Panna Cotta with passion-fruit

Tags

dessert, grenadilla, panna cotta, pannacotta, passion fruit

Panna cotta is a classic crowd-pleaser. A good panna cotta that has the perfect wobble can be absolute perfection after a big meal. They are elegant and can be made head of time so you have a stress free dinner. What more could you ask for in a dessert?

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 300ml / 1 1/4 cups thick cream
• 130g / 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
• 3 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatin
• 300ml / 1 1/4 cups thick Greek yogurt
• 200ml / 7 oz passion-fruit juice, strained

Preparation:

Place cream, 1/2 cup (110g) of the sugar, and the vanilla pod and seeds in a pan
Cook, stirring, over low heat until sugar dissolves
Place 1/2 cup of the mixture in a small bowl, sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons of the gelatin on top, and place in a pan of simmering water
Stir until gelatin dissolves
Add back to the cream mixture
Cool slightly, whisk in yogurt, then strain
Pour into 4 glass tumblers, leaving space at the top, and refrigerate for 2 hours
Place the passion-fruit juice and the remaining sugar in a saucepan, and sprinkle the remaining gelatin on top
Heat over low heat, gently whisking until the gelatin dissolves
Cool, then strain over top of the panna cotta
Refrigerate for a further 2 hours until set
Enjoy!

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Tarte au Sucre / Sugar tart

Tags

beet sugar, sugar tart, tarte aux sucre, vergeoise

Tarte au sucre from the north of France is not your sugar pie from Quebec. It’s a sugar yeast cake more similar to brioche. It’s light and airy topped with butter and brown sugar, more like a rustic coffee cake.

This tarte au sucre recipe calls for a special brown-colored, free-pouring sugar that you can find in France called cassonade.  Cassonade is very similar to what you may know as raw sugar or turbinado sugar. Raw sugar as well as cassonade are wonderful products, arguably better for you then white sugar because they have not been so processed. If you’ve never tried raw sugar, you may like to check it out as a tasty alternative to heavily processed white sugar. You could also use light brown sugar to make this tart, although the result will be somewhat different (don’t worry, nothing drastic). Do buy a quality brown sugar however.

Did you know that the trade block imposed on the English by Napoleon Bonaparte between 1806 and 1808 stopped the sugar getting through to France from the colonies? To make-do, sugar was extracted from sugar beet, a plant readily found in the North of France. This is why today France is a world leader in sugar beet production. Enjoy this deliciously sweet tart!

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 250 g / 2 cups flour

• 125 g / 8 tablespoons softened butter

• 1 egg

• 100ml /  1/3 cup whole milk

• 10 g /   1 1/2 teaspoons baker’s yeast

• 10 g / 2 teaspoons sugar

• a pinch of salt

For the topping:

• 125 g / 2/3 cup vergeoise blonde sugar

• 1 egg yolk

• 2 tablespoons liquid cream

• 20 g / 1 1/2 tablespoons butter softened

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 200 C/ 400 F
Slightly heat the milk
Add the sugar and dilute the yeast in it
Put the flour in a bowl and make an indentation in the middle
Add the softened butter, egg and salt and knead the pastry well
Form the pastry into a ball
Let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours
When it has doubled its size, roll it out and line a buttered tart tan with it
Mix all the sugar, egg yolk, cream and butter
Spread the vergeoise sugar mixture over the surface of the pastry
Leave about one cm on the sides empty
Put some butter flakes over the tart and put in the oven for 30 minutes .

Ultimate crème brulée

Tags

creme brulee, creme catalan, dessert, fiesta friday

Today I am going to share with you with of my favourite desserts –  Crème brûlée – , also known as burnt cream, crema catalana, or Trinity cream is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel. The earliest known reference to crème brûlée appears in François Massialot’s 1691 cookbook, (that is not a typo, it is actually 1691), so you can see that this has stood the test of time. It really is one of the most simple things you can make. The only catch is that you really do need one special tool—a small butane kitchen torch. But, if you need to justify the purchase (and they’re reasonably priced), just keep in mind that you can also use the torch to light candles and the BBQ.

this picture is from scenicbrew

 

Serves 8

Ingredients:

8 egg yolks
300 ml / 10 oz whole milk
150 g / 5 oz sugar
1 tablespoon orange flower water (I used Grand Marnier instead)
700 ml / 24 oz liquid crème fraîche or heavy cream
brown sugar

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 100 C / 200 F
Place the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl
Whisk gently until the mixture is light and pale but no not allow it to foam
Add the milk, mix for 2 minutes
Add the cream and the orange flower water
Divide the mixture between your ramekins and place in the oven (the depth of cream in each dish must not be greater than 1.5 cm)
Bake for about 30 minutes
Leave to cool at room temperature
When cool place the dishes in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes for them to set completely
Sprinkle with brown sugar (about 1 tablespoon per custard)
Heat with a kitchen blowtorch until the sugar caramelizes evenly
Allow to sit at room temperature for a minute until the caramelized sugar hardens
Bon Appétit!

 

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