact it’s Scotland’s number 1 selling drink, outselling even Coca Cola. Irn Bru has a unique rusty orange color and a sweet rustic scent making it distinctly different from other drinks. It’s quite fizzy and tastes especially wonderful when icy cold. Apparently it’s great for hangovers too. The joke is that they say, the only thing with more sugar, is a 5lb. bag of sugar. Once again, you can find all of these products online at the British Food Depot. Click on the button below to go there now. Try these and you will like them. I can guarantee it. Cheerio!
Here is part 2 of 3 of my discussion on a few British Food Products. Again, all of these can be found in some specialty food stores and online. If you prefer to get them online. I would suggest the British Food Depot. You can visit their site by clicking on the button at the bottom of this blog post. 6. Hobnobs - These are one of my favorite British snacks. They are sweet oat biscuits that come either plain or coated in milk chocolate. They are perfect with a nice cup of tea or a glass of milk. Simple and yet so delicious. 7. Marmite - This product is one of those things where you either love it or hate it. It is a highly concentrated yeast extract. It is probably the closest thing to salt. It has a unbelievably strong taste. Most Britons eat it on buttered toast. I personally am not fond of the taste, and I have found another use for it. You can dissolve it in water and use it in a soup or stock in place of salt. It adds an earthy taste to savory dishes. It is a stronger version of the Australian product Vegemite. 8. Black Pudding - This, like the baked beans, is an essential part of an English Breakfast. To some it may sound revolting, but it is delicious. It is a sausage that is made from a mixture of beef or pig's blood, oatmeal or breadcrumbs, fat, herbs and spices. It is boiled in a casing until it becomes firm like a sausage. You slice it and fry it in a skillet. It starts out a reddish brown color and when it cooks it turns black. It can taste different based on how long you cook it. If cooked correctly it has the taste and texture of a normal sausage, if cooked too long it becomes gritty. Just think of it as sausage with more herbs. A good way to serve it is with HP Brown Sauce. It must remain frozen or refrigerated until ready to cook. Try it and I will guarantee you will like it, just don't think about what it is. 9. Heinz Salad Cream - Americans, I think shall enjoy this, it has a similar taste to Miracle Whip. It is a little more tangy. It is great for sandwiches and salads. I use it myself as an ingredient into potato salad. It, like Piccalilli, will be more familiar than different to Americans. If you like Miracle Whip, give this a try. 10. PG Tips - This is probably the only product that is sold anywhere, in any supermarket. It is England's number one brand of tea. It is very good and soothing. Go to your local market, and you will most definitely find this. The perfect thing to unwind on a cool evening, a cup of PG Tips and a biscuit. Check back soon for the final part of this three part blog post. But for now, if you want to find these products, click on the button below to go to the British Food Depot.
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