Dessert

Almond and Sour Cherry Biscotti

~ Lynn ~ 21 Comments

Biscotti with almonds and dried sour cherries

Last week I did something I hardly ever do.

I read. And not just 140 characters at a time. I read an actual book. From cover to cover.

I love to read, but somehow rarely take the time to sit down with a good book. The interweb pulls me in and sucks up all my time.

But while on vacation there’s always time for a good book. Last week I got caught up in the lives of the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The book takes place just after the second World War. Told entirely through letters, it tells the story of a group of people who survived occupation by the Germans on the British island of Guernsey. The literary society is created in a moment of panic. To make the lie the truth, the characters start meeting regularly to discuss literature. In doing so they discover a love of reading that helps them get through those difficult years. Although the topic is a very heavy one, the book is lighthearted and easy to read. I was skeptical about the format, but found that the characters came alive through their letters to each other. How can you not love a group of people who insist there be pie when all there is to eat is potato?

I got completely lost in the book and finished it in a day. It reminded me why I love reading so much, and so I’ve made a promise to myself to not always let the interweb grab my attention. I will curl up with a coffee and a good book more often. And maybe nibble on a few Almond and Sour Cherry Biscotti while I’m at it.

Biscotti with almonds and dried sour cherries, with a hot cup of coffee

Before I give you the recipe I need to write a disclaimer. Although the biscotti were delicious, some of them broke as I sliced them. I think my almond pieces were too big. My suggestion is to make sure there are no large chunks or use an electric knife to slice the cookies.

Almond and Sour Cherry Biscotti

Modified from Food and Wine

  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1/2 cup almonds, chopped
  • 1/2 cup dried sour cherries
  1. Preheat the oven to 325 F
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl cream the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, followed by the almond extract. Add the dry ingredients then mix on low speed until well combined. With a wooden spoon stir in the almonds and sour cherries.
  4. Grease a baking sheet, then turn the dough out onto. Shape the dough into a log, about three inches wide 6 inches long. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden. Place the cookie sheet on a rack to cool for 5 minutes, then cut 1/2 to 1 inch thick slices with a serrated or electric knife. Bake the slices for 7 minutes on each side.
  5. Let cool completely before serving.
Enjoy!

Love Vermont Chocolate Fudge Brownies

~ Lynn ~ 22 Comments

I’ve mentioned before that up until a few years ago my parents rented a cottage off Lake Memphremagog every summer. It was a beautiful place. The cottage was right on the water, we would sit on the dock with a cup of coffee and enjoy the sights and sounds. To me there is nothing more soothing than the sound of water lapping the shore. Around the cottage there were woods and trails. Before 9/11 you could wander through the woods and accidentally end up in Canada. The woods are much more heavily guarded now. Things change.

Since we stopped renting the cottage I’ve been to Vermont a handful of times. So when a friend of mine posted on Facebook that she had booked a trip to Burlington and could no longer go, I jumped at the chance to buy it from her.

My mom and I drove down Sunday afternoon. We stayed at the Essex Inn and Culinary Institute, about 15 minutes from downtown Burlington. Although the inn is nowhere near water, it immediately reminded me of the cottage. The air was crisp and clean, surrounding the inn are woods with hiking trails. Sadly, the trails were washed out by Irene, with trees blocking several paths. This was one of the first signs that Vermont is still recovering from the storm.

Our original plan was to spend one day in Burlington and to spend another driving around Vermont. Burlington is lovely. It’s a small city, but there’s so much to do. We shopped the Church Street Marketplace, enjoyed some local chocolates from Lake Champlain Chocolates, and ate at Leunig’s Bistro.  In the afternoon we walked to the Lake Champlain Waterfront, where we met a couple from Kent, England. These very kind people highly recommended the boat tour of Lake Champlain, unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to take it.

My favourite part of the trip took place Monday evening. We had dinner at the Inn then went for a walk around the grounds. It was a cool night which I wasn’t dressed for and I was about to suggest we go back inside when we saw a bonfire being built. We decided to sit by the fire to warm up. We were joined by an eclectic group of Inn guests, and soon we were roasting marshmallows and all singing along to John Denver songs by the fire.

“Take me home, country road…” 

It was a wonderful night and highlighted what I like most about Vermont: the people.

We changed our plans to drive around because of the roads and bridges that are still washed out. Vermont was hit unexpectedly hard by Irene, and they are still recovering. In addition to washed out roads, there are people who have lost their homes, farmers whose crops were destroyed. The photos of the damage are heartbreaking. El of Fresh New England has set up a page for those of you who would like to help here. She’s also asked that we make Love Vermont Chocolate Fudge Cake . I chose to make brownies instead, although I didn’t follow El’s recipe, these brownies were made with love.

Love Vermont Fudge Brownies

  • 6 oz semi sweet chocolate
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 eggs at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup maple chips
  • 1/4 cup white chocolate chips
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  2. Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate and the butter together, stirring until smooth. Let cool slightly, then stir in the sugar, followed by the vanilla.
  3. Stir in the eggs 1 at a time, then add the flour and salt. Stir until no traces of flour are visible, then add the chips.
  4. Pour into a greased 8×8 baking pan, then bake for 22 to 27 minutes until a tester comes out clean. The longer the brownies are baked, the more cake-like they will be.
  5. Let cool, then cut into squares.
Enjoy!

Raspberry Charlotte

~ Lynn ~ 26 Comments

This weekend we celebrated my dad’s birthday. When I asked him what he wanted, he said it didn’t matter. Birthday’s aren’t important to him because growing up they were never celebrated. To me that’s all the more reason to want to celebrate now. At the very least, a birthday needs a cake.

I was eventually able to get a request for cake with pudding out of him. I had originally planned to make a chocolate pudding tart, but when my mom came home with raspberries those plans changed to a Charlotte. Charlotte’s are molded cakes filled with mousse or custard and surrounded by cake or lady fingers. They are relatively easy to make and look very impressive.

I say relatively because I had a really, really hard time getting the Lady Fingers to stand up. I read several recipes from blogs, cook books, magazines, they all gave the same instruction: stand the lady fingers around the mold. None of them explained how to get them to stand. In the end I cut them in half to give them flat bottoms, making them more balanced.

I filled the Charlotte with a layer of Grand Marnier flavoured pastry cream and another of whipped cream, then topped the whipped cream with raspberries. To tie the flavours together I dipped the Lady Fingers in a Grand Marnier simple syrup. The result was creamy and decadent; the raspberries added the perfect touch of freshness.

Raspberry Charlotte

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar (divided)
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 tbsp Grand Marnier (divide)
  • 1 package store bought Lady Fingers (or home made)
  • 250 ml whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp icing sugar
  • 1 pint raspberries
  1. Make the pastry cream: In a heat-proof bowl whisk the egg yolks with 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Whisk in the flour and cornstarch, the mixture should look like a paste. Set aside. Heat the milk and vanilla in a medium sauce pan. Heat till just before boiling (there will be some small bubbles popping up). Pour a small amount of the hot milk into the egg mixture and whisk to combine (this will temper the eggs). Pour in the remaining milk, whisking constantly. Return the custard to the saucepan, turn the heat to medium and whisk constantly until thickened. Stir in 1 tbsp Grand Marnier. Pour into a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap then set aside to cool.
  2. Place the Lady Fingers: In a small sauce pan, heat 1/2 cup water with 1/4 cup sugar and 2 tbsp Grand Marnier. Let cool slightly. While cooling cut some the Lady Fingers in half, you will need enough to line the inside of a 9 inch springform pan. Lightly dip one Lady Finger in the simple syrup, then stand it up in the closed springform pan; the flat bottom of the cut Lady Finger should help it stand. Repeat until the entire rim is lined, then fill the base with dipped Lady Fingers. Pour the pastry cream into the springform pan. Refrigerate until set (about an hour).
  3. Once set whip the cream with the icing sugar. Spread on the pastry cream, then top with the raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve, then remove the springform mold.
Enjoy!

Grape and Rosemary Cake

~ Lynn ~ 30 Comments

Another of summer treasures has arrived in Quebec over the last couple of weeks: Concord Grapes. Concord Grapes are a little smaller than the standard varieties, and I find them to be much sweeter. Their season only lasts a couple of weeks and they’re really easy to miss. I bought a small box and started munching on them right away.

As I was stuffing my face with grapes I wondered how else I could use them. Then I remembered this month’s Bake Together. Abby Dodge has asked us to bake a simple fruit cake our way. Concord Grapes were clearly how I wanted to go. I struggled with how to flavour the cake for awhile. I considered following Abby’s original instructions, or maybe some cardamom. Then Janice suggested rosemary, which sounded perfect. I didn’t want an overwhelming rosemary flavour so I used Janice’s infused honey method from her Lavender Honey Cakelettes.

Grape and Rosemary Cake

  • 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon table salt
  • 6 tablespoons clarified butter
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp rosemary infused honey
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 pint Concord Grapes
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp flour
  1. Preheat the oven to 350. Line a 9 in round pan with parchment paper, leaving enough overhang to pull the cake out of the pan once done.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar together with an electric mixer. Mix in the honey. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla.
  4. Mix in the dry ingredients alternating with the sour cream.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. During this time prepare the fruit, toss the grapes with 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp flour. Once the 15 minutes are done pour the fruit on top of the cake (you’ll have to work quickly). Bake for and additional 25 to 30 minutes.
  6. Serve with a drizzle of rosemary honey.
Enjoy!

Peach Cherry Crisp

~ Lynn ~ 20 Comments

When I was a kid if you asked me what my favourite fruit was I would answer with zero hesitation: cherries.

Today the answer is a little more complicated. It varies from month to month. In June I think strawberries are the greatest thing ever. Once July comes around my attention is divided between raspberries and cherries. In August I eat Lac St Jean Blueberries by the handful.

I’d like to say that peaches are on my list, but I’ve found it increasingly difficult to find good peaches in the last few years. I remember eating Niagara peaches from those pretty little baskets when I was young that were incredibly sweet and bursting with flavour. Lately I’ve found them to hard and tasteless; so disappointing I would rarely buy them. This weekend I had a peach that brought me back to my childhood. It was exactly the flavours I remembered. These weren’t from Niagara; I don’t know where they were from (unless Costco is a country).

Fruit that good cannot be allowed to go to waste so I used a few in a crisp. I decided to add a few cherries to please my inner child as well.I flavoured the fruits with almond extract and added some almond meal to the crisp topping. If you can find oats that haven’t been in contact with wheat this dessert is a great gluten free treat.

Peach Cherry Crisp

  • 3 large peaches, sliced
  • 1 cup cherries, pitted and halved
  • 1/4 cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp almond extract (or 1 tbsp amaretto)
  • 2 cups oats
  • 1/3 cup almond meal
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup butter, cold and cut into cubes
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 F
  2. In a bowl toss the fruit with 1 tbsp sugar and the almond extract. Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl, mix the oats, almond meal, cinnamon and salt together. Add the butter, then using your fingers tips cut the butter into the oat mixture. It should clump together when combined
  4. Pour the fruit into a baking dish or pie plate, top with the oat mixture.
  5. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
  6. Serve warm or cold.
Enjoy!

Crème Bavaroise avec Gelée aux Fraises

~ Lynn ~ 24 Comments

Montreal is a city that is bursting at the seams with restaurants. I read recently that we have the most restaurants per capita in North America. I don’t know if that’s true but based on the number of restaurants I want to try, it certainly feels possible. To keep track of all the places we need to try Janice and I have a List. The List is hard to track; it’s maintained in email strings that are hundreds of emails long. The only way to find it is to search our mail for “restaurant list”, then sort through random chit chat. We might we need a better system.

One of the restaurants that has been on the list since we started it over a year ago is Joe Beef. We finally made it there a couple of weeks ago and had an incredible meal. I’m really not sure why we waited so long to go. I chose not to bring my camera to dinner because I wanted to focus on the meal, but as soon as we stepped out onto the terrace in the back and saw the incredible garden I regretted it. The patio is surrounded by a vegetable and flower garden that would make any home gardener quite jealous.

After quite a bit of deliberation, we finally chose our meal. For appetizers we shared shrimp with aioli and stuffed squash blossoms as well as scallop ceviche and cucumber salad. Both were excellent, but the highlight for me was the squash blossom. It was the first time I had ever had one, and I loved it. I honestly don’t know how to describe it other than delicate and deep fried.

For mains I had the cod and onion and Janice had the ribs. The fish was perfect served with onions cooked three ways (including a really awesome onion ring). Towards the end of our meal, Dave (one of the owners) came by to see how we were doing. Through the magic of twitter he knew who I was, which is fun. He told us about the hydroponic garden the have the restaurants basement, and the constant inspections they go through because of unusual electricity usage. It’s pretty safe to say that most people in Montreal with hydroponic equipment are not growing tomatoes. Some review boards have complaints about Dave’s attitude, but I found him to be warm and inviting; our conversation with him added to the ambiance of the evening.

For dessert Janice had the financiers and I had the bavarian cream with rhubarb compote. Having a dessert in a restaurant made from food grown in the backyard garden is pretty incredible. The bavarian cream was really light and airy, and the rhubarb had just the right amount of sweetness. That dessert inspired the recipe I’m sharing with you now.

I decided to use Quebec strawberries instead of rhubarb, and added a layer of strawberry gelée at the bottom. For the gelée I followed this recipe from the LA Times. My bavarian cream wasn’t quite as airy as what I had at Joe Beef, but it was very good. It was thick and creamy, not too gelatin-ey. It’s a perfect dessert for hot summer days. This dessert does take time to put together as there are several “setting” periods.

Bavarian Cream with Strawberry Gelée

For the Gelée

  • 1 pint strawberries, hulled
  • Juice of one lime
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 package gelatine
  1. Fill a medium pot halfway with water then bring to a boil. In a metal bowl that will fit over the pot, mix the strawberries lime juice and sugar together. Cover with plastic wrap then place over the boiling water (like a doulble boiler). Lower the heat and let the water simmer for an hour.
  2. Using a mesh strainer lined with a paper coffee filter, strain the strawberries into another bowl. Gently press down on the strawberries to extract all the juice, reserve the strawberry pulp for another use (great on pancakes)
  3. Mix the gelatin with 1/4 cup warm water to dissolve, then add it to the strawberry juice. Pour into serving dishes and let cool in the refrigerator until set, about 2 hours.
Bavarian Cream
  • 3 tablespoons cold water
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons gelatin
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 1tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups whipping cream
  1. Dissolve the gelatin in the water. Set aside.
  2. In a metal bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together.
  3. In a medium saucepan heat the milk and vanilla until small bubbles form around the edges of the pot. Do not let it come to a full boil.
  4. Whisk a small amount of the milk into the egg yolks to temper them. Slowly pour the remaining milk into the eggs whisking constantly.
  5. Pour the mixture back into the sauce pan and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. The mixture should start to thicken.
  6. Pour back into a bowl and stir in the gelatin. Place the bowl in an ice bat to cool.
  7. While the custard is cooling, whip the cream to soft peak. Once the custard has cooled completely but before it starts to set, fold the whipped cream in. Pour into serving dishes and let set in the refrigerator for at least three hours.
Macerated Strawberries
  • 1/2 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • mint, sliced
  1. Toss all the ingredients together and let sit for about 30 minutes until the strawberries start to release their juice.
  2. Pour over set bavarian cream and serve.
Enjoy!

Watermelon Salad

~ Lynn ~ 18 Comments

I’ve had a couple of conversations recently about how hard it is to meet men. Where do you go? It’s pretty much impossible to have a conversation in a bar. Online dating is like looking for a needle in haystack. I already know all of my friends friends, although I could go to the friends friends friends level. At one point I thought I might meet a man in the elevators of my office building. There was this really cute guy I’d see often who would smile at me. Then one day I saw him in a restaurant with his girlfriend and realized he’s just an elevator flirt.

Both of the friends I talked to about this had already come to the conclusion that the only place to meet a man is the grocery store. There are some rules to keep in mind though.

  1. A man in a big grocery store in the burbs is most likely already in a relationship; small urban markets are the way to go.
  2. There is nothing to talk about in the canned soup aisle other than the amount of sodium in the cans; if you spot a cute guy there try and catch him again in the beer aisle.
  3. A man who only has beer and chips in his cart might be fun, but ultimately I believe the relationship would be unsatisfying.
  4. The best spot to meet a man in the grocery store is the produce section. You can discuss weird looking greens, how to pick a ripe fruit, and if your lucky melons might get squeezed.

And that brings me to the recipe part of this post; watermelon salad. I considered doing a savoury version, as that seems to be the trend these days, but to me watermelon is a sweet treat to enjoy at the end of a long hot day. It’s Watermelon is quite sweet on its own so I used just a bit of honey to sweeten the salad and a little rum to make it extra delicious (booze always makes dessert better).

Watermelon Salad

Serves 4

  • 1/2 a medium watermelon
  • 2 mangoes
  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 3 tbsp honey
  • 1 oz rum
  • Mint, finely chopped
  1. Using a melon baller, scoop out the watermelon and the mangoes into a medium bowl.
  2. In a glass, mix the lime juice, honey and rum together.
  3. Pour the line mixture over the fruit and toss with the mint.
Enjoy!

Kaffeeklatsch

~ Lynn ~ 8 Comments

Last Sunday Janice and I participated in an culinary event I will not soon forget; Kaffeeklatsch at Laloux.

Kaffeeklastch is an event created by Michelle Marek, pastry chef at Laloux. For a small fixed fee we got the choice of a pastry and a petit four, with coffee from Cafe Myriade. In the past all of the pastries at Kaffeeklatsch were made by Marek, but this time Stéphanie Labelle of Pâtisserie Rhubarbe also provide some incredible treats for us to try.

I don’t usually do restaurant reviews; I’m too busy eating to take pictures. These pastries were so pretty I had to take some pictures of them. The light at Laloux is incredible. The bistro has huge windows along the sides and front that stream light through in such a pretty way.

Because of nut allergies, our choices were limited, but we were still very pleased. Janice chose the Religieuse à la Rhubarbe (above) while I had the Tarte à la Rhubarbe (below). Religieuse are similar to cream puffs, but stacked. In this case they were filled with a rhubarb cream and came with a rhubarb compote. The cream was the perfect sweet/tart combination, and the compote added an extra kick of rhubarb. Labelle’s pastry is also incredible; it’s not like a typical choux pastry. I’d love to know how she makes it. My mom and discussed a few options, some experimenting will be done.

The Tarte was also wonderful. It had a frangipane like filling, which complimented the rhubarb  very nicely. Again there was a great sweet tart balance. I’m going to try to replicate this myself too, although I doubt I can come close to this.

The pastries were followed by petit fours. Janice order rum balls, while I had the chocolate raspberry linzer cookie. Since these were petit we didn’t share them, but I can tell you the linzer was very good; it had a hint of cinnamon. Janice really enjoyed the rum ball.

We were there with a few other Montreal foodies, including Mayssam, Katerine, and Andrea. After watching them order everything (I mean everything) on the menu, we decided a little more pastry wouldn’t hurt. So we split the Sachertorte. Sachertorte is an Austrian chocolate torte. The slice I had was dense and moist, and Marek did an incredible job.

If that wasn’t enough, we took more pastries to go. We both chose the strudel and religieuse. Unfortunately, the strudel is full of walnuts so I didn’t get to try it, but my parents loved it.

All in all it was a wonderful Sunday afternoon. I’m already dreaming of the next Kaffeeklatsch!

Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding

~ Lynn ~ 27 Comments

In my condo I had pretty basic equipment. When I first moved in my budget for appliances was .. well it was low. I bought the cheapest fridge and stove that I could find, and I waited a couple of years before buying a washer and dryer. Even though it was inexpensive, my stove always got the job done. Bread, cakes, roasts; you name it, it was tasty. My only regret was that it wasn’t self cleaning. I didn’t realize how horrible cleaning an oven is until I had to get in there and do it.

Now that I’m back at my parent’s house I have a brand new stove. It’s a lot fancier than what I’m used to. A friend of mine told me that some baked goods don’t work in gas stoves. He didn’t know what wouldn’t work, and I’m not sure I believe it, but I was curious. I decided I’d need to start baking a variety of things to see.

I originally planned a cherry clafoutis, but then I saw this recipe for Vanilla Cherry Bread Pudding. My mind immediately went back to the chocolate babka I made this easter. The first one imploded due to the weight of the chocolate. It failed as a loaf, but it tasted great so I had cut it into chunks and freeze for a bread pudding. Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding became my first baking experiment in my new oven.

I made a couple of changes to the recipe, the biggest being that I used chocolate babka instead of plain brioche. I also used Amaretto instead of port in the cherry compote. I left out the maple anise ice cream and simply used vanilla ice cream. The results were really, really good. Chocolate and cherry is one of my favourite flavour combinations. The only thing I’d change would be to add more cherry.

I know that most of you don’t have a chocolate babka sitting in the freezer waiting to become bread pudding, so I recommend using brioche and 8 ounces of bittersweet chocolate chopped.

Chocolate Cherry Bread Pudding

  • 45 sweet cherries, pitted
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup Amaretto
  • 1 chocolate babka or 1 loaf brioche and 8 oz bittersweet chocolate
  • 3 cups whole milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 large egg yolks
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature
  1. Make the cherry compote: In a saucepan bring the Amaretto and sugar to a simmer for 5 minutes. Add the cherries and continue to simmer for 5-10 minutes, until the cherries have softened and the liquid has thickened. Pour into a heat proof jar, then place the jar in an ice bath to cool the compote. Set aside.
  2. Make the bread pudding. In a large saucepan, bring the milk and vanilla to a simmer. While the milk is heating, whisk eggs, 2/3 cup sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Once the milk is simmering, pour a small amount into the egg mixture while whisking. Then pour the rest of the milk, whisking constantly.
  3. Grease a 6 by inch baking dish with the butter. Place half of the babka pieces in the baking dish, cover with half the cherry compote, then the remaining babka. Pour the egg/milk over the bread. Let the milk soak for 5 minutes then bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.
  4. Serve with vanilla ice cream topped with the remaining cherry compote.
Enjoy!

Guest Post: For The Love of Cookies!

~ Lynn ~ 4 Comments

In my last post I mentioned that I’m looking for people to guest post, as I’ve been incredibly busy lately. I didn’t really think anyone would volunteer, but I underestimated the kindness of food bloggers. Almost immediately Marnely of Cooking With Books sent me a message offering to help.

Marnely is a blogger I discovered through the magic of Twitter (follow her @nella22). I’ve only just recently “met” her, but can already tell that she is a kind, generous and fun person. You can see from her blog and her choice of career that she is also very passionate about food and has lots to share. I hope you enjoy her guest post as much as I did!

For the Love of Cookies!

Marnely of Cooking with Books

 I’d love to say I have great memories of my Cookies, Tarts and Mignardises class at the CIA. Baking cookies all day and taking boxes to share with roommates, what was not to love? I’ll tell you what: the homework! We were sent every day with a tray of labeled cookies to taste test. About 20 cookies a day, for the first week of the class, that’s 100 cookies in a week. You might be thinking, oh I wish I had that homework! No darling readers, you don’t. It gets old, FAST.

Day One, you were excited, “Oh cookies! Yum!” and wouldn’t even share with your roommate.
Day Two was, “Oh…cookies. Ok, let’s get this over with!”
Day Three, “Hey Roommate, you want to taste these cookies and tell me your thoughts?”
Day 3 and 4, the roommate (a cook, not a baker) would eat your cookies and help.
Day 5, you did the unthinkable. Remember wine tasting and spit buckets? Yeah, I’ll spare you the details.
That my friends, is the life of a baking and pastry student in culinary school. On Pie day in Baking Techniques, we took home 8 pies each. Good thing the CIA is visited by more than a million tourists a year, so as I walked out of class I handed them pies, cakes, cookie boxes, chocolates and candies. We feared the Freshman 15, which turned out to be more like the Freshman 22 for me.
Well, back to this post for Lynn. I wanted to share a simple but great tea cake recipe. Financiers are commonly confused with pastries but they are actually French cakes typically made in rectangular molds. Their flavor is based on both almond flour and the browned butter in it. Since berry season is approaching, this is a great way to showcase your berries! Serve with whipped cream on the side and enjoy with your afternoon tea or coffee.
Financier
Recipe from “The Culinary Institute of America” 

Photo Credit: The Culinary Institute of America
8.2 oz Almond flour
6 oz Sugar
1.5 oz Cornstarch
Pinch Salt
6 oz. Egg whites
2 oz. Honey
5 oz Brown Butter
Raspberries or blueberries, frozen
1.      Melt butter in small sauce pan and continue to heat until the butter reaches a light brown color. Cool.
2.      Combine the almond flour, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl.
3.      Whisk egg whites gently, only until frothy. Add to dry ingredients and then stir in the honey.
4.      Stream in the brown butter and incorporate.
5.      Pipe into silicone molds and garnish with a berry before baking.
6.      Bake at 375 F, until edges are golden brown.