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    The majority of my visits to Paris have been in early June.  I have found that time of year to be perfect - not too hot; not too crowded.  But I have, on occasion, traveled to Paris in the fall and winter.  For someone who prefers walking to taking the metro, it becomes more challenging at those times of the year.  Fall and winter are, as expected, cooler and rainier, with fewer daylight hours to navigate the streets of Paris.  Another noticeable change is the restaurant menu.  On one October visit, I remember every café and bistro I entered had a chocolate cake with vanilla sauce on the dessert menu.  It was common to see chocolate cakes and large pitchers of crème anglaise atop small tables placed in the dining rooms amongst the clientale.   It is hard to pass up dessert when you have been staring at it the entire meal, imagining the entire time what it might taste like.  And, in my case, I also order it so I can compare it to my creations at home.
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   It was my husband's birthday this past weekend and I made Fran Bigelow's Deep Chocolate Torte along with a Crème Anglaise Sauce - a reminder of fall in Paris.  This cake will go far.  It is dense and rich.  I suggest doubling the recipe for Crème Anglaise.  I like placing the slice of cake in a deep pool of the sauce.

                   Fran Bigelow's Deep Chocolate Torte
                         recipe printed in Saveur | November 2001

• 1 pound dark chocolate, preferably Cacao Barry Equateur (60 percent cacao) or Callebaut (56 percent cacao), finely chopped
• 6 eggs
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Cocoa for dusting

1.  Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler over barely simmering water and allow to melt completely.
2.  Preheat the oven to 350˚F.  Generously butter a 9-inch cake pan.  Cut a 9-inch round of waxed paper and press it over the bottom of the pan.
3.  Beat the eggs, sugar, and liqueur in a large heatproof mixing bowl.  Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring with a wooden spoon, until warm but not hot.  Remove from the heat and transfer to the bowl of an electric mixer.  Beat with the whisk attachment for 5 minutes.  Slowly stir in the melted chocolate. (Be patient with this step.  Slowly stir until fully incorporated).
4.  Whip the cream to soft peaks and gently fold into the chocolate mixture.  Carefully transfer the batter to the pan.
5.  Bake for 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the torte at least 2 to 4 inches from the side comes out clean.  The center should be just set; do not overbake.
6.  Let cool to room temperature, remove from the pan, and peel off the liner.  Dust with cocoa.

                                    Crème Anglaise
                        from French Tarts by Linda Dannenberg

• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1.  In a large saucepan, whisk together the yolks and the sugar.  In another saucepan, heat the milk and the vanilla extract over medium heat until hot but not boiling.  Pour the hot milk into the yolk mixture, stirring constantly with a spoon.  Set over medium heat and stir constantly until the sauce thickens and coats the back of the spoon.  Do not let the sauce come to a boil or it will curdle.  Remove from the heat and place plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming.  Let cool, then refrigerate if not serving immediately.
               
  
 
 
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   I haven't been home much recently to bake, but I did make this Fresh Apple Coffee Cake before I left for my father's last week.  I drizzled it with melted semi-sweet chocolate before eating.  Somehow the thought of pairing apples with chocolate seemed a little strange to me, but I actually liked it a lot - at least on this cake.  It's a dense, substantial cake, and great with a cup of hot coffee.


                        Fresh Apple Coffee Cake

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 2/3 cups all-purpose, unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups peeled, finely chopped apples
• 1 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/3 cup all-purpose, unbleached flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup melted, unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
• additional unsalted butter for melting with chocolate

1.  Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan; set aside
2.  In a large mixing bowl, beat together the 1/2 cup butter and 1 cup sugar with an electric mixer until well-combined.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
3.  Combine 2 2/3 cups flour, baking powder, soda and salt; add alternately to the beaten egg mixture with the buttermilk, beating until combined.  Fold in the chopped apples.
4.  In a medium bowl, combine brown sugar, pecans, 1/3 cup flour and cinnamon.  Mix in the 1/3 cup of melted butter.
5.  Place about 2 cups cake batter in the prepared pan and spread evenly.  Sprinkle with 1/2 of the crumb mixture; repeat layers.  Bake in a 350˚F oven for about 70 minutes, or until a wooden skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Cool 10 minutes before removing the cake from pan; cool on a wire rack. 
6.  Melt the 1/2 cup chocolate pieces with enough butter to give it a drizzling consistancy.  Drizzle over top of cake.



 
 
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   In my mind, nothing comes close to the beauty of a pear.  A plate of pears rivals any floral bouquet, as far as I'm concerned.  And this time of year, there are always pears in my house.  I chose to go sweet in the kitchen with this pear tart.  Pears and almonds are a match made in heaven.  The chocolate is an added bonus.  And, when I'm not baking with pears, they go into salads for our evening meals.

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             PEAR TART with CHOCOLATE and ALMONDS

• 1 partially baked 9-inch almond tart shell, cooled (recipe follows)
• 2 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 1 cup half & half
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons blanched almonds
• 2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, grated
• 3 organic Bartlet pears, peeled, sliced in half lengthwise and cored with a melon-baller or small spoon
• Toasted, sliced almonds for sprinkling, if desired

Preheat oven to 325˚F.
1.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, 4 tablespoons of the sugar, the half & half and the vanilla.  Set aside.
2.  In the bowl of a food processor, finely grind the almonds with the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar.  Spoon the ground almond mixture evenly over the top of the partially baked tart shell; sprinkle the grated bittersweet chocolate over the almonds.
3.  Take a pear half and using a sharp knife, make thin slices across the width of the pear, keeping the shape of the pear intact. (See photo above).  Once the pear is entirely sliced, gently press on the pear to slightly spread the slices apart.  Using a metal spatula, carefully transfer the pear half to the tart shell and lay atop the almond and chocolate mixture with the stem end of the pear pointing to the center of the tart.  Repeat with the other pear halves, placing the sliced pears to create a spoke pattern.
4.  Place the tart pan onto a baking sheet and then, very slowly, begin pouring the reserved egg mixture onto the pears.  Pour in just enough so it is easily transported to the middle rack of the oven.  Once inside the oven you can add a little more of the egg custard.  After about 5 minutes of baking, I will very carefully add as much of the remaining custard as I can to the tart shell.
5.  Bake the tart for approximately 45-50 minutes.  If, within the last 5 minutes of baking, the custard still has no color to it, increase the oven temperature to 350˚ and watch closely at this point.  Remove to a cooling rack when custard just begins to turn golden.
6.  Sprinkle with toasted sliced almonds if desired.
  
   
                            ALMOND TART PASTRY

• 2 tablespoons blanched or sliced almonds
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 5 1/3 tablespoons COLD unsalted butter, cubed
• 3 tablespoons ice water

1.  Place the almonds in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until finely ground.  Add the flour and salt and pulse to combine.
2.  Add the cubed butter to the flour mixture and pulse briefly, just until small pieces of the butter remain.
3.  Slowly add the ice water while pulsing, until the dough just begins to come together.  Do not over process.
4.  Empty the tart dough onto a piece of plastic wrap, flatten and wrap.  Refrigerate at least 2 hours.
5.  Remove from refrigerator and roll dough to fit a 9-inch tart pan; trim edge.  Place lined tart pan in freezer while preheating oven.
6.  Preheat oven to 400˚F.  Line the tart shell with foil and beans or rice.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove the foil and beans and continue to bake until pastry just begins to turn golden.  Remove and let cool.




 
 
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                 I'm sure we all have out favorite.  This one is mine.

                CHOCOLATE CHIP-DRIED CHERRY-PECAN COOKIES

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup dried sour cherries
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

1.  Preheat oven to 375˚F.
2.  In a large bowl, combine the granulated and brown sugars and butter.  Mix well.  Add the egg and vanilla and continue to mix until smooth.  In another bowl combine the flour, soda and salt.  Add this to the sugar-butter mixture and mix until it is just combined.  Fold in the chocolate, cherries and pecans.
3.  Drop small mounds of dough onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake on the oven's middle rack for 10 to 12 minutes.  Transfer to a cooling rack

 
 

  What could be better than a chocolate brownie and a glass of ice cold milk?  That was all I could think about when I finally caved and made these.  This has been my go to recipe for the last 10 years.  I'm sure there are other great chocolate brownie recipes out there, but I've never felt the need to search for them.  This one does just fine! 

                                     CHOCOLATE BROWNIES
                            adapted  from Martha Stewart Living

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 - 1 ounce squares unsweetened chocolate
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, optional
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1.  Preheat the oven to 350˚F.  Butter an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan
2.  Melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together.  Stir well.
3.  In a bowl, combine the butter-chocolate mixture with the sugar, flour, nuts (if using), baking powder and vanilla.  Stir well.
4.  Add the eggs and mix thoroughly.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
5.  Pour batter into prepared pan.  You can also scatter the nuts on top at this point, if desired. Bake for approximately 30-35 minutes.  The brownies should be moist and chewy.  Start checking at 25 minutes (better under-done than over-done).  Cool thoroughly before cutting. 

 
 

  When I traveled to Paris for the first time in 1997, I was introduced to  macarons.  They are amazing little almond meringue confections with endless varieties of fillings.  If you've never had one of these you are truly missing out.  The December 1996 issue of House & Garden magazine published a beautiful article, "Cookie Fortune" which included the history of the French macaron, photographs that I have been tempted to frame, and a recipe from patisserie Ladurée.  I found that recipe and the procedure totally intimidatiing.  I filed it away, only taking it out occasionally to admire again the photographs of the beautiful, pastel-colored marcarons.  As I've become more involved in visiting pastry-themed blogs, I've realized that the French macaron does not have to be intimidating and is something that can easily be made at home, and has been on my growing list of "things I need to bake".  In fact, it has been on my list for quite a long time, but a photograph that was posted by Corey of Tongue and Cheek was what finally inspired me to set aside a morning for my first attempt at making macarons.  I am now hooked and on the way to further experimentation.
  What I learned:
  • There are many recipes on the web for macarons and different baking times and techniques.  I found Corey's to work the best for me.  She baked her macarons at 300˚F for 12-16 minutes, then left them in the oven with the heat off and the door ajar for another 2 hours.  I found that this technique preserved any color that was added to the meringues.  When I baked them for 16-18 minutes, as another recipe recommended, they were brown, instead of the intended pink.
  • They really don't spread much after being piped onto the parchment.  I used 4 cookie sheets for this recipe since I left about 2-inches in between each meringue.  Next time I'll be fine with just 2 sheets.
  •  Drawing circles on the underside of the parchment paper will help achieve more consistent-sized meringues.
  •  Serious Eats has a great post on making and baking macarons.  I used their recipe for ingredients and some of the procedures along with Corey's of Tongue and Cheek

                                      Almond Macarons

• 225 grams powdered (Confectioners') sugar
• 125 grams almond flour (I ground 125g of blanched almonds along with the powdered sugar to a very find powder in my food processor)
• 110 grams egg whites (leave in a jar at room temperature for 1 to 2 days before using in this recipe)
• 30 grams sugar
• pinch of salt

1.  Preheat the oven to 300˚F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2.  The powdered sugar and almonds should be mixed together in a food processor to a fine powder.  Pour into a large mixing bowl.
3.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt to soft peaks; slowly add the sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.
4.  When the egg whites are glossy, add food color, if desired, until combined.
5.  Gently fold the egg whites into the almond mixture, folding until fully incorporated. 
6.  Using a pastry bag with a 3/8-inch round tip, pipe the macarons onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (it helps if you secure the parchment to the cookie sheet by placing a little bit of the meringue on each corner between the sheet and the parchment) in 1 1/2-inch discs.
7.  After piping, let the meringues set at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours before baking.
8.  Bake for 12 minutes at 300˚F, turn off the oven, and open the oven door.  Leave the meringues inside the cooling oven for 2 hours.

The fillings:  Buttercream is typically used for the filling of French macarons, but anything and everything is possible.  I made a chocolate ganache for half of the macarons and a white chocolate-raspberry for the other half.  For each I started out by pouring a little heavy cream in a small saucepan, heated over a low flame, and removed before it came to a boil.  I removed the pan from the heat and added enough dark chocolate or white chocolate to give a good spreading consistancy, stirring until melted.  I added a little unsalted butter to the dark chocolate to give it some shine, and seedless raspberry preserves was added to the white chocolate.  These were piped onto the meringue discs using a smaller pastry tip.


 
 

    What could be better than the combination of orange and chocolate?

         Little Chocolate Orange Cakes with Crystallized Orange Zest
          adapted from Australia Vogue Entertaining, Apr/May 1992

Cakes:
• 4 tablespoons (60g) unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup (125g) sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 4 1/2 ounces (125g) bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
• a scant 3 tablespoons (25g) flour, sifted
• 1 tablespoon ground almonds
• grated rind of one organic orange
• 3 eggwhites, beaten to soft peaks
Ganache:
• 3 1/2 ounces (100ml) heavy cream
• 5 1/4 ounces (150g) bittersweet chocolate
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Crystallised orange zest:
• 2 oranges
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup sugar, additional sugar for tossing
1.  To make the cakes:  beat together the butter and sugar and gradually add the egg yolks.  Beat until the mixture is creamy, then beat in the chocolate.  Fold in the flour, almonds and orange rind.  Carefully fold in the beaten eggwhites.
2.  Spoon the mixture into nine well-buttered and floured muffin tins and bake on the middle shelf of a preheated 350˚F oven for 25 minutes.  Allow the little cakes to cool and then turn out onto a cake rack to cool completely.
3.  To make the ganache:  heat the cream, remove it from the stove, add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate has melted.  Beat in the butter and allow to cool to a spreading consistency.
4.  To make the crystallised orange zest:  remove the zest from the oranges with a vegetable peeler, making sure you have no white pith on the zest.  Cut the zest into strips.
5.  Place the zest in a saucepan with enough water to thoroughly cover it, bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.  Drain and discard the water.  Repeat this entire process three more times.
6.  Place the orange juice and sugar in the saucepan with the zest and stir over medium heat to dissolve the sugar.  Simmer until the syrup has almost disappeared.  Remove the zest from the saucepan and spread out the pieces on a cooling rack in a single layer to cool.  Toss with additional sugar.
7.  Frost the cakes with the ganache and top with pieces of the crystallised orange zest.

 
 

I am still playing around with the orange sorbet I made the other day.  And I am still using it to top off a drink.  This time, instead of the classic cocktail of Campari and orange juice, I poured Campari into a glass  along with ice cold club soda and finished it off with scoops of homemade orange sorbet.  That was served with Double Chocolate Almond Biscotti... and that was our dessert.


                        DOUBLE CHOCOLATE ALMOND BISCOTTI
                           Gourmet Magazine, December 1994

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• Confectioners' sugar
1.  Preheat the oven to 350˚F and butter and flour a large baking sheet, or cover with a sheet of parchment paper.
2.  In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  In another bowl with an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add eggs and beat until combined well.  Stir in flour mixture to form a stiff dough.  Stir in the almonds and chocolate chips.
3.  On prepared baking sheet with floured hands, form dough into two slightly flattened logs, each 12-inches long and 2-inches wide, and dust with Confectioners' sugar.  Bake logs for 35 minutes, or until slightly firm to the touch.  Cool biscotti on baking sheet 5 minutes.
4.  On a cutting board cut biscotti diagonally into 3/4-inch slices.  Arrange biscotti, cut sides down, on baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes.  Cool biscotti on a rack.  Biscotti keep in an airtight container one week, and frozen one month.

 

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