Macarons (the original French macaroons)

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This recipe really is "of the moment": the success of these small, highly-coloured cakes, in an infinite variety of flavours, is impressive. It's a recipe which needs some care, in order to produce a result worthy of a professional pastrychef. No problem, I will guide you through the recipe, particularly the tricky parts. This variety of flavours means that I test many alternatives, so don't be surprised if in the pictures the colour of the macarons changes, I used the best photograph available...

Blackcurrant liqueur

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The fruit liqueurs (or "creams" in French) are a mix of neutral alcohol in which fruits are macerated, and sugar syrup. They are the basis of the very famous "Kir", mixture of dry white wine and blackcurrant liqueur. This recipe is for blackcurrant, but it can be made with other soft fruits like raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.

Chocolate thins with toasted nuts

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A very thin disc of chocolate, topped with toasted nuts and candied grapefruit peel.

Moist cereal bars

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Whether bars or rounds, this recipe produces delicous small cereal cakes.

Walnut short bread

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Those little biscuits are with good walnut taste, because walnut are shortly roasted before powdered, it's very simple and efficient.

Dublin fruit scones

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Scones originated in Britain and Ireland. The Irish version is often made plain and traditionally served with tea. Scones are more of a bread than a cake, eaten split in half and spread with butter or jam, for example. There are also sweeter versions and scones with dried fruit, like the ones I have made here.

Plain cake

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This is a classic, loaf-shaped cake, deliberately left plain for you to embellish as you choose.

Sicilian Epiphany Pie

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This is a Sicilian version of the French Epiphany dessert, the "galette des rois". The puff pastry has a pistachio cream and ricotta filling with diced candied fruit.

Rice pudding with fruit and nuts

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This is cooked like a normal rice pudding, but with fruit and nuts added halfway through: toasted almonds and pistachios, sautéed diced apple and strips of dried apricot. These added flavours and textures make an already creamy rice pudding even more delicious.

Benoîton

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This curious name (explained below) applies to a small bread fingers made with a blend of wheat and rye flour, enriched with raisins and almonds.

Chocolate cereal bars

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These have a chocolate sweetcrust pastry base, topped with dried fruit, toasted nuts and seeds, bound with a brown-sugar and butter mixture, then gently baked. Once the flapjack-like cake has cooled, it can be cut into bars.

Granola

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Granola is a tasty, crunchy cereal mix with nuts and seeds. Often thought of as an American version of muesli, it is bound with a little maple syrup and toasted in the oven. This is simple to prepare and goes well with lots of other things (dairy, fresh or stewed fruit, etc.) for a delicious breakfast.

How to peel pistachios

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If you buy pistachios shelled but still in their skins (cheaper than ready peeled), you shouldn't use them like this. They need to be "skinned", removing the skin which is pretty unpleasant to eat. Here's a fairly easy way to do it.

Chocolate mendiants

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Mendiants are made with a thin layer of chocolate, stuck with toasted nuts, dried and candied fruit.

Cantucci di Prato

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The "Cantucci di Prato" or cookies of Prato are dry cookies with almonds, originating from the city of Prato in Italian Tuscany. Quite easy to make and delicious, they keep very well, they can be eaten alone or as an accompaniment to a dessert such as a chocolate cream for example.

Cod loin with saffron

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A thick, deboned loin of fish (cod in this case), pan-fried and served with a reduced white-wine and cream sauce, flavoured with shallot and saffron.

Confit of quinces in Macvin

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In this simple recipe, the sliced quinces are gently stewed in Jura Macvin until melting and caramelized. Served with real custard, this gives a delightful contrast of flavour and colour.

Plum and hazelnut crumble

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Plums and hazelnuts always go really well together, as you'll find in this late-summer crumble.

Apple paste

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Apple paste, like most other fruit pastes, is a simple mixture of apple juice, sugar and a gelling agent - pectin here.

Pea risotto "Mantecare"

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This pea risotto recipe is finished with a typical Italian 'mantecare': mascarpone and Parmesan are incorporated at the end of cooking to make the dish incomparably smooth.

Bread oven

Building a bread oven was until a few years ago a job for the professionals. But now you can buy a kind of kit which allows you to build your own bred oven without professional masonry know-how. You should know that the kits only provide the main part of oven, the hearth, where you light the fire...
October 15^th 20241.21 M3.6

My best addresses...

Quite a few of you often ask me where I can find this or that? or is such and such a thing a good buy? or which brand is best for this or that? On this page, I'm going to group together my good addresses for suppliers of this or that product or utensil, and good books on the subjects that interest...
August 29^th 2023338 K4.0

A centrifugal juicer is an appliance designed to extract juice from all kinds of fruit and vegetables. It will produce juice from tomatoes, carrots, apples, pineapple, blackcurrants, etc.
April 1^st 201147 K4.4

In cooking, a charlotte is a delicious moulded dessert, with biscuits around the outside that have been soaked in a flavoured syrup, filled with a light cream or mousse. The charlotte is left to set in the fridge before being turned out and served in slices. It is very light and a lovely sweet...
February 27^th 201349 K4.3

The vanilla is a delicious taste that can be found in many many dessert recipes, creams (the cream and the cream for example), ice creams, but also cakes and entremets. Whenever you need to add this vanilla note, you have several possible choices because vanilla is commercially available in...
December 14^th 201713 K5

For the upcoming christmas meals you too may be sacrificing to the tradition of foie gras? If so, I suggest you take a look at everything that revolves around serving foie gras: how to serve it, and what to eat and drink with it.
December 23^th 201717 K4.9

When you bake a cake, like a cake or pound cake, you may have already encountered this thorny problem: How to make sure that the raisins, or the candied fruits, or any other small filling, do not fall to the bottom of the pan during the baking process?
May 31^th 201917 K4.7

You may have come across the term "travel cakes" ("gateaux de voyage" in french) for certain pastries, so let's take a look at what they're all about.
January 27^th 20259,319

When you have a jar in your kitchen that’s almost empty—flour or almond flour, for example—you’ll probably refill it before it’s completely empty. And that’s a great way to go about it—no one wants to run out of an ingredient right in the middle of a recipe. Once you’ve...
October 2^nd 20261,2075