Tarte Grand Mère

[Granny's apple tart from France]

Doesn't this look abosolutely irresistible? This is a dessert that we got in a patisserie in Paris before boarding the TGV train to Valence during the Easter/Semana Santa holidays. I can't remember the name of the place but it was at the corner of Boulevard St Germain and Rue de Bièvre near Maubert Mutualité.

What a treat! I have no idea how they were able to make such a thin and tasty pastry crust. Love the layout of the quartered apples. i found a recipe online, and it's in French. I did not decipher it but if you're interested, I'm sure you can find an excuse to use your French dictionary :) The recipe looks easy enough but I doubt I can recreate such a delightful dessert tart. To be honest, I have yet to hone my pâte à tarte skills. Knowing that a good pastry is the deal-maker, I've been somewhat fearful of this Baking 101 basic. Any brave foodies out there daring to take up the challenge?

[ Tarte Grand Mère ]
Pâte à tarte
Cassonade claire
Apples
Composition pour tartes au sucre
Crème pâtissière

-Faire une pâte à tartes, peser 180 gr.
-Abaisser, mettre en platine, remonter les bords.
-Piquer le fond, étendre une fine couche de crème pâtissière.
-Mettre une couche de cassonade.
-Déposer des rondelles de pommes épluchées et évidées.
-Verser de la composition à tartes au sucre, cuisson.

Talia's Chewy Chocolatey Brownies

[ Dark Chocolate Chips ]

In my last post about the foodie care package Talia in Amsterdam sent me, I failed to emphasize how delectable her chocolate brownie tasted. It had a lingering scent from the almond essence infused that gives the brownie an added notch of oomph. The generous amount of walnuts used highly enhanced both the texture and nutritional value of this treat. I brought some to French class and shared with some of my classmates and all were awed by how tasteful Talia's version of this American confection could be. Truth be told, I tend to shun them at office potlucks or baby showers when I was living in the states because they're usually too sweet. With the hint of almond fragrance, and the controlled volume of sugar, this brownie promises a crowd-pleasing effect.

Talia's Chewy Chocolatey Brownies

Preheat oven to 165 degrees C or 325 degrees F

Combine items in a heatproof bowl:
140g butter
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cups + 2 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt

Place bowl over simmering water in a bain-marie and stir mixture occassionally until completely melted and hot (but never boiling!) Remove from heat and stir in:
2 teaspoons of almond or vanilla extract

Add, mixing well between addtions:
2 cold eggs
1/2 cup flour

Once all is well-combined, beat vigorously for 40 stokes with a wooden spoon.
Stir in 2/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted to center emerges slightly moist.

Slice them up and share them with family/friends or slobber it up guilt-free all by yourself!

Pistachio Lemon Bread

My favorite thing to bake is the Pistachio Lemon Cake. It's actually a cross between a cake and a bread, due to its texture and the absence of too much sugar. From Michigan to Barcelona, it's also been an all-time snatcher at parties. The recipe is actually very simple and it calls for most staples you have in the kitchen. It is also good to the waisteline considering the quarter cup of cooking oil needed.

I used to buy a big bag of shelled pistachios by Planters´ at Sam´s Club for about $7 in the States. Here in Barcelona, they are a little tad expensive. 4€ gets you only a handful. Once while strolling in the African quartier of Marseille, I got some Iranian ones for 15€ per kilo.

Yesterday I made a loaf to bring with me this morning on the roadtrip to Provençe. It's completely scrump! I hope you can have a slice of this lemony pistachio wholesome goodness so here's my Christmas gift to you: a recipe that you can try out on your own. Happy baking and Joyeux Noel!

Pistachio Lemon Bread
1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 beaten egg
1/4 cup cooking oil
2 teaspoon finely shredded lemon peel
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup chopped pistachio nuts
1 tablespoon sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Grease bottom and sides of cake or loaf pan and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture and set aside.
3. In another medium mixing bowl, combine milk, egg, cooking oil, lemon peel, and the 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Add egg mixture all at once ot the dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy.) Fold in pistachios.
4. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.
5. Meanwhile, stir together the 2 tablespoon lemon juice and the 1 tablespoon sugar. While bread is still in pan, bursh lemon-sugar mixture over loaf. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.
6. Remove loaf from pan; cool on wire rack.

Wrap and store overnight before serving. This nut bread taste better when "aged". Store in foil for up to 1 week in the fridge.

(Recipe adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, Nov 1999)

Chocolate and Zucchini Cake

Inspired by a few food blogs I've been perusing, I had the impulse last night to bake a cake with very interesting ingredients (at least to me) since I have all the recipe called for at home. As I ended up droopy-eyed after reading Tintin, I adjourned the grand occasion to the next morning. So before going to French class this morning, I mixed together the ingredients for a Chocolate and Zucchini Cake with Walnuts, and half hour later I got a little fluffy and moist treat, fresh off the oven, for my teacher and the others in class.

Before I spill the recipe, here's a little on the origins of the cake, based on some online research. According to one of the theories, the cake could well be the inventive or rather desperate ideas of Midwesterners where the squash is abundant pretty much year round (near the Great Lakes). There were stories where children grew up leaving bags of zucchinis at neighbors´doorsteps because there were just too much of the vegetable around. There was even something about cars that are normally left unlocked in the Midwest (I can attest to that, having lived in Michigan for eight years, it was really that safe) would be locked during zucchini season lest someone leave a basket of zucchinis in their backseats.

The vegetable is extremely popular in Spain, where I live now. I always have a few in my fridge. Zucchini is known as courgette in the U.K. and France, the diminuitive term for " squash". In Malaysia, where my mum lives, every now and then she could spot some in the market, but it's a variation known as "japanese cucumber" in chinese. My Reader´s Digest Book of Healthy Foods claimed that 100g of zucchini (equivalent to one small zucchini), when gently cooked, provides half the recommended daily dose of vitamin C required for an adult. And voilà, the wholesome goodness of the cake of the day:

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Chopped Walnuts

1 1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa or 4 pieces of dark chocolate grated
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp orange peel
1 cup grated zucchini
1/4 cup milk
1/2 chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F
1. In a big bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and set aside.
2. Beat together butter and sugar with a mixer till smoothly blended. Add egg to mixture and beat well. With a spstir sitr in orange peel and zucchini. Lastly, stir in milk till the mixture is well combined.
3. Make a well in the bowl with the dry ingredients and fold in the wet mixture in the center.
4. Pour the batter into a greased and flour-dusted cake pan. Sprinkle walnuts evenly on top of batter.
5. Bake in oven for 35 minutes or until a wooden pick (or uncooked spaghetti) inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring the cake onto a wire rack to cool thoroughly.

To store in refrigerator, wrap in plastic or foil for up to 3 days.