Tag Archives: sugar

Pavlova with figs

Light Meringue cake with fruits

Pavlova is a meringue cake with a crunchy exterior and a soft interior, which is usually topped with whipped cream and berries or some fresh fruits. It is soft, light and very delicisous. Pavlova is named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, and got this name after her 1920s tour through Australia. Still, it is unclear where the dessert itself originated from: some argue it comes from New Zealand, others say it is Australin and some even say that it comes from the United States. It is a dessert most identified with the summer time, but is eaten all year round in many Australian and New Zealand homes and has become as well very popular in Europe.

I had wanted to make this cake for a long time, but somehow I was afraid of it being too hard. Now that we have moved homes, I have a new oven and it seems that together “we” can master this elegant and fragile cake very well. I hope that you will enjoy my recipe.

Pavlova with figs

Yield: 5-6 portions

Ingredients:

Meringue

5 egg-whites
270g powder (caster) sugar (minimum 250g of sugar)
1 table spoon white vinegar
1 table spoon maizena
1 tea spoon vanilla extract

Topping

250ml cream
1 tea spoon vanilla extract
1 table spoon of sugar (if you don’t like your cakes too sweet, you can also skip it)
400g of fresh figs
some mint for the decoration

Caramel au beurre salé

2 Replies

Salted butter caramel

This time I’ll share with you a very simple recipe that contains only three main ingredients: sugar, cream, and salted butter. French people use this caramel in many different ways: as “macaron” filling, adding caramel flavour to cakes, cookies or any other pastry. It is very typical in Britanny, where they often eat it with crêpes (pancakes) as a dessert.

By changing the quantity of cream, you can make it more or less liquid. You can also add some nuts, chocolate, dried fruits to give it a more original taste. For fillings, you need to use half sugar and half cream + butter to give it a more solid consistency.

Salted butter caramel can be a perfect gift as well, for example to your loved ones during Christmas time – I have received several orders already

salted butter caramel

Yield: 500ml of caramel, enough to serve with pancakes for 5

Ingredients:

200g sugar
250ml cream
50g salted butter (or 80g if you want a stronger taste)
a pinch sea salt (ideally “fleur de sel”)

Step by step:

Prepare all ingredients: cream, sugar, salted butter & sea salt.

cream, sugar, sea salt

Pour sugar in a saucepan and let it melt – mixing in the solid sugar grains from time to time with the melted sugar. Make sure that the sugar does not burn, keep the heat low. Meanwhile, pre-heat the cream in another sauce pan.

let melt sugar & warm up cream

When the sugar is melted and dark brown, add the pre-heated cream little by little, all the while whisking it quickly with the help of a spoon.

add cream

Once the cream is well incorporated, add the salted butter and a pinch of salt.

add butter

Serve in small jars or a bowl, depending on when you plan to eat it.

Enjoy!

Breton biscuits

3 Replies

Crunchy butter cookies from Britany

The “galettes sablées bretonnes” are typical french butter cookies made from butter, flour, sugar and eggs. The traditional shape is round and the tops of the cookies are usually brushed with the egg yolk, giving them a shiny and golden appearance. “Sablée” means sand in French, and refers to the sandy like texture of the biscuits. This is really a very easy to make recipe, and the result tastes very good.

galettes bretons

Yield: 30 biscuits

Ingredients:

200g flour
130g sugar
1,5 teaspoons of vanilla sugar
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
125g of salted butter (room T)
1 egg
1 egg yolk + 5cl of water

Black cherry-chocolate jam

Crème brûlée

“Burnt” custard cream

Crème brûlée is a sweet & creamy dessert with crunchy sugar on top. In Spain it is also known as ¨crema catalana¨, and everyone will affirm that it comes originally from Catalonia. To the Spanish version of creme brûlée you usually add lemon or orange peal as well as cinnamon. Here, I’ll share with you first the traditional French creme brûlée recipe, which I got from the Larousse ¨Pierre Herme¨ dessert book. I usually make it in small individual ramekins that perfectly serve one person.

creme brûlée

Yield: 8 portions

Ingredients:

500ml milk
500ml cream
4 vanilla beans
9 egg yolks
180g powder sugar
100g brown sugar