Abricotines

I got this recipe from a book that I bought without even reading it first. It was all wrapped at the bookstore but the name on the cover - Ladurée - was enough to make me buy it.

Today, I'm making Abricotines (or Apricotines if you prefer). The original recipe uses apricot jam but I reckon it must be even better with raspberry jam. Btw, you'll notice that I've broken the 'three recipes a week using the same ingredient' rule (I'm such a rebel!).

Anyway, back to our Abricotines.

To make 30 little cakes you need:

170g of icing sugar

215g of ground almonds

35g of plain flour

6 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla extract

40g of granulated sugar

85g of flaked almonds

100g of jam (apricot, raspberry, cherry...whatever tickles your fancy!)

1. In a bowl, combine together the sifted icing sugar, ground almonds and flour.
2. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites to a foam. Add the vanilla extract and granulated sugar and continue whisking until firm.

3. Add the flour mixture to the egg whites and gently fold together until homogeneous.

4. Preheat the oven to 170°C. Put the batter in a piping bag fitted with a plain nostril. On a baking tray lined with baking parchment, pipe 2 cm-diameter circles. Sprinkle them with flaked almonds and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

5. When cooked, take out of the oven. Once cooled, place a bit of jam on half the shells and top each with the remaining shells. Ta-dah...!

Ricotta and lemon cakes

I'm back! After a few weeks off, let's start where we left off, with lemons. In this recipe, the sharpness of the lemon is balanced by the richness of the ricotta. Some would say ricotta is a bit boring but I absolutely adore it (one of my fondest food memories is a pizza ricotta in Padua, I still have tears of joy thinking about it). Anyway, let's get back to those little cakes. As always, very simple to make and a guaranteed success.

To make 6 little cakes (or one big one) you need:

220g of self-raising flour
180g of unsalted butter
210g of sugar
4 eggs
350g of ricotta
200ml of single cream
185ml of lemon juice
1 tps of lemon zest
Icing sugar (for dusting)

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease six little round moulds. 
2. In a bowl, mix together the flour, butter and half the sugar. Add one egg.
3. Place the mixture at the bottom of each mould and bake for 15 minutes. When baked, take out of the oven and lower the temperature to 150°C.
4. Mix together the ricotta, cream, lemon juice, lemon zest, the rest of the sugar and the three remaining eggs. Pour the mixture onto your baked bases and bake for another 30 minutes. Let the cakes cool for at least two hours in the fridge before serving. When ready, dust with icing sugar et voilà!

                                         
 

Lemon curd and raspberry cushions

Let's move on to lemons for the next three recipes. I called these little cakes 'cushions'  but they're halfway between madeleines and mini sponge cakes. In France, you could buy tiny madeleines filled with either chocolate, strawberry or apricot jam and this recipe reminds me a bit of them.
I'm also trying something new with the pictures, let see whether it'll work!

To make 12 cushions you need:

150 g of self-raising white flour
100 g of sugar
3 eggs
100 g of melted butter
Grated zest of one unwaxed lemon
60 g of lemon curd
A dozen frozen raspberries

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a muffin tray (or a madeleine tray if you have one) with butter and then flour.
2. Beat together the eggs and sugar until thick and pale. Add the flour to the mixture, then the cooled melted butter and lemon zest. Leave it to rest in the fridge for at least a couple of hours, or overnight.
3. When ready, fill each of the moulds in the tray about 2/3 full and place a raspberry in the middle of each cushion/muffin/madeleine. Cook for 10-12 minutes until golden and baked through. Leave the cushions to cool in the moulds.
4. Take them out of the moulds when cooled and, with a pipping bag, squirt a dollop of lemon curd into the centre of each cushion. Finally, the wait is over and you can tuck into them straight away!

Chococo tartlets

Chocolate and coconut, what a great combination! In this recipe, the chocolate is in the pastry while the coconut has been made into a mousse. Inspired by one of my longest serving cookery books,'Recettes Fraicheur', this recipe makes four tartlets.

For the pastry you need:

75 g of plain flour
1 tbsp of cocoa powder
50 g of soft butter
2 yolks
30 g of caster sugar
A pinch of salt
Half a tsp of vanilla extract

For the coconut mousse you need:

25 g of shredded coconut
15 cl of whipping cream
15 cl of coconut milk
1 tsp of vege-gel
50 g of sugar
1 yolk

1. Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, soft butter, 2 yolks, salt and vanilla extract. Knead the mixture for a few minutes until you get a nice soft dough. Roll it into a ball and place it in the fridge for half an hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Take the dough out of the fridge, divide it into four, roll out to about 3mm thickness and place it into greased tartlet moulds. With a fork, prick the dough then put tin foil on top and weigh down with baking beans. Cook for 10 minutes then lower the oven temperature to 180°C and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes until firm. Take the tartlets out of the oven and leave to cool.
3. Whip the cream until firm and thick. In a saucepan, mix the gelatine together with one tablespoon of water then place on a low heat and warm it through for 2 minutes.
4. In a separate pan, heat together the yolks, sugar and coconut milk. Let them simmer for a few minutes and then cool. Add the shredded coconut, gelatine and whipped cream to the mixture.
5. Pour the coconut mousse into the four tarlets moulds and leave them to set in the fridge for a couple of hours. Before serving, feel free to use a bit more shredded coconut and grated dark chocolate or cocoa powder to decorate your tartlets.

Coconut and raspberry dominos

This recipe is inspired by a little French cookery book titled 'Desserts'. Raspberries are not in season at the moment but frozen raspberries work just as well. I particularly like these little cakes, with the sweetness of the coconut balancing the acidity of the fruit.

To make 12 dominos you need:

140 g of flour
1 tbsp of ground almond
250 g of sugar
125 g of butter
A pinch of baking powder
2 eggs
Half a teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 tsp of lemon juice
150 g of frozen raspberries
45 g of coconut
A little icing sugar
Chocolate balls for decoration

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a small rectangular dish with butter then line it with baking parchment.
2. Mix together 110 g of flour, the ground almond and 60 g of sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter and work the mixture until you get a nice soft dough. Place this dough at the bottom of your rectangular dish and cook for 20 minutes. Once golden, take the pastry out of the oven and lower the temperature to 150°C.
3. In a bowl, beat together the eggs, vanilla extract and the rest of the sugar with an electric whisk for 4 minutes. Then add the baking powder and the rest of the flour. Mix in the the lemon juice, the raspberries and the coconut and spread the mixture onto your pastry.
4. Bake for 30 minutes. Leave the cake to rest in its dish before dusting it with icing sugar and cutting it into 12 pieces. And if you have the time (and don't mind the hassle), you can place little chocolate balls on top to make them look like dominos.

Coconut truffles

This week, it's all about coconut. As a child, I was not the biggest fan but over the years, I've learnt to really enjoy its sweet and versatile flavour. For the first of the three coconut-based recipes, I've chosen something über simple to make. Only three ingredients are required and it only takes a few minutes to make (although it needs to rest for at least a couple of hours).

To make 20 coconut truffles you need:

100 g of dessicated coconut

200 ml of condensed milk

20 hazelnuts

75 g of coloured sugar

1. Mix together the coconut and the milk and leave the mixture to set in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.

2. When the coconut mixture is ready, take a small amount, put a hazelnut in the middle then roll into a ball. Repeat the same process for the other 19 truffles.

3. Finally, roll the truffles in coloured sugar or in any other coating of your choice and hey presto!

For an alternative presentation just put a cake pop stick in each one and serve them as lollipops.

Pain perdu with cranberry compote

I'm using cranberries again but it will be the last time in a while (it's just that I bought a big pack so I need to use those cranberries in one way or in another).
In this recipe, I'm not using speculoos but some pain d'epices (or ginger bread), which is however flavoured with similar spices. It's also very nice with some brioche and makes the perfect tea time snack.

To make pain perdu for 4 persons you need:

Ginger bread (or slightly stale bread or brioche)
2 eggs
50 g of sugar plus some for dusting in the saucepan
Vanilla extract
20 cl of milk
20 g of butter

For the cranberry compote you need:

100 g of cranberries
80 g of sugar

1. Start with the compote. In a small pan, heat together the cranberries, the sugar and a tablespoon of water over a low-medium heat until the fruit is soft. Leave to rest then crush the fruit with a fork until you get a mushy compote. Taste and add more sugar if too sharp.
2. Once your compote is cool, mix together the eggs, the sugar, the milk and the vanilla sugar in a deep plate. Dip your bread, cut into thick slices, in the egg mixture for a few seconds.
3. In a saucepan, heat together the butter and a little bit of sugar over a medium heat. Add the sliced bread and cook for a couple of minutes on each side until golden.
4. Serve the warm pain perdu with the compote. Yum, yum...