Quatre-Quarts

The quatre-quarts is a classic recipe from the french repertoire. Directly translated into english it means “four-quarters”. It originated in Brittany and its name comes from the fact that it is made up of 4 ingredients in equal quantities, each representing a quarter of the cake.

This is the traditional quatre-quarts recipe but you can then add different flavours etc – lemon, vanilla, apples

Ingredients :

4 eggs
Same weight in flour
Same weight in sugar
Same weight in salted butter
I heaped teaspoon of baking powder

Method :

Crack your eggs into a bowl and weigh them. 4 eggs weighs around 180g – 200g.
Use the weight of your eggs and weigh the exact same amount of flour, butter and sugar.
Melt butter and allow to cool
Beat the eggs with the sugar
In another bowl mix the flour and baking powder
Make a well in the flour and pour in the egg and sugar mixture and beat gently with a whisk
Add the melted butter and mix well
Pour batter into a greased loaf tin and bake for 50 minutes

Coconut Cake

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 :

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

Ham, Cheddar and Mustard Loaf

This is another savoury loaf (or cake as they say in french!) which is perfect as an aperitif or finger food for a buffet. Personally I prefer the ham and olive loaf, the recipe for which you can find here, but this is a good alternative if you are cooking for someone who doesn’t like olives 😉

Ingredients :

150g flour
Even teaspoon of baking powder
3 eggs
1 tablespoon of wholegrain mustard
100ml milk
125ml sunflower
150g ham
75g cheddar
75g grated gruyere (or other hard cheese)
5cl beer (blonde or pale – not sure what the correct term is in english!)
Salt and Pepper

Method :

Pre-heat oven t 180°C
Chop the cheddar and the ham in small cubes
Place in a bowl and mix in the wholegrain mustard and the beer, mix well and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes
In a large bowl beat the eggs with the flour and baking powder
Slowly pour in the warm milk and oil mixing all the time
Add the grated cheese
Add the ham and cheese mixture and mix well
Season with salt and pepper
Pour into a non-greased loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes at 180°C

Lemon Cake

I love lemon flavoured cakes and desserts but I like them to have a really strong lemon flavour so this lemon cake is only going to be the one for you if you really appreciate the tangy fruit too!

The icing is optional as even without, the cake is very lemon-y!

The temperature for the cake is 170°C and it really needs to be no higher, as you can see from the picture my cake got slightly too done on the outside because I wanted to double up and bake it at the same time as a brown bread loaf so everything went in at 180°C – I won’t be making that mistake again!

Ingredients :

175g sugar
120g melted butter
zest of two lemons
3 eggs
150g flour
Juice of two lemons (approx 80g)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

For the icing :

125g icing sugar
25g lemon juice

Method :

Pre-heat oven to 170°C
Melt the butter in the microwave
Mix the butter and sugar together
Add the lemon zest and then the eggs, one by one mixing well after each one
Mix in the flour and baking powder
Pour in the lemon juice and mix well
Pour the mixture into a greased 1lb loaf tin and bake for 40 mins at 170°C (it may need 5 minutes more or less depending on your oven)
When the cake is cooked remove from the tin and wrap immediately in clingfilm while waiting for it to cool, this will keep the cake lovely and moist!
Whisk the icing sugar with the lemon juice
Remove the cake from the clingfilm and place on a grill
Cover the cake with the icing and leave for a few moments for the icing to harden
Eat!

Endives Au Gratin

I was trying to think of a suitable name in english for this dish but couldn’t so I just stuck to the french one. Endives are mostly called chicory in english but are also called endives too. A gratin means when a dish is topped with a golden crust, often using cheese or breadcrumbs by baking or cooking in the oven with an overhead grill.

And guess what? Endives are in season so are really plentiful at the moment – and are great in a winter salad too!

Ingredients :

6 endives
6 slices good quality ham
100g grated gruyère cheese (or any other hard cheese you have)

For the béchamel :

90g butter
45g flour
500ml milk
Salt, Pepper and Nutmeg

Method :

Chop the ends off the endives and remove any discoloured leaves
Steam them or boil them until well cooked
Leave the endives to drain in a colander (to try and remove some of the excess water contained in the endives)
Melt the butter in a saucepan
Add the flour and mix well with a whisk
Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg
Slowly pour in the milk whisking vigorously all the time to avoid lumps and to get a nice smooth texture for your sauce
Once all the milk is added continue to cook over a medium heat mixing all the time for another 5 minutes
Butter an oven dish and place each endive wrapped in a slice of ham on the bottom and pour over the béchamel sauce
Top with grated cheese
Bake in a pre-heated oven for 25 minutes at 180°C and the pop under the grill for another 5 minutes to get it nice and crispy on top

* If you find the endives too hard even after all that cooking, you can also cut them in half lengthways, lay them on the bottom of the dish and simply cover them with the ham slices.

Apple, Walnut and Raisin Loaf

Its another loaf recipe – easy, versatile and perfect for the “goûter” I tend to use my loaf tin more than any other in the kitchen. This recipe is perfect for the autumn season as apples and walnuts are plentiful.

Ingredients :

150g softened butter (I just melt it in the microwave)
150g caster sugar
3 eggs
200g flour
Teaspoon baking powder
Pinch of bread soda
Pinch of salt
50g raisins (pre-soaked in hot water to plump them up!)
60g walnuts
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
200g grated apple (2 apples)

Method :

Pre-heat oven to 180°C
Beat the eggs and sugar
Add the flour, baking powder, bread soda, salt and cinnamon
Mix in softened butter
Add grated apple, raisins and walnuts
Pour into cake tin
Bake in pre-heated oven for 50 minutes at 180°C

Banana Loaf

Well this definitely isn’t a french recipe but one that I have always made when there were a few bananas left in the fruit bowl!

Ingredients :

175g self-raising flour
1/2 teaspoon of bread soda
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
125g sugar
50g butter
1 egg
3 tablespoons of milk
3 bananas
50g walnuts

Method :

Pre-heat oven to 180°C
Sieve flour into a bowl and add sugar, bread soda and cinnamon
Melt butter in microwave and mix into the dry ingredients
Add milk, walnuts, egg and mashed bananas
Mix well
Pour into greased loaf tin
Bake at 180°C for 40 minutes

Pate Brisee

This is a really versatile pastry and it adapts perfectly to both savoury and sweet recipes.

Ingredients :

100g butter
210g flour
5cl water
Pinch of salt

Method :

I use my food mixer for this but you can do it by hand (its just a lot more work!)

Chop butter in cubes
Add flour and salt and mix well until you have a mixture that feels like breadcrumbs
Slowly add the water until you get the texture required
Allow the pastry to ‘relax’ for an hour or two before using

If I am using this for a sweet desert pastry I add a desert-spoon of caster sugar to the mixture. You don’t have to of course, again it depends on your own preferences.