Baked apples from St Aubin le Vertueux

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Under this pretty name, my personal version of "Les pommes au four" (baked apples).

Yvetot Douillons

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This dessert, named after a small town in Normandy, consists of a pear filled with confectioner's custard (French pastry cream), which is wrapped in a pancake and puff pastry, then baked. The "douillon" part of the name comes from a warm coat, the "douillette", of former times.

Cochelin d'Evreux

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This cochelin, from the town of Evreux in Normandy, is a sort of giant apple turnover, flavoured with vanilla. It is served in slices, like a cake.

Apple Batter Puddings

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Similar to a traditional French "clafoutis", usually made with cherries, this simple apple and almond dessert is quick to make.

Sauce Normande (for fish)

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Sauce Normande (or Normandy sauce) is a classic of French cuisine. It is rather "old school", but deliciously velvety and comes in two versions, one for meat and one for seafood. Here is the version to accompany fish or shellfish.

Fish Mousselines

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Mousselines are a lighter version of the classic French quenelles, but without breadcrumbs. They are poached first in fumet (fish stock), then served "en gratin" in sauce normande.

Baked leek and Camembert slices

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In this recipe slices of bread are topped with creamed leeks and slivers of Camembert before browning in the oven.

Fillets of sole Dieppoise

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In principal, fillets of sole Dieppoise are poached and served with a creamy sauce and small shellfish. I am offering a new twist on the dish, with the fish sautéed rather than poached, a cream sauce flavoured with mussel stock, and served with shellfish (mussels, cockles and clams), mushrooms and boiled potatoes. The recipe is quite long and prepared in separate stages (fish, sauce, mushrooms, shellfish, potatoes). The tricky bit is having everything hot to assemble and serve.

Rabbit civet "à la normande"

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In French cooking, "à la normande" means there are apples involved, as Normandy is famous for them. In this twist on the classic civet, the rabbit meat is cooked on the bone in cider, after marinating overnight. The sauce is made at the end with the cooking juices and cream.

Clafoutis "Marie-Antoinette"

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This "Marie-Antoinette" clafoutis is a lighter version of the traditional fruit-in-batter baked dessert, almost a soufflé, with apples and lemon. The apples are sautéed in butter and Calvados, then combined with a lemon-flavoured confectioner's custard, lightened with raw meringue. This mixture is then baked rapidly in the oven. The result is a very light and delicate dessert with a harmonious blend of apple and lemon flavours.

Norman flambéed apples

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Apples sautéed in butter and sugar, then flambéed in Calvados (from Normandy) and served with real custard.

Tarte Normande

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This tart showcases ingredients from Normandy: the sweet pastry case is baked blind, then filled with apple sticks sautéed in Calvados, and a cream-egg mixture. The tart is then baked and dusted with icing sugar when cold.

Normandy seafood stew

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A "marmite normande" is a combination of different seasonal julienne vegetables and a mix of shellfish, rapidly sautéed, then deglazed with cider. The vegetables and shellfish are then simmered together in cream, which intensifies the flavours while it gently reduces and thickens. This recipe is rather long to prepare, as there is a lot of peeling, but it is really quite easy to make.

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.

Mulled apple juice

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This very simple recipe will give you a warming drink with an amazing flavour of apples and spices. Just the thing to serve to your guests as a "trou normand" (traditionally a small glass of calvados served between courses), or to round off a meal with the dessert.

Caramelized apple rice pudding

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This recipe combines a classic rice pudding with caramelized apples and a crunchy topping inspired by crumble. Served in glasses, this makes an original and delicious dessert.

Far Normandy-Brittany

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You may already be familiar with far, the famous Breton cake? Here's a version inspired by our neighbors in Normandy, with cream, apples and Calavados.

Saint-Lô cake

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The cake from Saint-Lô, a town in the French department of La Manche, is a beaten cake, i.e. very moist, with a light, delicious pastry that looks a little like brioche.

Soft apple and almond cake

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This light and fluffy apple and almond cake is a pure delight. The apples, baked separately, are placed on top of the pastry, then covered with macaroonade, for a moist yet crisp result you'll love.

As I write these lines, we are in the middle of the apple season, and it's an apple year, as you may have noticed if you have apple trees around you, they are bursting with fruit! Excellent news for the people in the west of France in particular, but let's have a little thought for those in the...
October 23^th 202111 K5

You maybe know the "trou normand", this old gastronomic custom typically French which consists in taking a (small) glass of calvados, generally between the last course and the dessert? It's something that seems a bit anachronistic nowadays, having a glass of an alcohol of more than 60° in the...
December 18^th 202117 K4.8