myfrenchtable

A table !!!

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French Pear & Almond Tart

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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!

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Gaufres de Liège or Belgian Liège Waffles

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Ok so first things first. This isn’t a french recipe, its Belgian and comes from the Belgian town of Liège. Anyone who has visited Belgium will know that it’s not just famous for its beer and “moules-frites” (mussels and chips) but also for its unbelievably delicious waffles or gaufres ! … [read more]

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Apricot Cake

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Or cake aux abricots in french! Apricots are plentiful this time of year and this is an easy way to use them to make a cake thats perfect as an afternoon snack.

Ingredients :

  • 6 ripe apricots
  • 3 large eggs
  • 130g softened butter
  • 125g sugar
  • 1 sachet vanilla sugar
  • 250g flour (I replaced half the flour with cornflour as this gives a lighter texture to the cake but just using flour is good too!)
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 large pinch of cinnamon

 

Method :

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C
  2. Wash and dry the apricots, remove the stone and chop
  3. Sieve the flour and the baking powder together
  4. Use a fork to mash the softened butter until you get a beurre pommade*
  5. Mix in the sugar, the vanilla sugar and the cinammon
  6. Add in each egg separately, mixing well each time
  7. Fold in the flour
  8. Add in the chopped apricots
  9. Bake in oven for 45 minutes (keep an eye on the cake, it might take less time)

 

*A beurre pommade is butter that has been let come to room temperature and then mixed with a fork or spoon until you get a spreadable mixture

 

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Madeleines

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Madeleines are well known small sponge cakes, famous for their little ‘bump’ and shell like shape. They originated in the town of Commercy in the Lorraine region in north-eastern France and were made for the King of Lorraine, Stanislas, in 1755 by a young servant girl whose name was, évidemment, Madeleine –  which is why the King declared they would be known from then on as Madeleines de Commercy.

Madeleines are often associated with Marcel Proust who wrote about them and the childhood memories evoked by eating one.

Ingredients :

  • 2 eggs
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 100g flour
  • 20g ground almonds
  • 100g sugar
  • 125g salted butter
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder (approximately 6g)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence extract

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

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Flaugnarde aux Pommes

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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
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Galette des Rois

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January wouldn’t be January in France without a Galette des Rois or two (or ten!). They are eaten throughout the month of January, until they finally disappear once February arrives only to resurface again near the end of December the following year.

A lof of people believe they are called the kings cake to celebrate the Wise Kings arrival at the stable on January 6th but apparently the actual reason goes back to a roman celebration. At the time, to celebrate the winter solstice, families would have a ‘raffle’ to pick a king who would be King of the household for the day. Even the servants could take part and if they won, could end up bossing their employer around for the day.

The Galette des Rois below with puff pastry and almond filling is common all over the north of France, but in the south of France their ‘galette’ is a completely different cake made with a ring of brioche and candied fruit.

The ‘fève’ is a small trinket (the french word fève actually means a broad bean which is what used to be put in the cake), usually a small porcelain figurine. We’ve had minions and star wars characters this year 🙂

In France the tradition is that the youngest member of the household goes under the kitchen table while the ‘galette’ is being cut and calls out the names of those present as each slice is served up. Whoever finds the fève is the king – or queen!

Ingredients :

  • 400g ready-made puff pastry (of course you can make your own but it’s the only pastry I don’t make myself!)
  • 100 g ground almonds
  • 75 g caster sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 50g of softened butter
  • A few drops of almond essence
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 “fève” !

Method :

  1. Roll out half the pastry into a circle and prick with a fork
  2. In a bowl mix all the ingredients together – the ground almonds, sugar, softened butter, egg and almond essence
  3. Spread the mixture over the pastry and place the fève on it
  4. Brush the edges of the pastry with water, then cover with the second half of the pastry, pressing the edges to seal
  5. Using a fork or knife to create a design on top
  6. Brush with the beaten egg yolk
  7. Bake in oven for 30 minutes until nice and golden
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