desserts recipes
The secret to their "domed" shape is not just due to using a mini ice-cream scoop. The cookie dough must be chilled and then baked in a very hot oven (just at the beginning) so that they retain their shapes and don’t flatten and spread out ! And the rest is easy : 1 cup of flour and ½ cup of everything else and 1 egg,...
It’s a double-post weekend with 2 recipes so you can make a very autumnal mixed roasted nuts & milk caramel pie, right after reading this ! Shortcrust pastry can be prepared following the simplest equation : 2 to 1 or twice as much flour as butter as opposed to puff-pastry that is 1 to 1 or equal amounts of butter to flour, and...
That sneaky and fickle and ever so demanding FILO / PHYLLO, always letting itself dry out in under 10-15 minutes, and crumbling to pieces if exposed to the hot summer air and if not meticulously covered up with another sheet of baking paper and also a damp cloth, when you unroll it and lay it out. And sometimes it’s just ripped here and...
The “NEW & IMPROVED” 2.0 VERSION … or just a better and more intense version of my rolled baklava fingers (renamed as “cigars” here) ! Why ? Because I realized that regular baklava that is usually prepared as a flat & multi-layered dish, and then sliced in squares and served was almost always more...
That CHRISTMAS SPIRIT ? How can we re-kindle that ? Sometimes that ‘holiday thought’ is just hanging around (or hiding) in the back of your mind and maybe in your heart, (because you still have one, you know, even when you’re too busy to remember). If you’re like most people, the holiday spirit is most often directly...
It’s a treat, like a candy bar, but more sophisticated than that. What is often called a «millionnaire» shortbread is now a «billionnaire» shortbread (perhaps because of inflation and all that) but moreso because of our evolving palates and taste expectations. We always want more. Like when we were kids and...
… with a mix of stone fruits like bright orange APRICOTS, FLAT VINE PEACHES, WHITE NECTARINES and YELLOW PEACHES (but you could add some PLUMS too), all bathing and lolling around in their sweetened syrupy juices, topped by a nutty cake that rises as it bakes on top, almost floating (until it cools and settles down again) and then some...
RAVANI or REVANI or both ?! And why not RAEVANI then ?! This is one of those old-fashioned and traditional Greek and Turkish cakes, that has practically disappeared from circulation and almost stopped gracing our tables for decades. Why ? Because creamier and more complicated, layered and somewhat more sophisticated creations took their place. It...
Are they chocolate MI-CUIT (which means half-baked) cakes ? Chocolate LAVA or MOLTEN cakes (as we like to say in North America) ? Or GATEAUX AU COEUR COULANT (which means cakes with a runny & flowing center) ? Chocolate MOELLEUX (which means soft & tender) cakes ? But they’re not really chocolate FONDANT (which means quite...
It’s as easy as 1-2-3, or to be more precise 3-2-1. It’s all MATH, 3 PARTS prepared (boiled & peeled) CHESTNUTS (from a jar or a can) + 2 PARTS SUGAR + 1 PART WATER or 1 PART CHESTNUTS + 1 PART CHESTNUT SYRUP (instead of the sugar & water) … I’ve decided to take it easier this year by using canned or jarred...
What do you get when you combine mixed roasted nuts and a milk caramel filling made with sweetened condensed milk and some eggs, and you place it inside a sweet shortcrust pastry pie shell ? You get this amazing autumn tart (or pie) ! You have the recipe & instructions for the sweet shortcrust pastry pie-shell because I posted that too...
It’s an early morning reward, a breakfast pastry just for you. You’ve gotten up and readied yourself to brave the new day. It’s a sweetened milk & egg dish in its own crispy carrying case, still slightly warm and ever-so-gently spiced, to rock your heart and soul and body as you walk yourself to work or maybe a stroll...
They’re ADDICTIVE and addiction is quite BAD, so just listen up : All you folks who are DRINKING & SMOKING TOO MUCH & EATING BADLY & MISBEHAVING ALL THE TIME & GOD-KNOWS-WHAT-ELSE, please don’t make these ! They’re too deliciously sweet, salty, crunchy, spongy, creamy, gooey & decadent … Okay, go...
TICK-TOCK because I’m running late ! TICK-TOCK because the beauty of these strawberries (pretending to be roses) is fleeting and with a very short lifespan, before just re-melting and disappearing ! I love their “ephemeral” aspect, almost like real roses fading (but at super fast-forward) … but I hope your...
It’s nevery easy trying to describe a new kind of autumnal THANKSGIVING celebratory recipe or any newer kind of thing, for that matter. The title could have actually been longer like “butter, sugar and apple juice poached apples, stuffed with dried fruits and nuts and then crusted (or coated) in crushed spiced cookies and then...