But no meal is complete without dessert, right? I was originally planning some sort of tiramisu since I had a some Marscapone cheese that needed to be used…but this was a French dinner not an Italian one. Nico suggested a Baba au Rhum, and I decided to make it and serve it with a Marscapone Whipped Cream.
Category: Desserts
Of Crème Brûlée and Cognac
Is there a more amazing combination? I am have had a hard time finding one. I have become really interested in cognac of late. I have been doing a lot of reading and tasting different types. One of my favorite things in the world is when my dad comes over for an evening of cognac and philosophical conversations.
Perfect Cheese Plate
In America, the cheese course is something that happens at the beginning of the meal, as an appetizer of sorts. However, in France, the cheese course is a bridge between the main dishes and the dessert, in fact, it is frequently served in place of dessert. I really wanted to celebrate that idea on my birthday (and it meant I didn’t have to cook quite as much!).
Vanilla Cake with Raspberry Filling and Cream Cheese Frosting
I have been making this cake in one format or another for years now. I keep several jars raspberry jam in stock at all times! In fact, you can find the recipe for my Raspberry Jam here. The raspberry jam soaks into the air bubbles in my dense vanilla sour cream cake and saturates it with even more flavor. Because of this, I prefer to make my cream cheese frosting a bit under-sweetened, so you are not overloaded with sugar. I am an advocate of thin layers of cake, so I slice my cake layers into 1/2 inch slices, so each round is always a 4 layer cake….it brings me raspberry flavored joy! Each slice is the best slice if you don’t have to look for one with enough filling and frosting! Don’t freak out, remember, I said under-sweetened. Better yet, the longer the cake sits in the fridge, the more time the layers have to meld…and the more delicious it i
Marscapone Custard Tart
Some recipes are planned, others are the result of accidents…and this was a beautiful accident. I was preparing for my book launch and kneading bread as my egg whites for my tiramisu were whipping up. I got them to that beautiful firm peak, and proceeded to mix my mascarpone egg yolk mixture in…and I figured, I would just let my KitchenAid mix them together on the lowest setting. Wrong! I always say fold egg whites in by hand, and I didn’t follow my own advice! As the two mixed, the egg whites fell and turned into a delicious but liquidy mess that would never work for tiramisu.
Tiramisu
Everyone loves Tiramisu! I have never met anyone who doesn’t. Adults love the sophisticated mixture of cream and coffee. Kids love their first opportunity to consume some booze. What can go wrong? Tiramisu is not hard to make, you don’t even need to bake. However, I strongly discourage using white sponge cake or pre-made “Tiramisu filling” that is sold in grocery stores. That is not Tiramisu, that is closer to a trifle. The one thing you should be careful with is blending the egg yolks into the mascarpone mixture. I let my KitchenAid do it as I was kneading some baguette dough the other night, and my egg whites turned back to liquid! However, I found a way to bake that into an incredibly delicious “mascarpone cheesecake”! Stay tuned for the brand new recipe soon!
Sweet Potato Batatada
This dessert has the best name! Batatada! It is so much fun to say, and it is a delicious and moist cake that can be made almost a week in advance. It keeps so well! The sweet potato and coconut give the cake a lot of nuance and moisture, and 12 egg whites lighten the cake and prevent it from feeling dense light you might expect from a vegetable based cake (this is no carrot cake….no offence to carrot cakes, which I also love!) It can be presented as is, but I wanted to elevate my Batatada with a red berry sauce. Simply take some fresh berries and cook for 10 minutes with a bit of lemon and as much sugar as you like.
Crème Brûlée
Nico loves Crème Brûlée, and I love baking him delicious things! I just refilled my butane torch and have been itching to see if my Crème Brûlée would be improved by using one of the vanilla beans I brought back from Hawaii instead of the vanilla extract I was using previously.
OMG! It. Was. Amazing! Totally worth using a vanilla bean, and you can make vanilla extract out of once used beans by submerging them in vodka for a month or so! If you don’t have vanilla beans, don’t worry, replace the bean with 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
Chez Nous 