As Strong As Soup

Don't ask me about the history and origins of Hélénettes because I don't have a clue. All I know is that they're a simple, little, almond (or sometimes hazelnut) cake that's similar to a classic, old-style macaron but uses egg yolks rather than egg whites. This recipe is based on received wisdom (with only minor tweaks) from some French bakers that I've come across. They're really easy and quick to make. They're also a good way to use up egg yolks after the egg whites have played their part in other recipes such as meringues. I like the vanilla flavour in this recipe but it could be replaced with almond extract, orange flower water or whatever else you might fancy - within reason. Alternatively, you could leave out the added flavouring altogether. You could also replace the ground almonds with ground hazelnuts if you feel like it or if you have some languishing in your cupboard. ...

It's more than six years since I bothered you with my general-purpose “traditional” French macaron recipe  and at the time I promised to irritate you still further with my recreation of the macaron from the Picardy town of Amiens . Well, I may be slow but sometimes I do get there in the end. I have a fascination for the traditional food of Picardy not only because it's just across the channel but also because it's so often neglected, even by the French. This particular example of the macaron is said to date back to the sixteenth century, although I'm not pretending that my version is truly authentic. In fact, I've been told that if you make the Amiens macaron in less than three days, then you're not really trying. This type of macaron is sometimes baked in small cake tins, which will give you a more regular shape but I'm pretty confident that the more traditional bakers of Amiens don't do it that way. This version tends to be chunkier than most other ...

You may well imagine that I'm a sophisticated and elegant man-about-town but allow me to disabuse you a little. I can be a thoroughgoing tatterdemalion if I put my mind to it. I was going through a slovenly phase (it was my butler's night off) when I put the following together. I'm probably in a lot of trouble with the people of the Basque region for mucking about with these local specialities but I swear that I do it with a great fondness and respect and only partly because I've had a glass or two of kalimotxo. Let's start with my errant sort of muxu…. I fancied something to go with my evening espresso and so I made this inelegant, chocolatey sort of muxu. A few years ago it became the thing (at least among food bloggers) to create sophisticated, professional looking macarons. Quality patisserie is a wonderful thing but it's not what I usually enjoy baking and I'm rather glad that we've moved on a bit. The real muxu is a refined Basque speciality a...

I know it's  that time of year and all good food bloggers should be presenting their Christmas cakes, mince pies and puddings but I'm afraid I don't really do the classic Christmas stuff anymore. So here's the closest thing to a festive cake that I've made recently. I hope it makes up for the lack of Yuletide baking. It may not be traditional, but I like it a lot. The French town of Pithiviers has become famous for the puff pastry concoction that shares its name. They can be delightful but they're a newfangled invention dating back no earlier than the 18th century. By that time Pithiviers had long been renowned for this gâteau. So forget all about those pastry newcomers, this is one of those meltingly soft (well, fondant) almond cakes that has probably been around since the middle ages, although some people even claim that it originated with the Roman invasion of Gaul. It's a bit like a cross between a Gâteau Nantais and a Tarta de Santiago in my opi...

When I first came across visitandines I imagined that the name came from the fact that they were the perfect little cakes to take on a visit. That just proves how dumb I can be. In fact the cakes were first produced by nuns of the Ordre de la Visitation which was founded in the 17th century in Annecy. I have to admit that my knowledge of nuns is sketchy to say the least. The cakes are very similar to financiers but have probably been round a fair bit longer. The key difference is that one is made by pious, peaceful nuns and the other is made for bankers who'd rather have their cake and eat it. Some visitandine recipes call for browned butter (beurre noisette) and that will give the cakes a very fine flavour, although I think it makes the cakes taste a little too similar to some traditional madeleines. You may prefer them that way, though, so don't let me stop you. Visitandines are commonly baked in barquette moulds but small, round muffin tins will work very well and may ...

Most people I know are not only deeply suspicious of fat these days but are also putting on false beards and crossing the street to avoid bumping into sugar and so I suppose it's not surprising that I haven't added a cake recipe to the blog lately. But here's one that I've had around for a while. For some incomprehensible reason I was reluctant to publish this recipe because I thought that it wasn't an authentic Pain de Gênes. That's the first time I've been bothered by authenticity and, to be honest, it will probably be the last time too. The original and authentic Pain de Gênes should be made with almond paste unless I'm much mistaken (and I could be) but this recipe uses ground almonds and no flour. Oddly enough, I first came across this style of Pain de Gênes in my venerable copy of the 1950's classic 'Constance Spry Cookery Book' but since then I've seen a number of French recipes that are made in a similar way. It's a beautifu...

Tapenade and I have a complicated history. This is my latest version of that intensely flavoured paste and it really shouldn't be called tapenade - it's a bit like tapenade's distant relative. It's more of an almond, olive and sundried tomato dip with other things in it. Very tasty and very easy, though. If my memory is to be trusted (it's probably not) the first time I ever ate tapenade was back in the 1970s. Somehow or other I'd got involved in selling 'antique' furniture and other pre-loved collectible items. I'd become the largely useless assistant to a guy who most days knew a secretaire from a settee. I said ‘antique’ furniture but I think the word we used most often was ‘tat’.  Occasionally we'd get a decent piece and one day we sold a pleasant little oak table to a well-known musician. (I'm not saying who – he's still around and probably even better known now and I've got to save something for the third volume of my autobiog...

When it's in season I never really get bored with simply cooked asparagus but, just for a change, I do use it in some slightly more involved recipes. I've often made a simple asparagus risotto in the past but this year I've played around with different flavours that complement and enhance the asparagus.  Almond milk provides a good background flavour and gives the risotto a creamier texture.  It might sound odd but I think that a little ginger in the stock intensifies and highlights the taste of the asparagus.  Don’t overdo the ginger, though, or you won’t taste much else. The easiest way to create a little ginger juice is to squeeze about ½ - 1 inch of peeled fresh ginger in a garlic press; although you could use a commercial ginger extract instead. I served this risotto with a little jamón ibérico (I do mean a little - I can't afford a lot) and a small, simple salad of red pepper. I love both of those flavours with asparagus but in a way they're just icing on th...

I'm a fan of slow cookers but I often seem to forget about them except when making casseroles of one kind or another. They're much more useful than that. Using the slow cooker for chutneys means that you don't need to watch them too carefully but, even better than that, the slow cooking seems to blend and enrich the flavours exceptionally well. On the down side, it’s very difficult to give precise instructions on timings for slow cookers and I think it's quite tricky to get the amount of liquid in a preserve recipe correct. Slow cookers seem to vary a great deal, not only in the temperatures they reach, but also in the amount of liquid they tend to lose while cooking. So, it's possible that after the initial cooking period you may need to transfer the chutney to a conventional pan and boil it for a short while to get the desired consistency. This particular chutney is a classic combination but it's one that works very well with a range of different foods and t...

If you're unlucky enough to have been reading this blog for a while then you might have noticed a certain obsession with French baking and you can’t wander through the world of French baking for too long without falling over a macaron. Everyone must be familiar with the modern macaron, beloved of fine patisseries everywhere, but there are more traditional versions of the almond cakes which turn up in various places around France. Amiens, Reims, St Emilion, St Jean de Luz, Montmorillon, Cormery, Melun, Niort and Nancy all have their own versions and that’s just the ones I can think of for the moment. I feel an urge to include a few random facts at this point  (sorry, I can be really annoying sometimes): There’s a vaguely plausible theory that macarons may have been baked first in ancient Persia, although there’s little doubt that they arrived in France via Italy. Cormery claims the oldest recipe - allegedly dating from the 8 th century. The Cormery macarons are ring-shap...

This is a really well known traditional cake that you’ve probably seen many times before in books and blogs but I can’t resist bringing you my own version. It’s such a useful and versatile little treat. There are many variations around, including some which are more like a classic almond tart and some which are closer to the sort of substantial cake served with afternoon tea. For my first attempts at baking this cake many, many years ago I used a recipe that included butter and very pleasant it was too. Then someone from Spain told me that I should try it without the butter and that’s the way I prefer to make it now. This version is light, moist, simple, flourless and, admittedly, a little fragile. Although you can serve it very successfully with tea or coffee, this cake comes into its own as an excellent and easy dessert at any time of the year and after pretty much any sort of main course. You can serve it with cream, custard, yogurt or ice cream. You can also serve it with eithe...

There are a lot of seriously good biscuits in Brittany making use of the excellent local butter. In fact, bigoudens use less butter than many of the other Breton biscuits and, as a result, are crisper and very good for dunking. If you’ve read some of the previous postings in this blog, then you’ll know not to expect true authenticity, but there are a lot of local variations of this recipe, so I don’t feel too bad about offering my version. The butter in this recipe should really be salted – I’ve got into trouble before for using unsalted butter in Breton recipes and I don’t want any more disapproving looks from the people of Brittany, who are seriously proud of their salted butters. (I think that's enough buttering up now - perhaps I'll be allowed back into Brittany before too long). You should get somewhere between 20 and 30 biscuits depending on how big you make them. If you can avoid eating them all at once, they do keep well in an airtight tin. 300g plain flour 100 ...

I intended this to be short and sweet post about little, spongy biscuits. But I warn you that there’ll be a bit of a Proustian moment coming up. It all started because I needed cheering up. I also didn’t have a lot of time and I had some odds and ends to use up (notably some ground nuts). So biscuits seemed to be the answer, especially since I’ve had this recipe for Biarritz biscuits lying around for a while. Happily these biscuits are quick to put together (especially if you use a stand mixer) and quick to cook. This isn’t really the classic Biarritz biscuit – for instance, hazelnuts are not normally used as far as I know - but it is a pleasing substitute. Normally Biarritz biscuits are coated in chocolate and sprinkled with coconut. I did coat some of mine with dark chocolate but, for the most part, I like them just as they are. For some reason I’ve never really cared for the coconut sprinkle. Since I needed a quick boost, I decided to have a few of the biscuits with some ice cre...

If I'm called on to cook any sort of fancy or special meal for a few people then there's a pretty good chance that the starter will be a meze-style selection of dips and other little dishes. That's partly because I can make them in advance but it's also because that's just the way I like to eat. I often use peppers in dips and this particular version has developed a stronger flavour over time. It started out as vaguely North African, then suffered a bit of Spanish influence and now has a hint of Mexico, I suppose. I don't use green peppers very often in cooking but in this dish the slightly sour qualities are essential. Choclette of Chocolate Log Blog has set an interesting task for the February We Should Cocoa challenge: a savoury, vegetarian dish including chocolate. So this should fit the bill. You could add some chillies for heat and other flavours such as garlic or more spices. They would work in this dip, but I prefer the purer flavour of peppers, espec...

If you’re longing for some sunshine or need a little cheering up, then I can definitely recommend this cake. To me, it tastes like pure sunshine in cake form – moist, crumbly, buttery and very lemony. It’s based on a recipe by Salvatore De Riso , the celebrated pastry chef and baker from the Amalfi coast. There are a lot of lemons needed for this cake, but then there are a lot of lemons on the Amalfi coast so that’s the way it has to be. In fact, it calls for a fair bit of candied lemon peel and I know that candied peel is likely to make some people avoid this cake. I used to feel that way thanks to the poor quality candied peel that I’d eaten in the past. Buy good quality or, better still, make your own candied peel, however, and the taste and texture are so much better. For use in baking I prefer to avoid using most of the pith and so it will take 3 or 4 lemons, depending on their size, to make enough candied peel for this cake You may well have your own method of making candied ...

This month Dom of Belleau Kitchen and Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes have joined forces or rather challenges and come up with the Random Recipe No Croutons Required challenge. What that adds up to is that I wanted to choose a vegetarian soup recipe at random from my book collection. The first cookbook I randomly selected had no soups at all but the second was ‘Classic Bull’ by Stephen Bull, which has a small section on soups, and the randomly chosen number nine gave me this little gem. There are some excellent recipes in this book, so I was confident that this soup would be good and I promise it is. I have to confess that I made a variation to the original in that Mr Bull uses chicken stock and I just had to be vegetarian. The amount given here would serve 4 as a light and refined starter but, in this case, fed 2 as a very pleasing lunch dish. I served it hot, but it will also work perfectly well when served cold. 25 g butter 100 g onion, chopped 50 g feta cheese 50 g ...

First of all I feel I should apologise to the people of Nantes (perhaps I should apologise to all the people of Brittany and even the entire population of France, just to be on the safe side). The reason being that Gateau Nantais is a traditional recipe which I have to admit that I've tweaked a bit. The traditional and authentic version tends to be quite heavily flavoured with rum – there's more rum in both the mixture and the syrup and an icing made purely with rum and no water. So, a lot of rum, then. My version is more lightly flavoured with rum, which means that the almond taste is more prominent. Anyway, this is the version I like, either as a dessert or with a cup of tea. For the gateau:     125 g butter, softened (the bakers of Nantes would, I feel sure, only use salted butter)     150 g caster sugar     100 g ground almonds     3 eggs, lightly beaten     40 g plain flour     2 tsp ...

Recently, I had a go at clearing out the scary place known as The Mysterious Store Cupboard and I found some ground almonds that I bought for a Tarta de Santiago that I didn't quite get round to making. I then found the ground almonds that I bought for the winter-warming Gingerbread that I still haven't bothered to make. Finally, I found the ground almonds that I bought for the Galette des Rois that I didn't make because I got distracted. So ground almonds had to be put to work. The Reine de Saba (the Queen of Sheba cake) is a well-known, classic French recipe – I'm fairly sure there's a version of it in one of Elizabeth David's books – but it has a lot of variations. For what it's worth, this is the way I make it and, happily, it's made a small dent in the ground almond mountain. 130 g  dark chocolate (around 70% cocoa solids) , broken up 30 ml Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur) 100 g unsalted butter, cut into smallish cubes and allowed to so...

Friands can feel like a bit of a faff as you melt butter and separate countless eggs but actually they're really easy and quick once you've done the preparation. This recipe will make around 10 – 12 friands, depending on the exact size of the holes in your tin. Of course, you don't have to have a friand tin - a muffin tin will do perfectly well. Friands are a nice shape, though. You need a ripe but quite firm pear for this recipe – if the pear's too soft it will fall apart completely in the caramel. The caramel in this recipe should end up quite thin, coating the pear without setting too hard. With that in mind, if in any doubt, err on the side of lighter caramel rather than risk burning the sugar. For the caramelised pear:     1 ripe but firm pear     125 g caster sugar     1 tbsp lemon juice, plus a little extra for sprinkling on the pear For the friands:     225 g icing sugar     80 g '00' flour (or...

I’ve always liked the idea of the very English, very old-fashioned Queen of Puddings – anything topped with meringue has to be a good thing after all. But the reality is that I find the sweetness can be overwhelming and the texture of the breadcrumbs can seem a little odd. For this version I’ve used a combination of lemon and almond flavours and I’ve substituted cake crumbs for the bread. This recipe works best using a zesty, sharp lemon curd and, though you could make your own, your local supermarket probably has a decent alternative (Waitrose sells a particularly good zesty curd). It’s possible to add more than the 2 spoonfuls of the lemon curd which will give more of a lemony sauce, but which will very possibly make the pudding look just a bit too messy for its own good. 600 ml milk Finely grated zest of 1 lemon 20 g butter, plus a bit for greasing the dish 75 g cake or brioche crumbs (Madeira cake works very well) 25 g ground almonds 4 eggs, separated 250 g caster sug...