This translation from French into English does not work. When we say “j’ai un petit creux” that translates literally into “I have a little hole“, but it means “I have a hole in my stomach“, so that “I am a little hungry“.  It sounds really strange in English, you are just wondering where that hole is…but that’s all I could find since I am not proficient in English expressions, so we’ll leave it at the hole we have in our stomach!

I am not a huge cookie fan, and I rarely eat cookies, so I don’t keep anything sweet at home, no cakes, cookies or such things. I would gladly chose a bag of chips which is my “péché mignon” over a slice of cake or a cookie, but once in a couple of months, I do feel like a little sweet thing which is not fruit, then I make those.

They are very tasty and healthy and they can be eaten in the morning since they do have a good quantity of oats and nuts. They’re the soft kind and quite satisfying when you feel like a little treat.

I used whole wheat einkorn flour and dark chocolate but of course, you can make your own substitution according to your tastes.

Ingredients for 10-12 (depending on the size)

• 1/2 cup light agave nectar (or any sweetener of your choice)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste
• 1 small container of apple sauce (about 3 tbs)
• 1/4 coconut flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat einkorn flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3 tbs chopped cashews
• 4 tbs chunks of dark chocolate for baking
• 1 cup + oat flakes

Instructions

In a container, mix agave nectar, vanilla and apple sauce. Mix well. Then add the flours, the baking powder, the nuts, the oats and the chocolate. Mix with tip of the fingers to obtain a homogeneous mixture but do not over mix.

Pre heat oven at 360F. Using a cookie tray, make cookies dividing the dough into small amounts, the equivalent of 1.5 tbs of dough on tray. Sprinkle the top with extra oats.

Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

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.

Quel est le meilleur ami de la banane si ce n’est que le chocolat? What’s banana’s best friend other than chocolate? During my trip to France, I brought back some brick sheets. Here is some more info on those sheets. Like filo dough, they can be used in savory or sweet preparations.

Those rolls are ridiculously quick to prepare. No need to stress out if you have guests for dinner and no idea on the dessert choice. Kids will love it, and adults too. Melting chocolate on warm banana with a touch of coconut and crunchiness of pistachios is a always winning combination. Some flavors like banana and chocolate are made for each other, they’re like soul mate.

These rolls are quite large, so one would be sufficient for one person, or if your dinner was light, two rolls per person would work as well. As far as chocolate goes, you can use milk chocolate too, I personally prefer dark chocolate, its flavor is more intense and it contrasts quite well with the banana.

Ingredients for 6 rolls

• 6 bananas, not too ripe
• 2 tbs agave syrup
• 2 tbs coconut, shredded
• 12 tbs pistachios, chopped
• 6 tsp dark chocolate, broken in small pieces
• 6 brick sheets
• olive oil or butter for brushing

Preparation

Peel and slice the banana in 1 cm slices. Grill them on both sides in a skillet or grill pan. In a mixing container, combine banana, pistachios, agave syrup, coconut. Mix well.

Take one brick sheet and place 2 tbs of the mixture. Add chocolate on top and roll the sheet. Brush with olive oil or butter. Proceed the same way with the rest of the mixture.

Pre heat oven at 390F and bake rolls in the oven for about 15-20 min until they turn golden brown.

This panna cotta recipe has been inspired from this wonderful Italian blog called Giallo Zafferano – It’s filled with delicious and inventive recipes that are mouth-watering. For coffee lovers, this panna cotta will be a real treat. This type of dessert is called “dolce al cucchiaio” meaning spoon dessert, basically a dessert that can be eaten with a spoon.

Panna cotta is a very easy to make dessert, and you don’t need to be a master chef to succeed at it. You just need right quantities of cream, sugar and gelatine sheets…but no specific technique is required, so don’t wait, make one…at least to treat yourself (I always do!). You need strong espresso, or coffee made in a moka machine (those manual Italian coffee makers), I see a lot of those sold in the US, and they’re mainly from the brand Bialetti. So I would say that the trickiest part is to get the right coffee, otherwise your panna cotta will be somehow flavorless.

For the gelatin sheets, you can use gelatin powder as well, so 8 g of gelatin sheets would be about one packet of powder.

Ingredients for 5-6 mini cups

• 5.3 oz (or 150 ml) strong espresso + 2.82 oz (or 80 g) for the chocolate sauce
• 0.28 oz (or 8g) gelatin sheets or 1 pack of gelatin powder
• 1 lb (or 500 ml) heavy cream
• 1 vanilla bean, cut lengthwise, beans scraped
• 1/2 tsp coffee extract (optional)
• 3.5 oz (or 100 g) sugar
• 3.5 oz (or 100 g) semi sweet chocolate

Preparation

Start getting your coffee ready. Soak gelatin sheets in water until they become soft. Bring cream to a boil with sugar and vanilla beans. Remove from heat and add gelatin sheets, mix well then add coffee. Strain mixture in a strainer to remove the small particles. Pour in individual molds. Let them cool, then refrigerate for about 4-5 hours.

Melt chocolate in microwave or in a water bath, add coffee and mix well to obtain a smooth texture but not too liquid.

Remove the panna cotta from molds using a small knife it it sticks to the sides of the mold. You can also place bottom of panna cotta in hot water for a few seconds to help with the removal.

Place in a plate and decorate with chocolate sauce.

Again it’s that time of the year…allergy season. Stuffy nose, runny eyes, and non stop sneezing, at least it’s a sign that warms days are ahead…of course a little energy for cooking related activities especially with the anti histamine pills that make me feel like my head is a giant pumpkin and weight 300 lb. So when you are in that type of mood and need to cook for a dinner, you’ll have to somehow find a menu that does not require too much standing, nor being too focus on too many details. Alors voilà, this is the last course of the menu, a very easy dessert for a chocolate tooth.

Sometimes it’s difficult to differentiate between two similar dishes, those pots de crème have the consistency of pot de crème but have the ingredients of a panna cotta. Panna cotta has no eggs in its mixture unlike pot de crème. Basically panna cotta gets its thickness due to the gelatin sheets or agar agar whereas pot de crème use eggs as thickening agent. So let’s say pot de crème are heavier and creamier therefore cannot be served upside down like panna cotta would thanks to the gelatin. Panna cotta is served with some sort of fruit coulis or flavored crème anglaise and pots de crème are served with whipped cream (as if there is not enough in the mixture!!). I see panna cotta the Italian version of the French pot de crème and I don’t think I have a preference, donc il n’y a pas de jaloux! (no one is jealous).

Ingredients for 7-8 people

• 5.29 oz (or 150 g) semi sweet chocolate
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 10. 14 fl oz (or 300 ml) low fat milk
• 2.46 oz (or 70 g) sugar
• 2 tbs vanilla extract
• 0.35 oz (10 g) agar agar or gelatin sheets

Preparation

Soak gelatin sheets or dissolve agar agar in water.

In a pot, mix milk, cream and sugar, then add chopped chocolate if using chocolate bars or you can also use chocolate chips. Bring the mixture to a boil allowing the chocolate to melt slowly. Let it boil for a few minutes, at that point,  the chocolate will be melted.

Remove from heat and add gelatin sheets (or agar agar) and stir well to let the gelatin dissolve completely in the mixture. Add vanilla extract.

Humidify small cups or ramequins. Pour the chocolate mixture, let it cool and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

]]> http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/04/either-way-its-good-chocolate-pot-de-creme-or-panna-cotta/feed/ 28 http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/03/a-huge-chocolate-craving-double-chocolate-pear-tart/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-huge-chocolate-craving-double-chocolate-pear-tart http://citronetvanille.com/blog/2010/03/a-huge-chocolate-craving-double-chocolate-pear-tart/#comments Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:50:23 +0000 silvia http://www.citronetvanille.com/blog/?p=3237 Une grosse envie de chocolat – Tarte aux poires et double chocolat

Amis du chocolat, Bonjour!!

This is the chocolate addict dessert par excellence! When you have a chocolate craving, this tart is the perfect choice…chocolate crust and chocolate filling, how much more chocolate can you have? I am not a chocoholic, but I do love chocolate, besides what’s better with espresso than a piece of very dark bitter chocolate melting in your mouth?

I got inspired by a recipe I found on a book called “Cuisinez en Souplesse“. I changed the proportions but I kept the concept of the chocolate crust and chocolate filling which is what we call a ganache. A ganache is a mixture of cream, milk, butter and chocolate that is used to fill pastries. If you had more chocolate than cream, then your ganache will be thicker. I like it a little unctuous and slightly creamy rather than harder.

Canned pears can be used for the filling but I prefer to use fresh ingredients. No matter what type of pear you are using, they need to be well drained. If you are using fresh pears, you need to cook them in water with honey and vanilla for about 3 minutes, then drain them and pat them dry carefully to remove excess liquid.

I had guests for dinner, and that was the dessert, I would not make this for just the pleasure of eating chocolate, it’s too dangerous, because no matter how big your slice is, you just cannot resist a second one. Will power is fighting with cocoa and the latter is definitely winning. So yes, chocolate rules!

Ingredients for 6-8 people

For the dough

• 4.58 oz (or 130 g) flour
• 1 oz (or 30 g) unsweetened cocoa
• 2.80 oz (or 80 g) soft butter
• 2.11 oz (or 60 g) sugar
• 1 egg

For the filling

• 7 pear halves
• 1.70 fl oz (or 5 cl) milk
• 7.4 oz (or 210 g) baking chocolate
• 6.76 fl oz (or 2o cl) crème fraîche or heavy cream
• 0.90 oz (or 25 g) butter, diced

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, sugar and soft butter, mix until the dough has obtained a “sandy” texture. Add egg and mix all together. If the dough is too thick add a little water. Make a ball, with dough, wrap with plastic film and place in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

Roll dough on a flat working surface, place it in a round tart mold, cover it with a parchment paper and add some beans on top to prevent it from inflating while baking. Place in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes at 360-370F.

Drain pears. Heat milk and cream in a pot at slow temperature. As soon as it boils, remove from heat. Add butter, chocolate and mix well until obtaining a smooth consistency. Beat the egg and add it to the chocolate mixture.

Remove parchment paper from mold, place pears inside mold and add chocolate mixture. Cook for 10 minutes. Let the tart rest for 20 minutes when removing from the oven. Let it cool before serving.

I doubt that anyone living in the US knows the city of Metz (pronounced Mess, even the majority of French people pronounce the “T” which is incorrect)…I know it because I went to school there and it’s located 50 km from Nancy where I grew up, and very close to the German border.

Basically, Metz and Nancy are rivals in almost everything, from their soccer team, to their opera house, to their architecture, their “green city” title, etc…They’re 50 kilometers apart and yet very different architecturally, each city is very unique, and has a different feel to it. The funny thing is that they hate each other, and Messins (people from Metz) and Nancéiens (people from Nancy) can argument that their city is much better than the other one with a violent passion.

In my opinion and without being biased, Nancy is brighter with its Art Nouveau, and École de Nancy style, Stanislas Square, Vielle ville (old town) etc…Now Metz has pretty architecture as well, very massive but more on the Germanic style, heavier, but very quaint and chic. One thing I love about Metz is their delicious specialty desserts, and this one is an example. Of course, growing up in Nancy I tend to defend my city. Is it wrong? Probably because Metz is somehow linked to memories about the time I was in business school which I hated, so I would on purpose miss the train in the morning, to go back home.

One day, I was researching on the internet the life our King Stanislas to somehow refresh my memory, and almost by miracle I found this wonderful blog called “Du Miel et Du Sel” a poetic cuisine and recipe blog, beautifully written by a talented food journalist and cookbook writer, Marie-Claire Frédéric. She also publishes recipes on Cuisine Actuelle magazines that are sold in the US as well. For the Francophone, her blog is a pure delight to read and her recipes simple, elegant or traditional but always incredibly delicious.

I wanted to feature this dessert that somehow intrigued me, not because it came from Metz, but because it looked so fluffy despite the absence of baking powder. Besides this is an ancient cake with no butter or oil, the fat comes from the cream so you won’t get a greasy heavy cake like our modern ones. This one is incredibly moist, so light and fluffy, you need to try it to believe it. I was doubtful first, but will make this cake again.

I have a friend from Germany coming for dinner tonight, so this gâteau au chocolat is perfect and might remind her of home too!

Merci Marie-Claire, le gâteau etait succulent!

Ingredients for 6-8 people

• 4.40 oz (or 125 g) dark chocolate, cut in small pieces or grated
• 4 eggs
• 5.20 oz (or 150 g) sugar
• 4.40 oz (or 125 g) flour
• 7.05 oz (or 200 g) crème fraîche (no heavy cream, it’s too liquid)
• powdered sugar for decoration

Preparation

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs and sugar for over 5 minutes until they triple volume. They need to become white and fluffy (like a Génoise technique).

Grate chocolate, I chopped finely chocolate chips so they will incorporate to the dough very well.

Add very carefully chocolate to the egg/sugar mixture, fold flour carefuly, then proceed with cream. You want to keep the mixture fluffy and light.

Butter a non-stick deep dish pan. Pour mixture and cook for about 40 minutes in a pre-heated oven at 370F.

Let it cool, remove from pan and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Originally this dough was made to bake chocolate madeleines, then I changed my mind and decided to use some other molds instead. So if you wish, you can use them as madeleines. Those days, I just cannot help changing my mind as far as food is concerned. I don’t know if this has to do with the fact that I am a libra, but it might. I don’t know much about astrology, but I heard that is one trait of the Libra sign.

Nothing very original, since we’ve seen this combination of chocolate and coconut thousands of times, but this particular mixture only has egg whites and no yolks and no baking powder so they’re quite light.

I am quite a contradictory person, I don’t eat sweets, I don’t care for sweets but I cannot help baking them. I don’t eat them and give them away. Thinking about it, it’s more of an impulsive behavior. Oh well, better baking than stealing!

I bought so many of those silicon molds when I was in France that I filled my kitchen with them. I love those little round ones, they’re so perfect for large dinner celebration, because they have 20-36 individual molds per tray. So you can bake a lot at once, and serve them with fruit salad at the end of the meal. They’ve been so popular in my house, that I adore baking them…even if I don’t really eat them.

If you look at the size of the raspberry, you’ll realize that the size of those little “corks” is quite small and two would fit in one’s mouth without any problems.

Ingredients for about 20 corks

• 2.11 oz (or 60 g) butter, melted
• 2. 11 oz (or 60 g) bittersweet chocolate
• 1.41 oz (or 40 g) white flour
• 0.88 oz (or 25 g) almond powder
• 3 tbs coconut flakes
• 3 tbs coconut milk
• 1.58 oz (or 45 g) powdered sugar
• 3 egg whites
• 1 tsp honey
• 20 raspberries for decoration

Preparation

Melt chocolate and butter at very slow temperature, when it’s all melted add honey. In a mixing container, mix flour, almond powder, coconut powder and sugar all together. Add melted chocolate and butter mixture. Mix well and add coconut milk. At this point, you should have a smooth consistency and not liquid.

Beat egg whites to a stiff consistency and add to the mixture.

Butter small individual molds such as madeleines or mini muffin molds, and add batter. Cook in a pre-heated oven at about 360-370F for about 15-20 minutes, until the bouchons have risen and cooked all the way through.

Let them cool down, decorate with some coconut flakes, and raspberries.

Don’t we all love crêpes? They’ re so easy to make and always a great pleasure to share with friends or just when you have a crêpe craving. You can flavor the dough and enhance them with fruits, jams, sugar, etc… I was stopped at the traffic light this morning just in front of Ti’Couz which is a popular crêperie Bretonne where they serve traditional galettes bretonnes made with buckwheat flour. This restaurant is packed from Monday through Sunday and most of the time, there is a line out the door since they don’t take reservations. If you ever end up in San Francisco one of those days, you might want to check it out, besides it’s not an expensive place.

So here we go again, I stop in front of this restaurant for 3 minutes, and I started to have a craving for crêpes…those days anything gives me a craving, I don’t know if this is a condition, but there should be a name for it.

Usually crêpes are served with cider. We drink some lightly alcoholic dry cider that is different from what you get in the US and not as sweet. It’s the perfect drink combination with crêpes and you can just smell the wonderful scents of Normandy and Britanny.

In France, everyone knows how to make crêpes but everyone has its own trick on how to make a perfect and light batter. Some people add beer to make them “airy”. I never quite managed to make them jump out of the pan, up in the air, and back in the pan…lacking practice.

What is better than pears and chocolate? maybe banana and chocolate…well if you want you can substitute pears with banana, it should work as well.

I caramelized the pears and flamed them with rum…chocolate, pears and rum go wonderfully together. Then the final touch is the whipped cream flavored with almond extract that gives this crêpe dessert a little twist. You can serve it with vanilla ice cream as well.

Ingredients for about 5-6 crêpes

For the crêpes

• 2.47 oz (or 70 g) flour
• 0.52 oz (or 15 g) sugar
• 1 egg
• 5 fl oz (or 15 cl) milk
• 1 tbs unsweetened cocoa

For the pear filling

• 3 bartlett pears
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 tbs butter
• vanilla powder
• 1.5 tbs dark rum

For the almond whipped cream

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp almond extract

Instructions

For the crêpes

In a mixing container, mix flour with egg and sugar then gradually add milk. Mix well to obtain a smooth consistency. Add cocoa powder. Mix well to obtain a smooth batter. Let it rest for one hour.

In the meantime, prepare the whipped cream. Add sugar and almond extract to the cream and whip it. Place in the refrigerator while the crêpes get ready.

Make crepes using a non stick pan. Slightly butter the surface of the pan and pour evenly batter to make a thin crêpe. Turn on the other side.

For the filling

Peel the pears and slice them into thin slices (about 5 mm slices). Melt butter in a non-stick pan, add pear slices and brown them on all sides, then sprinkle with sugar. Let them caramelized. Pour rum and flame.

Fill half of each crêpe with pears, fold the other half on top. Then fold in quarters. Place some whipped cream on top and serve.

Lately I have been using coconut milk in many dishes, and I think it can be a nice substitute to regular milk especially in desserts. I know very few people who don’t like chocolate, personally I am a vanilla person, but even though I love chocolate.

I use to make a fabulous chocolate cake when I was a child, with almonds and no baking powder and I really don’t remember what the exact ingredients were, all I remember is anytime I made this cake, if friends came to visit my parents, they would devour it in a few minutes. It was rich, flavorful but not too over whealming in terms of chocolate flavor. I tend to add less sugar than most of you probably would, so taste the batter and if it seems to low in sugar, add extra to your liking.

I tried to reproduce from memory that particular cake, I added less butter and coconut milk, and it is not exactly the same, it is still delicious.

It’s funny how childhood memories of some dishes, smells, flavors remain so engrained in one’s mind. Some memories fade away with time, I tend to forget events that seemed to be important when it happened, but for some reason, I always remember the great food that I came accross.

Ingredients for 8

• 250 g flour
• 5 tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 eggs
• 150 g sugar
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 10 tbs melted butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 tbs sliced almonds
• 1/2 tsp vanilla powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda

Preparation

In a mixing bowl, add eggs and sugar. Mix well. Add butter (previously melted) and coconut milk, then cocoa powder. Mix well to produce a smooth mixture. Add vanilla extract and powder. Mix well, then add flour, mix again. Add almonds, baking powder and baking soda.

Butter a cake dish, add flour to coat all sides of the dish. 

Pour mixture in buttered dish and cook in a pre-heated oven at 37-365F F for about 1 hour. 

Let cool and serve.