Yeast-based flaky dough (for croissants)

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This yeast-based flaky dough (or croissant dough) is where puff pastry meets a yeast dough (such as brioche dough). This means that not only will we get flaky layers, but the dough will also swell and rise. The method is along the same lines as for a feuilletage: the basic dough is first kneaded, then layered with butter and folded over several times (in...

Stuffed prunes

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Stuffed prunes are a sweetmeat made with halved dried prunes sandwiched together around a morsel of marzipan flavoured with Armagnac.

Little apple turnovers with almonds and raisins

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These are small apple turnovers ("chaussons") of puff pastry, filled with a mixture of caramelised almonds, stewed apple and rum-soaked raisins. To be eaten just as they are...

Brioche feuilletée (flaky brioche)

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For brioche feuilletée (or flaky brioche), the brioche dough is treated like puff pastry, with layers of butter incorporated by repeated turning and rolling. Coarse sugar crystals add a sweet crunchiness. Needless to say, this is very rich and quite irresistible.

Crackers

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These crisp savoury biscuits are ideal for dipping into a sauce as an aperitif snack. It is quite easy to make your own crackers at home and they are much healthier and even more delicious than the commercial kind.

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.

Flamiche

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Flamiche is a savoury tart from the Picardy region of northeasten France. It is a cousin of quiche lorraine, but the pastry is characteristically made with lard and the filling has neither bacon nor eggs. This version contains a mixture of endives and leeks (white part only).

Buckwheat almond biscuits

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In this sweet biscuit recipe, some of the normal wheat flour is replaced with buckwheat flour and ground almonds. This gives them a very distinctive flavour.

Turban of sole with langoustines

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The turban is made from a rolled fillet of sole poached in fish stock. Each turban is then filled with sautéed langoustines and a tasty cream sauce, flavoured with langoustine stock. This dish takes quite a long time to make because of the langoustine stock, but you will really impress your guests.

Nougat

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Nougat is a sweet made with honey and almonds that has changed very little since ancient times. The nougat we know today is the Montelimar variety, in which egg whites are added to the basic recipe for a lighter texture. Here is a simplified version.

Pistachio shortbread biscuits

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These melt-in-the-mouth biscuits are "double pistachio", as they contain both pistachio paste and toasted chopped pistachios.

Chocolate and matcha tea biscuits

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Little spiral biscuits flavoured with chocolate and matcha green tea.

Kouign-amann

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Kouign-amann is a traditional cake from Brittany. the name means butter cake in Breton (Kouign = cake, amann = butter). It is a sort of caramelized millefeuille, crunchy on the outside and melting in the middle.

Sushi

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Sushi is probably the best known element of Japanese cooking outside Japan. For the Japanese it's a culinary art learned over time from masters, but we can make simplified and easier sushi which are still pretty and delicious. The most common types of sushi are nigiri: a little oval-shaped mouthfuls of rice topped with raw fish, and maki: a nori seaweed roll filled with rice and other delicious ingredients.

Galette de Fougerolles

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This Galette de Fougerolles is a flattish cake filled with a hazelnut buttercream and topped just before baking with a "craquelin" (sweet cracker) crust, studded with griottine cherries.

Citrus crunch

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These are fine crumbs of candied citrus peel. It can be used to sprinkle a dessert or other preparation to add both crunch and the flavour of the chosen citrus fruit. It is easy to prepare well in advance, and will keep in an airtight jar. This recipe is given for clementines, but can be made with all citrus fruits: lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit...

Valay-Brest

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A Valay-Brest is a mini eclair, filled with apple-flavoured confectioner's custard and topped with a rectangle of walnut nougatine.

How to make ravioli

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In theory, making ravioli is fairly simple: just roll out wide bands of thin fresh pasta dough and encase small pieces of pre-prepared filling between two sheets of pasta. In practice, it's a bit trickier than that and having the right equipment is important. This recipe shows you how to make beautiful ravioli step by step.

Kouign-amann brioche

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This is unusual brioche is halfway to being a Breton Kouign-amann. The difference is in the treatment of the dough, which is layered with sugar and butter. The basic dough is rolled out with butter in stages, like for croissants, but with 2 "turns" of sugar for one of butter (granulated and December 30^th 201980 K4.3 15 hours 55 min.