secrets gourmands

Macarons au chocolat

2007-02-12T11:21:00.000-08:00

It has been on my list for quite some time now to make macarons au chocolat, because I only eat them when in France. So I found a basic macaron recipe and then gave it my own twist with my chocolate cream. And the result was quite good:-)

Macarons au chocolat

80 g egg whites (2-3), with room temperature

200 g icing sugar

20 g caster sugar

100 g grounded almonds

10 g cocoa powder

Mix together icing sugar, cocoa powder and grounded almonds. And sift into a bowl. Beat the egg whites until fluffy, add the caster sugar and beat then until totally stiff.

Mix in the almond mixture a little at a time with a spatula until an even mixture. Fill a pastry bag fitted with 11mm round tip with the mixture and pipe onto baking sheet lined with silpat into rounds. Let the macarons dry for 10-15 minutes before baking at 160 degrees celcius for 12-15 minutes. Let rest for 2 minutes before removing from the silpat.

The filling:

2 egg yolks

25 sugar

5 g vanilla sugar

150 ml whole milk

100 g chocolate, valrhona caraque 56 %

50 g unsalted butter, softened

Prepare a crème anglaise by bringing the whole milk to the boil in a pan. Whisk yolks, sugar and vanilla sugar together in a bowl until white and fluffy. Pour the hot milk into this mixture continuing to stir. Return the mixture to the pan and stir until the temperature is 85 degrees celcius. Pour the mixture into the bowl again and stir to cool down a little. Add the chocolate. Cool down quite a lot. Add the butter and stir until even and cool down completely. Sandwich the macarons with the chocolate cream. And place in the refridgerator for at least 24 hours.

La glace à la pistache

2007-02-08T02:00:00.000-08:00

I love ice cream and I love my machine:-) I try to make ice creams as often as possible. At first I always used recipes from cookbooks, but then I made my own base for ice cream, and this time I made it into an ice cream with pistachios. In France they have a fantastic "pâte à la pistache", but it's difficult to find in Denmark, so I used amaretto for flavour and then some fruitcolour. The pistachios give a crunch that I like in ice cream!

3,5 dl whole milk

1,5 dl cream

6 egg yolks

90 g sugar

10 vanilla sugar

25 g glucose sirop

4-5 tbs amaretto

green fruit colour

50 g unsalted chopped pistachios

Beat yolks, sugar, vanilla and glucose until pale and fluffy.

Bring milk and cream to a boil in a pan and pour over the egg mixture while stirring. Return to the pan and continue to stir until the mixture reaches 85 degrees celcius. Add fruitcolour and amaretto. Cool down in a bain marie and allow to cool down completely in the refridgerateur.

Put into the ice cream machine and add the pistachios when the ice cream is almost finished.. and voilà une belle glace à la pistache!

Comfort cakes with apples and lots of cinnamon

2007-01-12T02:39:00.000-08:00

At this very moment I’m studying for my last French exam next Friday, alors il faut parler français!Pourtant je continue en anglais. When studying very hard I often get a craving for something sweet... well exams can’t really qualify as an excuse, because I ALWAYS crave for something sweet and delicious. I wanted to make something comfort-like, something from the good old days, so I decided to make the apple-cinnamon cake my mom always makes (and my grandmother used to make). Normally it recalls for apples from one of our apple trees, but it’s not really the season now. She makes the cake in a round cake tin, but I halved the recipe and made it in to 4 small individual cakes. I love them still a bit warm with a nice dullop of sour cream.

You’ll need:

125 g butter, softened

125 g sugar

2 eggs

125 g flour

Filling:

1 big apple, in thin slices

4 tbsp sugar mixed with cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Beat the butter and sugar well together and add the eggs one at a time. Fold in the flour. Now butter 4 small cake tins and divide half of the batter into them. Then put a layer of apples and drizzle with the cinnamon-sugar. Put the rest of the batter on top and bake for about 25-30 minutes.

Un petit financier delicieux

2007-01-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

I’ve had a thing for financiers for many many years, and I know exactly how I want them. However I’ve not yet come across the recipe yet. Because you find the best financiers in the whole world in a little green bakery on a corner in the heart of Nice in Provence. If I go by I have to taste one...also if I’m on a diet... and I’m looking forward to trying some again in late January when I’m off to Nice.

I served these home invented financiers for New Years Eve and they are quite lovely, though they are far from les financiers niçois.

100 g almonds with their skin on, chopped, roasted in the oven at 150 degrees celsius and

grounded

75 g sugar

2 egg whites

35 g honey

12 g flour

70 g butter, ”made into beurre noisette”

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Heat almonds, sugar and egg whites over a bain-marie. Remove from the water and add honey and flour and the butter. Put into tiny financiermolds and bake for 7-10 minutes or until golden.

Quick cranberry jam

2006-12-20T08:17:00.000-08:00

I had some fresh cranberries left over in the refrigerator from a couple a days ago. And why waste good food? So I decided to make a quick jam to eat during the holidays!

250 g fresh cranberries

150 g sugar

2 tbsp water

Put the fresh cranberries, sugar and water into a pan a bring to the boil. Boil for about 5 minutes over low heat. And put into a jar.

Chocolate mousse

2006-12-20T03:23:00.000-08:00

Chokolademousse, chocolate mousse and mousse au chocolat. Three different names...but the same wonderful dessert, if you ask a Dane or a person with either an English or a French tongue. I fully understand why this dessert is a classic! I mean... how can you possibly not enjoy the taste of chocolate and the creamy texture!? The combination is sublime! I like dark chocolate, but sometimes I prefer more roundness to chocolate recipes and that’s where the sugar and vanilla come into the picture. The original recipe is made by Morten Heiberg, a Danish wonder in the world of desserts, a long side Markus Grigo. However, I’ve slightly changed it, and this is how I like to make my chocolate mousse now!

1 ½ dl whole milk

2 egg yolks (35 g)

25 g sugar

5 g vanilla sugar

100 g valrhona chocolate caraque 56 %, chopped

2 dl cream

Prepare a crème anglaise by bringing the whole milk to the boil in a pan. Whisk yolks, sugar and vanilla sugar together in a bowl until white and fluffy. Pour the hot milk into this mixture continuing to stir. Return the mixture to the pan and stir until the temperature is 85 degrees celcius. Pour the mixture into the bowl again and stir to cool down a little. Add the chocolate. Cool down. Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold it slowly into the chocolate. Pour into 4-6 individual serving glasses and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

I love Blondies!

2006-12-17T10:54:00.000-08:00

I might as well admit it now... I have a passion for all things sweet and especially chocolaty things! Blondies have for a long time been on my to-do-list! But I couldn’t really find a recipe (though I know that there are tons of blondie recipes), so I just made my own recipe, and they actually work quite well I think!

As normal brownies these blondies are best made a day in advance, so they have the time to set and get the real consistency!

Blondies

200 g butter

200 g white chocolate

125 g flour

3 eggs

200 g sugar

½ vanilla pod

½ tsp salt

100 g almonds – chopped

zest of an orange

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius

Melt butter.

Melt chocolate over a bain-marie.

Beat flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla pod and salt well together.

Slowly mix in the butter. Add the chocolate and stir until evenly mixed.

Finally add the almonds and orange zest and then pour the mixture into a square cake pan (23 * 23 cm) lined with baking paper.

Bake for 26-28 minutes

Pebernødder

2006-12-17T10:02:00.000-08:00

I've finally taken the first step into the world of active foodblogging. I look at foodblogs practically everyday, and I've wanted to do this for a long time. To be able to share my passion for cooking and eating with the other fantastic and wonderful foodbloggers from all over the world! My other passion is french, so if I suddenly start talking french, then you know the reason. Comme je viens de vous tous dire j'ai deux passions: la cuisine et la France!

The first recipe I'd like to share with you is an old family thing handed down to me by my grand-mother. It’s a very tiny cookie/biscuit called pebernødder in danish (Peppernuts or noisettes de poivre) though the lack of pepper in this recipe. It’s a must Christmas Eve, and it doesn’t ruin your appetite! On peut en grignoter beaucoup sans avoir trop mangé!

Pebernødder

125 g butter or margarine, softened *

300 g sugar

3- 3,5 dl cream

1 big tsp cardamomme

1 big tsp cinnamon

1 big tsp grounded ginger

1 kg flour

1 tsp ammonium carbonate

Beat margarine and sugar well together. Then add the cream. Mix flour with the spices and the ammonium carbonate and add to the creamy micture. Mix all well together and roll into thin rolls. Wrap in a baking sheet and rest in the refrigerator over night. Cut into 3 mm slices and bake at 190-200 degrees until golden preferably on a dark baking tray brush with melted margarine.

* Though I normally only use butter when I bake and cook, margarine actually works better in this old recipe... don’t ask me why!