milk chocolate & salted butter caramel crunchy tart

Another Pierre Hermé delight !!
I challenge anyone to resist that crunchy creamy salty sweety chocolaty tart !!

It is sophisticated & fine, with the perfect balance between salt & sweet.

Good news : there is no complicated technique to achieve it.

Serves : 8 (9.4 inches tart mould)

Here's what we need :

6 hours.

 the pastry : 4 hours in advance, 75g soft butter, 47g icing sugar, 125g flour, 15g almond powder, pinch of salt, 1/2 egg.



salted butter creamy caramel : 100g sugar, 20g glucose, 20g salted butter, 10cl whipping cream, 60g nougat, 60g grilled & salted peanuts.

milk chocolate ganache : 480g milk chocolate, 30cl whipping cream.

Here's what we do :

the pastry : In a bowl, mix the flour & salt, add the soft butter coarsely chopped & work with your fingertips until sandy.

make a well, add the 1/2 egg, pour sugar & almond powder.

Mix with your fingertips until just combined.

Down the dough with your palm a few times then make a ball, cover with a cling film and refrigerate for 4 hours.

preheat you oven at 356°F.

spray the dough with a pinroll.

Cover your mould with a parchment paper & place the dough, then cover it with a second parchment paper & dry beans (or culinary small wheights).

Bake the pastry for 25 minutes.

Allow to cool down & take the beans & parchment off.

the salted butter creamy caramel : Pour the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.

When it starts to melt, add the glucose.

Allow to caramelize until golden brown.

Add the salted butter & cream & mix well.


Heat for 2 more minutes.

put aside at room temperature.

Coarsely chop the nougat & peanuts.

the milk chocolate ganache : Coarsely chop the chocolate & put it in a medium bowl.

In a saucepan over medium heat, boil the whipping cream.

Pour  the hot cream on the chocolate in 3 times, mixing carefully.

Put aside at room temperature.

Pour the caramel on the pastry.

Sprinkle the nougat  & peanuts.

Make it freeze in your fridge for 30 minutes.

Add the milk chocolate ganache & make it freeze for 30 more minutes.
                                                                                                                            Relax, savour & share!

Baked custard tart

Hi everyone, today we're going to  bake a traditional french pastry.

This baked custard tart is also called "Parisian custard".
In fact every single bakery all over france has it on the counter.

It has a soft texture & a wonderful vanilla scent, just perfect for tea-time !!

Serves : 6

Here's what we need :

the pastry :

125g flour, 1/2 teasspoon salt, 1 teaspoon sugar, 125g butter at room temperature & cut in chunks, 1 egg yolk, 1 1/2 tablespoon milk.

the custard :

15cl milk, 15cl whipping cream, 40g flour, 2 eggs, 80g sugar, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract.









Here's what we do :

First the pastry :

Pour the flour in a large bowl.

Make a well and add the salt, sugar, butter, egg yolk & milk.

Work with your finger tips (or in a food procesor on medium speed) until well combined.

Put in the fridge for 1 hour.

Preheat your oven at 392°F.

Spray the pastry with a spin roll, put in your mould, cover with a baking sheet, fill with rice or ceramic pie wheights and cook for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk the eggs with the sugar & vanilla extract until light yellow & fluffy.

Add the flour.

Boil milk & cream together.

Add little by little to the mixture.

Pour the custard in the pastry.

Down your oven temperature to 338°F.

Cook for 25 minutes.

                                                                                                                            Relax, savour & share!

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!

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!

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!

mississippi mud pie

when I first saw that Mississippi mud pie recipe in Matt Lewis & Renato Poliafito cookbook "Baked exploration" it felt like a dream come true, like meeting the pie you know you're going to spend the rest of your life with...I just switched coffee ice cream for peanut butter whipped cream (mister frog wouldn't dare to eat coffee) and made my own cocoa crust...(I'll give you both recipes to choose!)


yelds : 9 inch pie

here's what we need :

4 hours

for the cocoa crust (mine) : 125g sugar, 250g flour, 125 butter at room temperature, 1 egg, 50g unsweetened cocoa powder.

Matt Lewis chocolate cookie crust : 30 chocolate wafers, 1 tablespoon sugar, 6 tablespoons butter (melted).

for the chocolate filling : 4 ounces dark chocolate, 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream, 3 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons light corn syrup, 1 cup icing sugar, 1 tablespoon bourbon.

for the peanut butter whipped cream : 20cl very cold whipping cream, 100g peanut butter, 50g sugar.

for the chocolate fudge topping : 2 tablespoons heavy cream, 2 tablespoons butter, 1 tablespoon light corn syrup, 3 ouncdes dark chocolate, 1 teaspoon bourbon (I skipped).

Pecan nuts, sugar.

here's what we do :

first let's make the crust : in a small bowl mix sugar & cocoa

In a second & larger bowl, pour flour, then add butter cut in small squares and work lightly with your finger tips until well combine & SANDY.

Dig a well, add the egg & the cocoa-sugar mix, work with your finger tips until homogeneous. Allow to rest 1 hour in fridge.

preheat oven at 350°F

Use a rolling pin to spraid your dough (not to thin) & bake in a 9 inch pie pan for 15/20 minutes (don't forget to prick dough with a fork, so it'll stay flat).

Here goes Matt Lewis crust version : In a food processor, pulverize the wafers cookie into a very fine crumb mixture. Place the crumbs into a bowl, add the sugar & stir until combined.

Pour the melted butter over the crumbs & mix well. Transfer to a 9 inch pie plate & press it into the bottom & up the sides. Use the back of a large spoon to get an even crust. Set aside in fridge.

now let's make the chocolate filling : coarsely chop chocolate & place in a large bowl.

In a saucepan, bring the cream, butter & corn syrup to a simmer. Pour it over chocolate & let sit for 1 minute. Whisk until completely smooth. Add icing sugar & bourbon & whisk.

Spread the chocolate filling evenly over the pie crust, cover & refrigerate for 2 hours.

here we go with the peanut butter whipped cream : in a cold bowl, pour the cold whipping cream & sugar, whisk well, add peanut butter, whisk still until thick.
Spread over the chocolate filling. Back to fridge...

meanwhile go on with the topping : coarsely chop chocolate & put in a bowl.
In a small saucepan over low heat, heat cream, butter, corn syrup, until simmer. Pour on chocolate & whisk. Stir in the bourbon if using. Whisk until it reaches room temperature & pour it over peanut butter cream.

caramelized pecan nuts with sugar in a frying pan over medium heat. Spread on a parchment to cool down.

Decorate your pie.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         relax, savour & share!