I think I am getting into a “oat phase” these days. I try to put oats and oat bran wherever I can. Oat bran, oat flour, rolled oats, anything oat makes me happy, besides I love my fibers. I had bought too many bananas (I forgot I had a bunch at home), but I always fear to be banana depleted in the morning for breakfast, so I keep buying more than I can actually eat. Two of those bananas were overly ripe and what do do with over ripe bananas other than shakes? banana bread or cake, right? But it needs to be banana and oats together or nothing at all, so banana-oats combo it will be.

In my world, I would have called this a banana cake but in the US it’s more a bread than a cake (I’m sure there is an explanation, but I haven’t had the time to google it). In France anything called bread contains yeast and not baking powder. Anything called bread is something very different and looks like a baguette and tastes like one too.

Since I didn’t have any oat bran flour, I grounded some oat bran into a fine texture which ended up like flour. It all turned out quite well. This cake is very moist and not sweet at all so it could work as breakfast since it has a good amount of nutrients.

 Ingredients

• 1.5 cups oat bran flour
• 2/3 cup coconut sugar or sweetener of your choice
• 3/4 cup quick rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 Islandic Yogurt (or Greek yogurt)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

Pre-heat oven at 350F.

In a mixing container, mix flour, oats, sugar and baking powder. In a mixer, add banana, yogurt, oil, eggs, vanilla. Mix to obtain a smooth texture.

Pour liquid mixture containing the bananas to dry mixture containing the flour and oats. Mix well.

Grease a pan with butter. Coat with flour and remove excess flour. Pour batter and bake in the oven at 350F for about 50-55 minutes.

Usually for breakfast I like my multi grain toasts with no desire to change but once in a while I like to treat myself with some fancy little bites like these ones. I would have called those mini cakes (which in French gâteaux are what those are), but I feel they’re more muffins than cakes, as per American standards. Cakes are described as sweet, with frosting and no fruits.

They’re light, very airy, moist and perfect for breakfast or as afternoon snack. The base is like the traditional French yogurt cake, but I used Greek Yogurt instead and oat and almond flours instead of regular white flour. I used a pear but you could also use an apple.

Ingredients for 6-8 muffins

• 1 1/3 cup oat flour
• 1/2 cup oat bran
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/3 cup coconut sugar
• 2 tbs stevia powder
• 1 Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 tsp vanilla powder
• 1/4 tsp bitter almond extract
• 1 pear, peeled and grated
• sunflower seeds for topping

Preparation

Preheat oven at 365F. In a large bowl, mix flours, baking powder and vanilla powder.

In another bowl, beat eggs with coconut sugar, stevia, oil, yogurt, bitter almond extract. At the end add pear. Mix well.

Pour the bowl containing the eggs/sugar mixture into the bowl containing the flour mixture. Mix well.

Divide batter in individual muffin molds. sprinkle with coconut sugar and sunflower seeds.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes.

I had a lot of fun this weekend, playing in my kitchen. I love to spend time trying out new recipes and exploring new ideas. Unfortunately it does not happen as often as I’d like due to lack of time, and trying to accommodate everyone in the house.

Here is one way to prepare quinoa as a dessert, a little change from the savory preparations. You could eat this for breakfast as well, or anytime, you have a little sweet craving, but do not want to add up the calories. It’s a light dessert with lots of flavors, and the combination of the coconut and rum gives it an exotic flair, it brings me back to the island vacations, with the sun and the beach.

You don’t need to use a lot of quinoa in each mold, since it expands and absorbs liquid, a few tbs are enough. I found in my kitchen cabinet a baking emulsion I had bought a while ago at Chef Warehouse. It’s basically some strong coconut extract bakers use in their pastries, I thought to add some additional coconut flavor, and it enhanced the flavor to 60%, so if you can find this type of emulsion, it’s worth buying it, you could use it in any sweet preparation you use coconut.

Ingredients for 4 flans

For the flans

• 110 g cooked quinoa
• 3 eggs
• coconut sugar to your taste
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp coconut emulsion

For the mango salad

• 1 mango not too ripe, diced finely
• 1 tbs brown rum
• 1 tbs mint
• coconut sugar or stevia (or any sugar of your choice) to taste

Preparation

For the flans

Beat eggs and coconut sugar with an egg beater, beat for 5-10 minutes until obtained a smooth texture. Add the rest of the ingredients, and keep beating.

Pre heat oven at 365F. Divide quinoa in the four molds and pour coconut-egg mixture. Sprinkle with shredded coconut and bake in the oven for about 30-40 minutes. When the flans are cooked, remove from molds and let them cool. You can eat them lukewarm or cold. Serve with mango salad on the side.

For the mango salad

Mix all ingredients together and serve with flans

More sweets!!!!….for someone who doesn’t eat sweets, two posts in a row with cakes sounds like too much.

The thing is I am planning on a trip to France to visit my family next month, and my mom being diabetic, I am experimenting some low glycemic cakes and desserts to bake for her when I will be there.

I am definitely a firm believer that moderation is key, but still if you have a sweet tooth and are diabetic, even one small traditional French pastry can make you diabetes go up drastically. Have you seen a Paris-Brest? that chou pastry filled with butter cream…well, Just looking at it makes you gain 5 lbs.

White flour, butter and sugar are not really the best ingredients for diabetics and no patisserie sell low glycemic pastries. The dilemma about light cakes is flavor and texture. I don’t like low calories cakes, because they don’t honestly taste very good. They tend to be dry, or chewy or hard, and not really satisfying when you crave for something sweet.

I’d rather have a small bite of regular pastry than eat something that does not taste good, and labeled “low calorie” – but I have no diabetes…so my opinion does not count.

After my kitchen experimentation in baking some low glycemic desserts, I have to say that I am quite happy about the result of these chocolate cakes. I was worried they would end up dry and not really good, but they are actually quite delicious, especially eaten with raspberries. I ate two after lunch and I have the feeling I didn’t eat anything, and certainly not heavy.

I will definitely make those for my mom (and myself too) and I am sure she will enjoy them, especially knowing that it will not make her diabetes sky rocket.

Ingredients for 8 mini cakes or 1 large cake

• .3 oz (or 80 g) raw coconut sugar + stevia to taste
• 1.41 oz (or 40 g) unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup coconut milk (the drinking kind)
• 2 eggs
• 1.8 oz (or 50 g) coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbs cocoa nibs
• 2 tbs sliced almonds

Preparation

Pre heat oven at 360F.

Using two mixing containers, in one container mix flour, sugar, baking powder, almonds and cocoa nibs (the dry ingredients). In the other container, mix all other ingredients (the wet ingredients). Pour the wet ingredients mixture gradually in the other container. Mix well.

Divide mixture in individual silicone molds, or in a large round cake molds previous buttered.

Bake for about 25 minutes.

Spring is here and I am just excited about a new season coming. I love spring, except for the allergies due to pollen. Hopefully this year will be mild allergy season.

One of the simple things that make me happy in life is eating coconut ice cream. Since I have no coconut ice cream, I would be just happy eating anything “coconuty” today. Since I have a lot of ingredients made out of coconut in my kitchen, I thought to make something simple, yet light and delicious.

I like the fact that this cake doesn’t need anything special in the making process such as dividing the whites from the yolks and beating them separately, etc… all ingredients are mixed together and that’s it.

For those with some gluten intolerance, I made those gluten free, otherwise you can make those with regular flour, it can be with whole wheat flour, or any other flour you prefer. I don’t have any problem with gluten but I was out of whole wheat flour so I used gluten free flour. I was gluten free for about eight months, I wanted to see if I would feel any different, since everybody is telling you, you have to remove the evil gluten from your diet. I my case, there was absolutely no change in the way I felt, weight, health, or anything else, so I decided to go back to gluten.

These cakes are so light that after eating one of those, it feels like you didn’t eat anything.

You would think that for a coconut cake, the result would be a snow white cake. I love snow white cakes, but you just have to use white sugar. In this case, the raw coconut sugar being brown like a brown sugar, you end up having a brownish cake. Oh well “tant pis“, they’re delicious, so the color doesn’t really matter in the end.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 5.3 oz (or 150 g)  raw coconut sugar
• 4.5 oz (or 130 g) raw coconut oil
• half can coconut milk (I used the light one)
• 5.3 oz (or 150 g) shredded coconut (I used the reduced fat kind)
• 4.2 oz (or 120 g) gluten free flour
• 1tsp baking powder

Preparation

Pre heat oven at 375F. Mix all ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Divide the batter in eight paper cups (or regular greased molds) – Cook in a preheated for about 35 minutes. You can enjoy slightly warm or cold.

I have been playing around with this recipe for a while, changing quantities and I finally managed to like this version which is moist and soft.

I am not necessarily pro or against gluten. I think if people have problems with it, then it should be removed from one’s diet. I removed it from my diet and ate sans gluten for a couple of months to see how my body felt. I thought since everyone talked about it, I should try it too, to get my own opinion, so I did.

Well to be real honest, I did not feel better nor worse. I had less and less carbs cravings and was less bloated but that’s basically it. So I won’t start preaching a gluten free diet or a not gluten-free one, I think that’s a personal choice. If you feel better when you don’t eat gluten, then don’t. That is my philosophy.

If you want to try a gluten free cake that is moist and light, then this is the one.

Ingredients for 6-8 people

• 6 eggs
• 190 g (6.7 oz) brown sugar
• 250 g (8.8 oz) almond flour
• 50 g (1.7 oz) gluten free flour
• 160 g (5.6 oz) melted butter
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp bitter almond extract

 Preparation

In two different containers, separate the yolks from the whites. Beat the whites to a thick consistency. Mix yolks with sugar and beat until the mixture whitens and double volume. Add butter. Add flours and mix well to obtain a smooth batter. Incorporate egg whites. Add baking powder and almond extract.

Butter a round baking mold, sprinkle flour and spread the flour evenly into mold.

Pour batter in mold and cook in a pre heated oven at 350F for about 45 min or until completely cooked. Check the cake once in a while so that it doesn’t brown too fast. If it’s the case, lower the temperature.

Since chia is all over the place, and that everyone is talking about it in the nutrition world as a miracle little seed, I decided to try it out too. I used to sprinkle it on top of yogurt or fruits, but I never cooked with it or never made anything out of it. At least now, I can have an opinion for myself. I love to try new things when they get that much press, I am thinking it cannot get all that bad.

Chia is supposedly very nutritious, lots of proteins, fibers and amino acids. It’s good for me because I do not eat many proteins, so I thought this would supplement my needs. The fun part in this, is to play with it and make something interesting and pleasurable to the palate. If I don’t like something, it could be the most nutritious thing on earth, I will not eat it. So if it’s good and nutritious, that’s a winner because one without the other one doesn’t work.

I have been reading about chia and how to prepare it. Since it’s a very absorbing little seeds that expands, it needs to be in contact with some liquid. I used coconut milk here, but any other dairy or non dairy milk will work (almond milk, rice milk, hemp milk, etc…). Yes, it did expand and those little seeds look like caviar with a transparent shell or some dark fish eggs.

I was a bit skeptical when I took the first bite, but then I liked it. I think the more you eat it the more you like it. I don’t know why but I feel good after I eat chia and I have no idea why.

Ingredients for 3-4

• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 1.5 cups coconut milk
• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 2 tbs unsweetened shredded coconut
• agave nectar or stevia to taste
• 2 tbs raw pistachios
• 1 banana, sliced
• dark chocolate (optional for decoration)

Preparation

In a mixing container, mix all ingredients together, except the bananas. Mix well and let rest for about 30 min until it thickens. Place in individual cups and refrigerate for about 6 hours.

Place banana slices on top and sprinkle with some additional pistachios, shredded coconut and dark chocolate

I love this cake, I love it even more because I used the almond pulp that was left while making almond milk. So there is no waste in the process.

In France in January we celebrate Epiphany, and we eat the traditional Kings cake or galette des rois made with frangipane (mixture of butter, eggs, sugar and ground almonds).

I adore frangipane, so last week I made a  galette des rois for some guests who came for dinner, since then I have been hooked on almonds. I have been basically trying to reproduce a galette des rois flavor in a cake…et voilà, c’est réussi!

This cake is very moist, so soft and if you like frangipane, you will love this cake. I am very happy about the results and will make this cake again and again after I make almond milk.

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• leftover almond pulp (from making almond milk, about 1.5 cups)
• 4 tbs almond flour
• 2 tbs regular flour
• 3.5 oz (or 100 gr) melted butter
• 7 oz (or 200 gr) sugar
• 1 tbs rum
• 1 tsp almond extract

Preparation:

In a container, mix leftover almond pulp, sugar, yolks, both flours, butter, rum and almond extract. In another container, beat egg whites until firm. Carefully, mix whites to the almond mixture.

Butter a round mold and pour batter. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 370F for about 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and let it cool. sprinkle with powdered sugar and sliced toasted almonds.

Growing up in Lorraine, and Lorraine being Alsace’s close neighbor, I am quite familiar with tarte flambée, which is an Alsacian Specialty (they eat it in Germany and close regions as well). It’s literally translated into “flamed tart” but has nothing to do with being flamed. The word flamed probably comes from the fact that tarte flambée used to be cooked in very hot wood ovens and very quickly, therefore the crust border turned all burnt and black by the intense heat. Flammkuchen is the Alsacian/German translation that we also use when talking about tarte flambée. If, for whatever reason you end up in the Eastern part of France, and more precisely in Strasbourg (which is a magnificent city) you can go to this wonderful brasserie right next to the cathedral (I think it’s called Caveau Gurtlerhoft) to experience a sinful tarte flambée. The traditional is made out of crème fraîche, fromage blanc, onions and lard fumé (thick cut bacon), you have other variations, such as the vegetarian, or with mushrooms, etc…and also salmon like this one. I sometimes substitute heavy cream to crème fraîche, but it will not work here, you need the thick consistency of crème fraîche for the topping. 

Tarte flambée is a peasant dish, just like pizza. The original tartes had a rectangular shape, and eaten burning hot and rolled. Nowadays, most restaurants serve them round, probably because it’s easier to cut in slices, and you don’t have to burn your fingers rolling them, even though few restaurants still make them rectangular like in the old times.

If you want some different and fun alternative to pizza, try one of those, you won’t be disappointed, they’re so delicious, and easy to prepare. You can use a bread dough or pizza dough, it just needs to be rolled very thin.

Ingredients for 2 tartes

• Bread dough about 5.30 oz (or 150 gr) per ball, (recipe here)
• 4 tbs crème fraîche (2 on each tarte)
• 8 tbs Fromage blanc or Page Greek yogurt
• 1 large yellow onion, cut in half and thin sliced crosswise
• 1/2 lb (or 250 gr) smoked salmon
• salt and pepper
• chives, chopped for decoration

Preparation

In a mixing container, mix crème fraîche and fromage blanc.

Form two little balls with the dough and roll them thin.

Place dough on a pizza dish. Spread evenly the crème/fromage blanc mixture. Add onions, then add salmon. adjust with salt and pepper. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 400F, for about 15 minutes or so. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with chives. Serve very hot.

I cannot believe it took me a month to post those. Where did the time go? I miss the days I was able to post more often and I hope that things will slow down soon.

As you know, in the US, everything is big and in France everything is small, (and no that’s not a myth). In my kitchen world, the smaller the better, so imagine the happiness when I found those super tiny silicon madeleine molds in this new boutique in Nancy, last time I was there.

First, I thought I would never use them, so why buy more kitchen gadgets that will fill up my cabinets and nothing else…then, being a bit weak and letting the temptations take over (I am only human), I bought them…and in love ever since.

Madeleines are traditional small cakes originated in Lorraine (my region) and more specifically in Commercy a small town in the Meuse “departement“. It’s a kid’s delight but everyone loves madeleines, they’re simply delicious little bites that go so well with coffee or tea. I found the base recipe (flour/eggs/butter/sugar ratio) in a small book called “Mini Madeleines” from Sandra Mahut which I like a lot. I tried other recipes and quantities but I must admit this recipe always came out perfectly.

To give you an idea of the size of those bites, they’re tiny bigger than a quarter, so very easy to gulp a dozen. You can flavor them with anything you like, green tea, lemon, orange blossom water, etc…I have been using essential oils in cooking lately and I must admit that the aroma of the essence gets addictive. The tangerine flavor enhanced by the essential oil and the final touch of Cointreau make these madeleines like drops of joy.

Ingredients for about 60-70 mini madeleines

• 150 g (or 2/3 cup) flour
• 120 g (or 1/2 cup) softened butter
• 150 g (or 2/3 cup) sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 tbs milk
• 1 tsp baking powder
• zest of 2 tangerines
• a few drops of tangerine essential oil
• 1 tsp cointreau

Preparation

Beat eggs and sugar until the mixture whitens. Gradually, add flour and baking powder. Incorporate soft butter and milk. Add zest, essential oil and cointreau. Mix well. Let the mixture cool in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

Using mini madeleine or regular madeleine molds, fill each hole with 1 tsp of batter.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 420F for about 3-4 minutes, then decrease temperature to 356F and let cook additional 3-6 minutes. If the madeleines cook too fast and brown quickly on top, decrease temperature. When cooked, remove from oven and from molds and let them cool on a rack.