Apricot peach and thyme 2 bites tartlet

Apricot, peaches & thyme are the kings of summer !!

They are so juicy & their colors are so warming.

Thyme & salted butter are perfect to accompany & sublimate the tastes of those marvelous fruits.

They bring sun into desserts !!

Serves : 6

Here's what we need :

1 sugar crust pastry, 3 white peaches, 6 teaspoons apricot jam, fresh thyme, salted butter, brown sugar.

6 x 2.95 inches moulds & 1 x 3.93 round cookie cutter (or cuting cylinder).

Here's what we do :

Preheat your oven at 374 °F.


Spray the sugar crust pastry with a spinroll on a floured table.

With the 3.93 cylinder cut 6 tartlets & cover the bottom & sides of tartlet moulds.

Cover the bottom of each tartlet with a teaspoon of apricot jam.

Peel & cut the peaches into small slices (around 5/6 per tart) & put them all over the jam.

Add small pieces of salted butter (3/4 per tarts).

Spray 2 pinches of thyme.

Spray 2 nice pinches of brown sugar.

Bake for 30 minutes (until the crust is light brown, golden).

                                                                                                                             Relax, savour & share !

peach raspberry & nougat clafoutis (batter pudding)

Clafoutis is a batter pudding invented in french "Limousin" in the XIXth century. It is traditionally made with cherries.

Nougat has been made since antiquity all around the orient. It was then made with almonds, honey and spices.
It has been imported to marseille first then to Montélimar during the XVIIth century.

Nowdays, Montélimar is still the french capital of nougat.

It is not before the XVIIIth century that they added egg whites melted with honey & sugar to give it its airy texture.

This recipe is a perfect mix between tradition and modernity !!

Serves : 6

Here's what we need :

500g fresh peaches, 100g nougat, 200g raspberries, 80g sugar, 60g butter, 80g flour, 4 eggs, 25cl milk, pinch salt.

A 7.87 inches suare cakepan.






Here's what we do :

Preheat your oven at 356°F.

Melt the butter on medium heat or in your microwave.

Peel & stone the peaches then cut them into squares.

Coarsely chop the nougat.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with sugar.

Add the flour & the melted butter.

Add the salt & milk.

Butter your cakepan.

Spread in the pan the peaches, raspberries & nougat.

Pour the batter.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
                                                                                                                              Relax, savour & share!

Fiadone : soft Brocciu goat cheese and lemon tartlets

Here comes a traditional dessert recipe from Corsica.

In corsica, they have that marvellous cheese called "brocciu" made of goat milk. You can eat it soft or older and dry. Fiadone is made  with soft Brocciu, but unless you live or plan to go to Corsica I'm quite sure you won't find it.

Don't worry !! I have good news for you...you can use ricotta cheese instead !!!

Corsica is also well know for chesnuts, so I mixed chesnut flour with all purpose flour.
It tastes even more from the "island"!!

It is so easy to make and so yummy freshly delicious, you're going to love it !!

Yields : 6 tartlets of 4,13 inches

Here's what we need :

for the crust : 150g chesnut flour, 100g all purpose flour, 100g icing sugar, 1 pinch salt, 125g butter, 1 egg.

for the fiadone batter : 1 organic lemon, 300g soft Brocciu or ricotta cheese, 3 eggs, 130g sugar.

3 hours.

6 round 4,13 inches tart moulds.



Here's what we do :

the crust :

Work the butter with your hands until soft.

Add salt and icing sugar & stir until combined.

Whisk in the egg.

Add flours & work just until combined.

Put aside in your fridge for 1 hour.

Knead the dough with your hand palms, cut it in 4 pieces, superpose them & flatten with your hand palms, repeat 2 times.

Put it back in your fridge for 1 hour.

preheat your oven at 338°F.

Flatten the dough with a rolling spin and cut it in 6 round pieces (0,80 inches larger than your moulds to cover sides).

butter your moulds.

Lay down the dough in each one of them.

Bake for 10 minutes.

The fiadone batter :

Meanwhile, grate the lemon zest.

In a bowl, mash the cheese with a fork.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with ther sugar until light yellow & fluffy.

Add the grated lemon zest .

Whisk in the cheese until well combined.

Pour the batter into each  prebaked crust.

Bake for 30 minutes.

                                                                                                                                   relax, savour & share!

strawberry olive oil and basil soup with a twist

First stawberries are back on the market !!

To celebrate their arrival I thought of a recipe that I admit might be quite surprising at first sight !

But strawberries really do get along with olive oil and basil !
To add a little twist I used japanese sake and blackcurrant cream liquor.

You can serve it as a dessert by itself or with a chocolate cake, simply divine !
Why not for breakfast on a french toast ?!

Serves : 4

Here's what we need :

500g good stawberries, 4 tablespoons olive oil, 150g brown sugar, 2 teaspoons sake, 2 tablespoons blackcurrant cream liquor, 10 drops basil essential oil.



Here's what we do :

Wash the strawberries under cold water.

Remove the green and cut them in 4 lenghtwise.

In a saucepan on medium heat, pour olive oil and heat.

Add the strawberries with sugar, stir gently for 5 minutes.

Add sake, blackcuuant cream liquor and basil essential oil, stir.

Heat for 15 minutes.

Put aside until cold and store in fridge.

                                                                                                                                   relax, savour & share!

Pear and pistachio tartlet

Spring is here for almost a month, and little by little we're taking off our coat and whool sweater.
Thinking of the sun and nature coming back to life I was craving for pears and pistachio.
I love the juicy sugary flavor of pears. Their light yellow color goes so well with the dark green pistachio cream, not to mention the wonderful mix of flavours.

Serves : 4 tartlets

Here's what we need :

for the crust : 200g flour, 50g icing sugar, 50g pistachio powder, 1 pinch of salt, 125g butter at room tempareture.

2 pears.

For the pistachio cream : 50g icing sugar, 50g almond powder, 20g pistachio paste, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 1 egg, 50g melted butter, 3cl whipping cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.






Here's what we do :

let's start with the crust :

In a large bowl, mix icing sugar, flour, pistachio powder & salt.

make a well and add the butter coarsely chopped. Work with your finger tips until sandy.

Add 2 tablespoons of cold water & make a ball.

Allow to rest 1 hour in the fridge.

It is time for the pistachio cream :

In a bowl, mix the icing sugar with the pistachio, pistachio paste & cornstarch.

Add the egg, the melted butter, whipping cream & vanilla extract.

Preheat the oven at 320°F

spray the crust with a rolling spin & divide it in 4 circles.

Put the circles in 4 round pie moulds. Cover with wax paper & dry beans.

Bake for 15/20 minutes. Remove the beans & wax paper.

Meanwhile, peal the pears & cut them into thin slices.

Garnish the tartlets with the pistachio cream, cover with the pear slices.

Bake for 20 minutes.

                                                                                                                                   relax, savour & share!

Exotic Banoffee

Close your eyes and picture yourself on a beautiful beach of a caribbean island.
Under your feet you can feel the warm and soft white sand.
The air is filled with the scent of the sea.
Now, grab a spoon and open your mouth...
Let's introduce yourself to a luscious exotic flavors mix.

Yieds : 11 inches round springcake mould

Here's what we need :

4 bananas, 3 tablespoons rhum, 300g lime & cardamom curd (here), 20cl whipping cream, 200g biscuits, 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, 125g salted butter, 3 tablespoons sugar.

Here's what we do :

In a sauce pan, melt the salted butter on medium heat.

In a large bowl, crumble the biscuits, pour the salted butter & mix with cocoa powder.

Cover the bottom of springcake mould with parchment paper & pack biscuits mixture on.

Cut your bananas in small round slices and caramelize on medium heat with some sugar.




Pour 2 tablespoons of rhum & make bananas "flambé".

Lay the bananas on the biscuits.

Cover with lime & cardamom curd.

Make a chantilly with whipping cream, 1 tablespoon of rhum & sugar (use a cream whipper or whisk the cream until whipped but not buttered).

Spray whipped cream on curd.
                                                                                                                                   relax, savour & share!

Lime & cardamom curd

Sunny morning !! Sunny cooking !!

Yes, sunshine is bringing with it an irresistible craving for exotic flavors.
I wouldn't complain, would you ?
That lime and cardamom curd is like a trip to sunny islands...
So, buckle up and get ready to take off...

Yields : 1/4 liter

Here's what we need :

4 limes, 120g butter, 3 eggs, 225g brown sugar, 2 teaspoons cardamom powder.

Here's what we do :

Squeeze the limes and grate their zests.

 Heat butter, sugar, limes juice and zests in a saucepan on medium heat.



beat the eggs in a bowl.

Add beaten eggs to the lime mixture and put back on heat, stir nonstop until it thickens.

It's done !
                                                                                                                                   relax, savour & share!

Amaretto poached pears gianduja tart

If you thought we were done with gianduja, well...No !! Now it's time to have baking fun with it. In this recipe you will taste how Amaretto, pears & gianduja go together so deliciously, and how a buttery crispy puff pastry makes a perfect nest.

By the way, Amaretto is a wonderful sweet italian almond liquor.

yields : 6

here's what we need :

2 1/2 hours
3 pears, 1 lemon juice, 1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 100g brown sugar, 10cl amaretto, 50cl water, puff pastry (homemade if possible), 160g gianduja (here), 5cl whipping cream.

here's what we do :

Peal the pears, divide them in 2 by the middle & put in lemon juice (so they won't oxidize).

Pour water with brown sugar, cinnamon stick, amaretto & star anise in a saucepan, heat until a boil then add pears, poach on low-medium heat until they're soft & translucent.
Take the pears out & put aside in fridge for 2 hours.

Preheat your oven at 302°F
Spread your puff pastry with a rolling pin & lay it down on a round pie pan. Prick pastry all over with a fork.
Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool down.

heat the whipping cream in a saucepan, add the gianduja & whisk.
Spread the gianduja "ganache" on pastry.

Cut the pears into thin slices & lay them down on the gianduja ganache.
                                                                                                                                   relax, savour & share!

Sabayon with mango

Sabayon has always been scary to me! It was like mastering the art of magic...But, my greedy curiosity for that gorgious italian dessert wouln't allow me to escape the challenge any longer! isn't the first move the hardest to make? Well, it's done...and was a great success! So, don't hesitate...

The original recipe used grapefruits, I switched for mango....D.E.L.I.R.I.C.I.O.U.S !!!!

yelds : 6 small plates

here's what we need :

1 mango, 3 tablespoons icing sugar, 3 eggs, 60g sugar + 2 tablespoons, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, 10cl marsala wine, 3 drops almond extract, 20cl whipping cold cream.

here's what we do :

Divide egg yoks & whites
In a large bowl, mix egg yolks with 60g sugar & cornstarch
Put the bowl on a "bain marie" over medium heat & whisk for 3 minutes, it must be fluffy & double up
Out of heat, add marsala & almond extract & whisk for 3 more minutes
Set aside in fridge.

In a second bowl, whisk cold whipping cream with 2 tablespoons sugar until you have a lovely "chantilly"
Incorporate to the sabayon.

Peel & cut mango into slices & arrange in the plates
Pour the sabayon, sprinkle with icing sugar
put plates under oven grill for 2 minutes.
                                                                                                                                   relax, savour & share!