This pear and almond tart or amandine aux poires is also known as Tarte Bourdaloue and was created around 1850 by a Parisian patissier on Rue Bourdaloue – hence the name!  It can be made with fresh pears (ideally poached first) or you can use tinned pears which work perfectly.

Ingredients :

• 1 shortbread pastry
• 100g softened butter
• 100g sugar
• 100g ground almonds
• 2 eggs
• A few drops of almond essence
• Sliced almonds (optional)
• Apricot jelly to glaze*

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 200°C
2. Roll out chilled dough and line tin, place in freezer for 15 minutes
3. Bake the pastry for 10 minutes a 200°C, once removed from the oven lower the temperature to 180°C
4. Cream the butter and sugar
5. Add eggs and almond essence and mix well
6. Mix in the ground almonds
7. Spread the mixture evenly over the pastry base
8. Slice the pear halves in thin slices, place them on the almond mixture
9. Sprinkle the tart with almond slices
10. Bake in oven for 30 minutes

*Glaze : You can heat a few spoons of apricot jelly and brush the top of your tart once it has cooled down to give it a nice shiny look!

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 210°C
2. Melt the butter in a pan until it browns slightly (this gives a nutty flavour to your madeleines and is known as a ‘beurre-noisette’ in french which translates as ‘hazelnut-butter’)
3. Mix the flour with the baking powder and the ground almonds
4. In a bowl gently beat the eggs with the sugar and the vanilla essence
5. Sieve in the mix of flour, baking powder and ground almonds and mix until the texture is smooth
6. Add in the cooled melted butter and mix well
7. Ideally if you have the time leave the batter in the fridge for 2 hours – this will help them rise and give the traditional ‘bump’ shape!
8. Grease the madeleine pan (this isn’t necessary if you are using silicon pans) and fill each shell to about 2/3
9. Bake in oven at 210°C for 6-8 minutes

*Other possible flavours for your madeleines : the zest of a small lemon or a few drops of orange blossom water

Flaugnarde  or flognarde is a baked French dessert with fruit and a  thick flan-like batter hailing from the Limousin and Auvergne region in France. It is similar to a clafoutis, which is made with black cherries whereas a flaugnarde is made with apples, peaches, pears, plums, prunes etc. It can be served either warm or cold.

Ingredients :

• 100g flour
• 100g sugar
• 1 table spoon oil
• 300ml milk
• 200ml liquid cream (or liquid crème fraîche)
• 5 eggs
• 6 apples
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch of salt

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Peel and core the apples and slice into circles
3. Mix everything together in a bowl in the following order : flour, sugar, oil, milk, cream, salt
4. Beat eggs well and add to mixture
5. Butter a round oven dish and spread the apple slices around evenly
6. Pour the batter over the apples
7. Bake in oven for 45 minutes at 180°C

Chocolate and pears go so well together, the dark chocolate and sweet moist pears make a lovely combination. I have already posted a pear and chocolate loaf , ideal with afternoon tea, this is more of a dessert which is perfect served with a scoop of ice-cream.

At this time of the year you can use fresh pears, making sure they are nice and ripe. You can always use a tin of pears too though!

Ingredients :

• 200 g dark chocolat (70%)
• 150 g butter
• 120 g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 130 g self-raising flour
• 4 pears

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Melt the butter and chocolat together in a bain-marie (put ingredients in bowl and place bowl in saucepan of water over a low heat)
3. Mix in the sugar
4. Separate the eggs into whites and yolks and add the yolks to the mixture
5. Fold in the flour
6. Beat the egg whites (with a pinch of salt) until stiff and gently fold them into the rest of the ingredients
7. Peel and core pears and slice in half
8. Grease and flour tin, place the pear halves on the bottom and cover with chocolate cake mixture
9. Bake in oven at 180°C for 40 minutes
10. Remove from tin immediately and place on rack to cool

Chocolate Pear Cake

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A biscuit roulé (literally meaning rolled biscuit) is very similar to a swiss roll and particularly popular at this time of year as a base for a christmas log cake, called a bûche de Noel in french.

The actual base for the cake is called a ‘genoise’ which is a sponge cake that uses whole eggs and is a basic building block of much French patisserie and is used for making several different types of cake.

Ingredients :

• 4 eggs
• 150 g caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar
• 125g self-raising flour
• 1 pinch of salt
• Jam or nutella

Method :

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C
2. Beat the eggs, sugar (caster sugar and vanilla sugar) and the salt well with an electric mixer until pale, light and fluffy
3. Fold in the flour gently
4. Pour the mixture onto an oven tray that you have lined with greaseproof paper
5. Bake for 12 minutes
6. Prepare a clean, damp tea-towel and place it on top of the oven tray and flip it over so that your cake is on the damp tea-towel
7. Roll the cake with the tea-towel and leave to cool
8. When the cake is cold gently unroll and spread with jam or nutella, re-roll it and sprinkle with a bit of icing sugar et voilà!

*Make sure to roll the cake when it is just out of the oven and still pliable

*You can make a chocolate base by substituting 25g of cocoa for 25g of flour

Another loaf cake – this one is perfect for gouter but is also a nice breakfast cake!

Ingredients :

• 125g butter
• 100g sugar
• 3 eggs
• Zest and juice of two oranges
• 125g self-raising flour
• Icing sugar

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Cream the butter and half the sugar (50g) together
3. Separate the egg whites and yolks
4. Add the egg yolks, zest from two oranges and the juice of one orange to the butter and sugar and mix well
5. Slowly mix in the sieved flour
6. Brat the egg whites with the remaining half of the sugar (50g) until stiff
7. Gently mix the egg whites into the cake batter
8. Pour into a greased loaf tin and bake for 30 minutes in pre-heated oven at 180°C
9. Use the juice of the second orange to make a glaçage, mixing it with icing sugar until you get a sweet slightly thick sirop
10. Place loaf on cooling tray and, while it is still warm, pour the orange glaçage over the cake

Yet another loaf cake – my most used tin in the kitchen! Pears are in season at the moment, for this recipe just make sure they are nice and soft before using.

Ingredients :

• 3 pears
• 150g self-raising flour
• 80g sugar
• 3 eggs
• 90g butter (melted)
• 50 g dark chocolate

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Mix the flour, sugar, eggs and melted butter together
3. Peel and chop pears in small cubes
4. Break the chocolate into small pieces (or use ready made chocolate chips)
5. Add the pear and chocolate into the cake mixture and pour into loaf tin
6. Sprinkle some sliced almonds and chocolate on top of the cake
7. Bake in oven for 40-45 minutes at 180°C

This is another traditional french cake that is very popular at goûter time and is a real favourite with french kids.

Ingredients :

• 125g butter
• 200g self-raising flour
• 3 eggs
• 6 tablespoons of milk
• 200g sugar
• Vanilla essence
• 25g cocoa powder

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Cream the butter and the sugar together
3. Add the eggs, milk and flour and mix well
4. Separate the mixture in two halves
5. Add a few drops of vanilla essence to one half
6. Add the 25g of drinking chocolate to the other
7. Grease and flour your loaf tin
8. Pour in some of the vanilla mixture, followed by the chocolate mixture and repeat
9. Bake in pre-heated oven for 40 minutes

Financiers are a french pâtisserie made with ground almonds.  In 1890 the pâtissier Lasne re-visited an old recipe from the 17th century for a small oval cake called visitandines (called after the religious order of sisters who created the cake), using the same ingredients but changing the shape. As his shop was situated in the financial district in Paris and almost all his clients worked there, he called his cake a “financier” and gave it the shape of a gold bar.

Financiers are light and spongey and are a perfect accompaniment for afternoon tea. I have added raspberries to the recipe but you can make them without or juggle around with other flavours!

They are traditionally rectangular shape but if you don’t have this type of tin you can use a mini-muffin tin or a small bun tin instead.

Ingredients :

• 140g icing sugar
• 125g ground almonds
• 50g flour
• 150g butter (beurre noisette)
• 3 egg whites
• Raspberries
• Salt

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Make a “beurre noisette” by melting the butter over a low heat until it turns golden brown (and gives off a nutty aroma hence the name) and leave to cool
3. In a bowl mix the sugar, flour, ground almonds and a pinch of salt
4. Add a pinch of salt to the egg whites and beat to a soft peak
5. Fold the egg whites into the dry ingredients
6. Mix in the cooled, melted butter
7. Spoon the mixture into the financier tin and place 2 or 3 raspberries on top, pressing down slightly
8. Bake in oven for 15 minutes

Another simple, easy to make cake that is a tried and tested goûter time staple here 🙂

Ingredients :

• 4 eggs
• 180g sugar
• 120g flour
• 150g salted butter melted (if you use unsalted add a good pinch of salt to the ingredients)
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 100g grated coconut

Method :

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
2. Beat the eggs with the sugar
3. Add the other flour, baking powder and melted butter and mix well with a whisk
4. Mix in the coconut
5. Pour into greased cake tin and bake in oven for 25-30 minutes