ROSE & HONEY MADELEINES

"She sent out for one of those short, plump little cakes called petites madeleines, which look as though they had been moulded in the fluted scallop of a pilgrim's shell. And soon, mechanically, weary after a dull day with the prospect of a depressing morrow, I raised to my lips a spoonful of the tea in which I had soaked a morsel of the cake. No sooner had the warm liquid, and the crumbs with it, touched my palate than a shudder ran through my whole body, and I stopped, intent upon the extraordinary changes that were taking place…at once the vicissitudes of life had become indifferent to me, its disasters innocuous, its brevity illusory…"

- Except taken from Marcel Proust's "In Search Of Lost Time" -

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Although I have never been a big fan of industrially produced Madeleines which are very popular here in Switzerland (especially with the kids when I was at primary school in the 80's), that French little cookie-sized cake has always made me fantasize...

There is definitely something magical to that lovely and elegant treat. Whether it has something to do with it's cute shell shape or it's size, Madeleines will not leave you indifferent. They definitely have an attractive aspect and a winning pedigree!

The origin of those tiny sponge cakes is not clear. Some think that they may have been named for a 19th century pastry cook, Madeleine Paulmier, but others believe that Madeleine Paulmier was a cook in the 18th century for Stanislaw Leszczynski, whose son-in-law, Louis XV of France, named them for her. In any case, Madeleines are most famous outside France for their association with Marcel Proust's novel "À La Recherche du Temps Perdu (In Search of Lost Time)", in which the narrator experiences an awakening upon tasting a madeleine dipped in tea...

Well, after having finaly bought a Madeleine pan, I thought that it was about time for me to stop dreaming about them and start experimenting with them. So, on Monday, I made the Génoise-style batter and waited for the next day to bravely get out my mould in order to bake my first batch of close to perfect Madeleines.

After some researching on the net, I decided to make Claudia Flemming's recipe which I freely adapted according to my cravings for spring-like flavors. Originally, her Madeleines are made with chestnut honey, but since I had none I used a normal type of runny honey. And as I wanted to add an extra dimension to them, I ground a few dried rosebuds that I added to the pastry.

Those "Rose & Honey Madeleines" are very easy to make and taste so good. Texture-wise they are very moist, tender on the inside and slighty crispy on the outside. Taste-wise they have an extremely exhalirating and delicate flowery fragrance as well as a divinely sweet and pungent honey flavor. To die for and a perfect addition to your Easter table!

~ Rose & Honey Madeleines ~
Recipe taken from Claudia Fleming's "The Last Course" and adapted by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010.

Yields 2 dozen madeleines.

Ingredients:
12 Tbsp (180g/1.5 sticks) Unsalted butter, plus additional softened butter for the moulds
4 Large eggs
1/2 Cup Granulated sugar
2 Tbsp Firmly packed dark brown sugar
1/4 Cup Runny honey (strong flavored)
1 Cup All purpose flour
1/2 Cup Cake flour
2 Tsp Baking powder
1/4 Tsp Sea salt
2 Dried rosebuds, ground
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Method:

1. In a small skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Continue to let the butter cook until some of the white milk solids fall to the bottom of the skillet and turn a rich hazelnut brown, about 5 minutes. Strain the browned butter through a fine sieve into a small bowl.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, both sugars, and honey until pale and foamy, 2-3 minutes.
3. Sift both flours, the baking powder, ground rosebuds and salt over the egg mixture and use a rubber spatula to gently fold in. Fold in the browned butter. Cover the batter and refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
4. Preheat the oven to 200° c (400° F). Liberally butter the madeleine molds. Spoon or pipe the batter evenly into the molds. Bake for 5-7 minutes, until golden brown.
5. Transfer the pans to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes then unmold the cakes and let them cool completely on the rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Remarks:
I recommend that you butter the pans, then dust them with flour and put them in the freezer for a short while before you pipe the batter in the moulds.

Serving suggestions:
Eat those Madeleines whenever you feel like it and don't forget to accompany them with a good cup of tea.

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~ Madeleines Au Miel Et A La Rose ~
Recette tirée du livre "The Last Course" de Claudia Fleming et adaptée par Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010.

Pour 2 douzaines de madeleines.

Ingrédients:
180g de Beurre non-salé, plus un peu de beurre ramolli pour beurrer les moules
4 Gros oeufs
105g de Sucre cristallisé
2 CS de Sucre brun clair
60g de Miel (au goût prononcé)
127.5g de Farine blanche
64g de Farine à gâteau
2 CC de Poudre à lever
1/4 CC de Sel de mer
2 Boutons de roses séchées, réduits en poudre
Sucre en poudre pour saupoudrer

Méthode:
1. Dans une petite poêle faire fondre le beurre à température moyenne. Continuer à cuire le beurre pendant 5 minutes jusqu'à ce que le lactose se teinte (couleur noisette) et tombe au fond de la poêle. Filtrer le beurre et réserver.
2. Dans le bol d'un robot, battre (avec le fouet pendant 2-3 minutes) les oeufs, les sucres et le miel jusqu'à obtention d'une mousse pâle.
3. Tamiser les farines avec la poudre à lever, la poudre de boutons de roses et le sel et ajouter à la mixture aux oeufs. Incorporer délicatement avec une spatule et laisser reposer au frigo pendant tout une nuit (ou 8 heures au moins).
4. Péchauffer le four à 200° C. Beurrer généreusement les moules à madeleines. Les remplir avec la pâte à l'aide d'une cuillèere ou d'une poche à douille. Cuire 5-7 minutes, jusqu'à ce que les madeleines soient dorées.
5. Transférer le moule sur une grille et laisser refroidir pendant 5 minutes avant de les démouler et de les faire refroidir complètement. Saupoudrer avec du sucre glace.

Remarques:
Je vous recommande de bien beurrer les moules et de les saupoudrer avec de la farine, puis de les mettre un petit moment au congélateur avant de les remplir.

Idées de présentation:
Mangez-les à toutes heures de la journée et n'oubliez pas de les accompagner d'une bonne tasse de thé.

ORANGE TIAN - THE DARING BAKERS

Every month I tell myself to start baking for the Daring Bakers' as early as possible, but as usual, I end up getting caught up by time and never manage to embark myself on that monthly journey into a new baking frontier before the very last moment (generally a few days prior to the deadline)...

The 2010 March Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jennifer of "Chocolate Shavings" who chose "Orange Tian" as the challenge for this month, a dessert based on a recipe from Alain Ducasse’s Cooking School in Paris.

I was really looking forward to making that "Orange Tian" as not only did it sound interesting, but also because it seemed not too rich and spring-like. Now, that winter has ended, we crave lighter desserts and shun away from the heavier versions on which we splurged during the cold season

Ducasse's "Orange Tian" recipe was very easy to prepare, but it was nonetheless time consuming. After two days of marmelade-, pâte sablée- and caramel-making we were finally able to indulge ourselves in the most delightful and refined fruit dessert that I have ever made.

At first, I wanted to make my tian with blood oranges, but as my favorite supermarket had none on sale, I had to take Navel oranges instead. So, I followed the recipe to the letter. I only added my personal touch to the pâte sablée which I flavored with ground Mahlep, a Turkish and Greek spice.

This dessert is really exquisite, not too sweet and so fresh. The oranges bring a wonderfully fruity touch, the cream filling is very delicate tasting and the sweet and buttery pastry crust (pâte sablée) brings a marvelous as well as contrasting flakiness to the whole. A perfectly balanced dessert. Divine!

Many thanks to Jennifer for making me discover this "Orange Tian" that is an excellent after dinner treat...

~ Orange Tian ~

Preparation time:
Pâte Sablée - 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to rest, 15 minutes to roll out, 20 minutes to bake
Marmalade - 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to blanch

Orange segments - 20 minutes, overnight to sit
Caramel - 15 minutes, overnight to sit
Whipped Cream - 15 minutes
Assembling - 20 minutes
Freezer to Set - 10 minutes

Equipment required:
• Cookie cutters . Ideally, you should have about 6 cookie cutters to build the desserts in and cut the circles of dough (see photo). The cookie cutters will be the size of your final dessert, so they should be the size of an individually-sized tart mold. If you don’t have round cookie cutters you could use an individually-sized cheesecake mold wit hout its base.

• A food processor (although the dough could be made by hand too)
• A stand-up or hand mixer
• Parchment paper or a silicone sheet
• A baking sheet
• A rolling pin

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PÂTE SABLÉE

Ingredients:
2 Medium-sized egg yolks at room, temperature
6 Tbs + 1 Tsp (2.8 oz/80g) Granulated sugar
1/2 Tsp Pure vanilla extract

1/4 Cup + 3 Tbs (3.5 oz/100g) Unsalted butter, ice cold & cubed
1/3 Tsp (2g) Sea salt
1 1/2 Cup + 2 Tbs (70z/200g) All-purpose flour
1 Tsp (4g) Baking powder
1 Tsp Ground Mahlep

Method:
1. Put the flour, baking powder, ice cold cubed butter and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel blade.
2. In a separate bowl, add the eggs yolks, vanilla extract and sugar and beat with a whisk until the mixture is pale. Pour the egg mixture in the food processor.
3. Process until the dough just comes together. If you find that the dough is still a little too crumbly to come together, add a couple drops of water and process again to form a homogenous ball of dough. Form into a disc, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.

4. Preheat your oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
5. Roll out the dough onto a lightly floured surface until you obtain a ¼ inch thick circle. 6. Using your cookie cutter, cut out circles of dough and place on a parchment (or silicone) lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until the circles of dough are just golden.

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ORANGE MARMALADE

Ingredients:
1/4 Cup + 3 Tbs (3.5oz/100g) Freshly pressed orange juice
1 Large organic orange
Cold water to cook the orange slices
5 g Pectin
Granulated sugar (use the same weight as the weight of orange slices once they are cooked)

Method:
1. Finely slice the orange. Place the orange slices in a medium-sized pot filled with cold water. Simmer for about 10 minutes, discard the water, re-fill with cold water and blanch the oranges for another 10 minutes.
2. Blanch the orange slices 3 times. This process removes the bitterness from the orange peel, so it is essential to use a new batch of cold water every time when you blanch the slices.
3. Once blanched 3 times, drain the slices and let them cool.
4. Once they are cool enough to handle, finely mince them (using a knife or a food processor).
5. Weigh the slices and use the same amount of granulated sugar . If you don’t have a scale, you can place the slices in a cup measurer and use the same amount of sugar.
6. In a pot over medium heat, add the minced orange slices, the sugar you just weighed, the orange juice and the pectin. Cook until the mixture reaches a jam consistency (10-15 minutes).
7. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and put in the fridge.

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ORANGE SEGMENTS

Ingredients:
8 Organic oranges.

Method:
1. Cut the oranges into segments over a shallow bowl and make sure to keep the juice. Add the segments to the bowl with the juice.

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CARAMEL

Ingredients:
1 Cup (70z/200g) Granulated sugar
1 1/2 Cups + 2 Tbs (14oz/400g)

Method:
1. Place the sugar in a pan on medium heat and begin heating it. Once the sugar starts to bubble and foam, slowly add the orange juice.
2. As soon as the mixture starts boiling, remove from the heat and pour half of the mixture over the orange segments (Reserve the other half of the caramel mixture in a small bowl — you will use this later to spoon over the finished dessert. When the dessert is assembled and setting in the freezer, heat the kept caramel sauce in a small saucepan over low heat until it thickens and just coats the back of a spoon - about 10 minutes. You can then spoon it over the orange tians).

Tip:
Be very careful when making the caramel — if you have never made caramel before, I would suggest making this step while you don’t have to worry about anything else. Bubbling sugar is extremely, extremely hot, so make sure you have a bowl of ice cold water in the kitchen in case anyone gets burnt!

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WHIPPED CREAM

Ingredients:
1 Cup (7oz/200g) Heavy whipping cream (35% fat)
3 Tbs Hot water
1 Tsp Gelatine powder
1 Tbs Confectioner's sugar
1 Tbs Orange marmalade (see recipe above)

Method:
1. In a small bowl, add the gelatine and hot water, stirring well until the gelatine dissolves. Let the gelatine cool to room temperature while you make the whipped cream.
2. Combine the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Whip the cream using a hand mixer on low speed until the cream starts to thicken for about one minute.
3. Add the confectioner sugar. Increase the speed to medium-high. Whip the cream until the beaters leave visible (but not lasting) trails in the cream.
4. Then add the cooled gelatine slowly while beating continuously. Continue whipping until the cream is light and fluffy and forms soft peaks.
5. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and fold in the orange marmalade.

Tip:
Use an ice cold bowl to make the whipped cream in. You can do this by putting your mixing bowl, cream and beater in the fridge for 20 minutes prior to whipping the cream.

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ASSEMBLING THE DESSERT

Make sure you have some room in your freezer. Ideally, you should be able to fit a small baking sheet or tray of desserts to set in the freezer.

Method:
1. Line a small tray or baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone sheet. Lay out 6 cookie cutters onto the parchment paper/silicone.
2. Drain the orange segments on a kitchen towel.
3. Have the marmalade, whipped cream and baked circles of dough ready to use.
4. Arrange the orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter (Make sure the segments all touch either and that there are no gaps and that they fit snuggly and look pretty as they will end up being the top of the dessert. Arrange them as you would sliced apples when making an apple tart).
5. Once you have neatly arranged one layer of orange segments at the bottom of each cookie cutter, add a couple spoonfuls of whipped cream and gently spread it so that it fills the cookie cutter in an even layer. Leave about 1/4 inch at the top so there is room for dough circle.
6. Using a butter knife or small spoon, spread a small even layer of orange marmalade on each circle of dough. Carefully place a circle of dough over each ring (the side of dough covered in marmalade should be the side touching the whipping cream).
7. Gently press on the circle of dough to make sure the dessert is compact.
8. Place the desserts to set in the freezer to set for 10 minutes.
9. Using a small knife, gently go around the edges of the cookie cutter to make sure the dessert will be easy to unmold.
10. Gently place your serving plate on top of a dessert (on top of the circle of dough) and turn the plate over. Gently remove the cookie cutter, add a spoonful of caramel sauce and serve immediately.

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Etant donné la longueur du texte original, je n'ai malheureusement pas pu faire une traduction française de ce billet et je m'en excuse auprès de tous mes amis lecteurs et blogueurs francophones!

C'est pourquoi je vous suggère de vous rendre sur le blog mentionné ci-dessous. Vous y trouverez cette recette en version française.

Chez Isa de "Les Gourmandises d'Isa" (Canada)
Chez Isabelle de "Eat My Cake Now" (France)

AU PÉCHÉ MIGNON - ANNECY

I am still going through my leftover pictures of Annecy which I took during our last holidays in October. There are still many shots that I want to share with you, so I hope you'll not get annoyed by the fact that they are not very recent...

In the old town of Annecy there is a quaint little "pâtisserie"/confectionery that we particularly cherish and always visit when we go there. It is called "Au Péché Mignon ("péché mignon" meaning literally "cute sin") and offers the most delicious cakes, chocolates, savory tarts (their Reblochon quiche is fantastic) and ice creams.

Their window is always contains beautiful pastries and cakes. All the goodies are so colorful, amazingly decorated and really tempting. It is impossible for foodies like us to walk by without stopping and buying something. At "Au Péché Mignon", our weakness for sweets isn't a sin anymore and it becomes an obligation for us to "misbehave"!

We cannot visit Annecy without making a trip to that lovely place and treat ourselves with a few cakes as well as as a quiche. Although, there are plenty other places there, we have to eat one of their yummy creations before we can move on to the next bakery!

If you are addicted to chocolate, nourish a passion for good quality French pastries, sweets as well as confectioneries, then "Au Péché Mignon" is for you. Just don't forget that on market days (Wednesday and Saturday mornings) the place is chock-a-block full, so you'd better choose another time to indulge yourself vice fully and be a bit of a glutton...

Au Péché Mignon

9 Rue Jean-Jacques Rousseau

74000 Annecy
France

Route berechnen

Tél.: 04 50 45 39 96

A LOVELY BAKERY - ANNECY

I've been meaning to finish blogging about my Fall 2009 Annecy trip (Part I & Part II) since a very long time, but I somehow never got to do it before today. Now that I have more time for myself, I thought that I'd ought to continue writing about my wonderful day in that magnificent and quaint town in Haute Savoie, France...

Today I want to talk to you about a bakery situated in the historic center of Annecy and which I fell in love with immediately after having discovered it for the very first time. When walking by "Marmillon", it is impossible not to get your attention drawn to that window chock-a-block full of mouthwatering regional delicacies (just click on the pictures to make them bigger and see the names of each bread, bun, cookie, tart, etc...). That vision will lure you in and the taste as well as the smell of those yummy treats will addict you instantly. It is like a trap for fans of baked goodies!

As we were planning on testing quite a few different foods around Annecy, we decided to take one immense raisin roll and share it between the both of us. It was divinely smooth and tasted heavenly!

Marmillon
11, rue Sainte Claire
7400 Annecy
France

ANNECY, I LOVE THEE - PART II

ANNECY, I LOVE THEE - PART I

Since the very first time I visited Annecy, this French little town holds a very special place in my heart. I love everything about Annecy and the more I go there, the more I want to go again. I guess you can call it love at first sight!

Not only is Annecy situated in a beautiful region (Haute-Savoie) close to Switzerland and Geneva, but it is also a special town with a cool architecture and a pleasant as well as relaxed atmosphere...

A TRIP TO LYON - PART V

Today, I am posting my last batch of Lyon photos. I have really enjoyed sharing them with you and I hope that you liked my small virtual tour through the old streets of that magnificent town...

Lyon is a beautiful city wich has numerous photogenic streets and buildings. Not only is it interesting architecturally or culturally, but it is also a fantastic place to visit if you are madly in love with anything related to food. What else could you ask for?

I will go back, that's sure!