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.

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.

Crumbles are quite trendy in France right now, I think anything with an anglo-saxon name is… Last time I was there, I noticed a few American items such as muffins, crumbles, brownies, cookies, (not to mention hamburgers au MacDo, that’s the way the French call McDonalds), but let’s just forget about McDo for now. Funny how McDonlads are all over France but never really made it to Italy that much and I’m really glad about that.

I was reading an article on Le Monde the other day and it seems like there is a new trend in France and real need for gourmet and organic fast food items that are going to compete with McDonalds and I am so glad that they want to change the traditional fast food concept into a better and more nutritious way of eating. Hopefully soon, you could eat sur le pouce (on the thumb) when you don’t have time to eat and still enjoy healthy and tasty food. Many chains are opening with famous chefs being involved in the food preparation. Let’s see what happens on that end…

We have seen the combination of pear and blue cheese before in many recipes….but I really like it and it’s been very popular anytime I served it, so even if this combo is not a top creation, it’s quick and delicious. I used to make tarts with gorgonzola and pear, salads, etc…so why not a crumble? If you don’t like the sweet twist of the pear, you can use spinach, greens, potatoes, etc… It’s a perfect little appetizer, that goes wonderfully with a simple frisée salad on the side.

I used individual ramequins, you can use a larger dish, individual ramequins make a nicer presentation but it’s not necessary. If you are using an indivdual ramequin, half pear would be enough, if not count one pear per person.

This is very easy but more so quick to prepare, so if you have unexpected guests, it would be perfect, you can put it together in less than 10 minutes and enjoy your evening. Now you might not have roquefort cheese waiting for you in the fridge, but any blue cheese would work. I used the British stilton before and it worked fine.

Ingredients for 4

• 4 pears, peeled and sliced
• 4.2 oz (or 120 g) roquefort cheese, cubed
• black pepper

For the crumble topping

• 4 tbs wholewheat flour
• 5 tbs plain bread crumbs
• 1 1/2 tbs hazelnuts, chopped (or pistachios)
• 1 egg
• 2 oz (or 50 g) butter
• a little salt and pepper

Preparation

Place pear slices in a deep dish or ramequins. Add roquefort on top and add pepper.

For the crumble topping, beat egg. In a mixing bowl, add flour, bread crumbs, hazelnuts, egg, soft butter. Mix well.

Place crumble topping on the roquefort and cook for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with additional chopped hazelnuts. Serve hot.