Important Dates!

Spring and Summer yield seasonal produce that truly is hard to resist even if you are moderately interested in fruit and veg. Strawberries will always find a way to your heart, while those greens and tomatoes conjured up together in a salad are so refreshing, they are almost a tabletop necessity when the heat is on and a garden party beckons!

Three's not a crowd!

However Autumn (or Fall as it is commonly known in North America) and Winter may not be met with the same excitement. Yet in those heavy-duty root vegetables, rustic pumpkins, plump cabbages, rosy-cheeked orchard apples, and nuts of every variety and calibre, our bodies find the comfort food, the sustenance and the stodge they need to keep us warm and functional, and not fall into hibernation! And if you are my mum, add persimmons and dates to the list.

I must admit that I never was a fan of the latter two but I never gave up on them, to the extent that they are now a part of my Autumnal fruit bowl too, for added enchantment. This year I have reached a new milestone with those fresh dates, as three different types of them are cohabiting in the fruit bowl right now: Barhi, Medjool and Jujube! Save the date(s), I did it! Those Barhi and Medjools I got yesterday are from Israel. The Jujubes might be from Corsica, I'm not sure.

Sticky, gooey, yummy!

I have to pinch myself sometimes at the sight of these semi-exotic delicacies, yet by the same token remind myself that I live closer to Tunisia - a major date producer and exporter of middle-eastern produce - than to Paris! It is thus only natural that our market stalls and fresh produce aisles shall reflect the geographical proximity, which is a joy!

If you are not too keen on dates, chance is you haven't tried fresh dates. Those are the daddy! They are plump, juicy, sun-kissed, gooey, tasty, nutritious, generous and ready to lend themselves to those killer baklava and other sweet and sticky moist cakes with a middle eastern inclination! Give the shoulder to the thin dates tightly corseted into puny little plastic trays. They are the equivalent of factory-farmed food: unloved, they gave up the ghost way before their time and thus are dry and bland.

Eat as is!

All dates do not come from palm trees. I mentioned the jujubes in a post a while back, in reference to mémé (my grandma), who ate all sorts of unusual fruit while growing up in Corsica: medlars, mulberries, carobs, and the oddly-named  jujubes! The jujubier trees were introduced in Corsica in the 19th century from China, and their fruit (jujube) is also known as Chinese date. This forgotten date is making a come-back locally (in Corsica), no less so than in a mainstream fashion (i.e. down the supermarket aisle, and by the crate-load).

In matters of taste, it's a bizarro bite because not all dates taste of dates! Fresh jujube faintly tastes of apple, with a consistency to match, hence its French nickname of pomme surette (tart apple): an unusual taste for an unusual name! Fresh barhi - my favourite - tastes best when just ripe, in its off-white/ pale yellow robe and slightly giving to the touch as its skin starts to crackle. It tastes divinely of melt-in-the-mouth oven-baked/ caramelised apple, and will lend itself beautifully to the most amazing tarts and pies! The overripe barhi (brown and squidgy) however tastes like fermented apple, almost cider... Medjool doesn't taste of apple: it tastes of a fleshy date - with gusto!

Whichever date it is, enjoy it unadulterated. There are however other ways of 'dating' the date... by dressing it, blitzing it, and/ or baking it! I am well tempted by those three scrumptious recipes:-

Date, Banana & Coconut Smoothie by Tuulia

Mango Tahini Date Cereal Bars by Love Me, Feed Me

Pear, Date and Coconut Cake by Hummingbird High

Cooling Down the Heat!

I have a confession to make: I have been on a meltdown. I've been indulging in all things fresh and cool and icy lately. I whipped up a wicked strawberry ice-cream from scratch, earlier in the season, which I served with a homemade warm dark chocolate sauce, the kind that makes you go 'ohhhh!' and 'ahhhh!' and not care if the world ends now!

Introducing the passion fruit gelato from my local café!

My mum made an apricot ice-cream last Sunday that was equally delish! And in between our homemade concoctions, I've had the odd cornetto, and the odd (the odd, haha!) gelato from my local café down the resort, from fig to coffee, from pistachio to passion fruit... With a terrace view to kill for - overlooking the beach cove. Who said life wasn't a beach?

P.S: I have another confession to make: homemade is best!

Mousse au Chocolat

Let's demystify the chocolate mousse as a tricky fussy sweet, based on the vague assumption that all of French baking requires skill. Besides, the scores of recipe variants out there mislead the authentic method. Firstly, is the mousse that difficult a dessert to make? Well, just ask my ten-year-old self, this is how old I was when I whipped up my first mousse - with a little help from my grandma. This aside, I am about to demonstrate to you how unfussy this dessert really is. But most of all, the key to the success of this recipe relies on the quality and freshness of the ingredients, especially in terms of chocolate and eggs, and not to rush through the prep. Then Bob's your uncle and in no time will that mousse be added to your to-impress repertoire!

Serves: 4
Preparation: 20 mins
Cooking: 4 mins

• 200g bar of good quality dark cooking chocolate (minimum 65% cocoa content)
• 50g organic salted butter
• 4 free range organic medium eggs 
• 4 tsp caster sugar
• pinch of salt

Melt the chocolate in a bain marie. To do so, snap the chocolate bar into small pieces that you place in a small saucepan or heatproof glass bowl (Pyrex). Then fill a kettle with water and bring it to the boil. Place a big saucepan on the cooker. Pour enough of the boiling water into the big saucepan so that the bottom of the smaller pan containing the chocolate pieces (or the heatproof glass bowl) rests comfortably just over the hot water line (i.e. without touching it). Turn on the cooker on low, and leave the chocolate to melt, without tampering with it. Keep an eye on the boiling water so that it doesn't splutter unexpectedly or start boiling away out of control, as all is needed is a gentle simmer for the chocolate to gently melt.

The chocolate sauce

Once the chocolate has melted, turn off the heat and take the small pan (or glass bowl) off the big saucepan of hot water. Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, but no longer than that otherwise the chocolate will start hardening. Add the butter to the melted lukewarm chocolate and mix together with a wooden spoon. Leave to cool further while you deal with the eggs.

Separate the 4 whites from the 4 yolks into two separate bowls. Add a pinch of salt to the whites and beat up with the electric whisk until stiff.

Add the caster sugar to the yolks and beat up with the electric whisk until the preparation has paled down in colour and fluffled up.

Add the yolks and sugar mix into the chocolate sauce and blend delicately with the spoon. Then slowly and light-handedly add the whisked whites into the sauce, one spoonful at a time, making sure not to crush the whites into the preparation. The mousse consistency is airy and bubbly. Think a softer (and nicer!) version of the Aero bar! Place in the fridge for at least a couple of hours.

Serve on its own, or even better with homemade English Custard, a couple of tablespoons of Bitter Orange Marmelade to taste and a selection of your favourite Macaroons.

Hotel Review - The Village Hotel Cheadle

I had planned a trip to Manchester at relatively short notice and was looking to stay in the South of the city for convenience (within easy reach of the airport, and because most of my engagements would take place in South Manchester) and personal choice (historically South Manchester had been my homebase for the best part of 16 years).

Last time I was in the UK (back end of August 2010), I had booked a room at the City Inn Hotel Manchester (now rebranded as Mint Hotel) bang in the centre of town, halfway between Piccadilly Gardens and Piccadilly Train Station. Although it was convenient in certain ways (mainly on the retail and catering front), it proved rather tricky in relation to my South Manchester-based appointments. So this time around I was determined to give the city centre a miss.

Mum's ready for action and The Village Hotel has it!

Last time I took my brother with me and now I was taking my mum. I was hiring a car, which would give us that much-needed freedom of movement, as you end up wasting a lot of time and money juggling taxis, trains, buses and the likes... We could therefore afford to be off the main parkways and out of town centres.

The temptation for anyone looking for a hassle-free booking would have been to resort to one of those budget hotels within the immediate airport area. The Travel Inn was priced at an attractive £29.00 a night, but in terms of attraction I was looking for something else. I wanted our hotel stay to have a bit more oomph and drama. Previously I had stayed at the Village Hotel Cheadle, even had dinner there a couple of times, I even had insider knowledge of the place (my partner had worked there), so this was going to be my natural choice. I wasn't taking a risk, neither was I prepared to take one.

The 117-bedroom Village Hotel is located in the leafy suburbs of Stockport, a Cheshire town touching the South East Manchester boundaries. The hotel is a good 15 minutes drive away from the airport (on a quiet day) and within easy reach of the motorway, a half-hour drive from Manchester city centre off peak hours. It enjoys a good reputation and attracts a wide array of demographics, from business people to families, wedding parties, week-enders or friends/ couples on a city break.

That statement dark entrance! (picture source)

The hotel is set in a landscaped environment of mature trees, with ample parking space, and refers to itself as a hub, for it is not only a hotel, but also a restaurant & grill (Verve), a pub (Victory), a Starbucks café, a conference destination, a function venue, and a very popular leisure club complete with swimming pool. There is a buzz about that whole place, no doubt about it! The Cheadle hotel is part of the 25-strong Village Hotel group. The group has been under the umbrella of the prominent De Vere portfolio (Malmaison Hotel, Hotel du Vin, Liberty (dept. store), Searcys etc.) for a couple of years and each of the 25 Village hotels are being repackaged up by the De Vere guys into 'an affordable, design-led hotel with an individual vibe of its own', aiming for trendy boutique hotel status at a reasonable price. 

I booked the hotel only a few days ahead of the trip, via Booking.com and got a 50% deal straightaway: £250.00 for a twin room for 4 nights (buffet breakfast included). Not bad when you consider that rooms are typically 3 to 4 times the value of a Travel Inn room!

Last time I had stayed at The Village Hotel was in a suite, and my current expectations were a tad warped by the experience. The twin room seemed cramped, certainly not as roomy as an average De Vere twin room. It was also quite dark (some hotel reviewers have gone as far as describing their room as dark and dingy), which wasn't helped by the dark accent wall.

Lightening up the sombre mood of the room!

One of the perks of hotel guests once they step inside their room is either to raid the mini-bar or the complimentary breakfast bar. In our case, there was no mini-bar. As for the breakfast bar, the choice of beverages was limited to coffee, decaffeinated coffee, and that strong builders brew (tea) that even the milk pod and sugar sachet wouldn't soften the strength of. No biscuits, tid-bits, fancy/ herbal teas that you would otherwise expect from a boutique hotel on a par with 'The Mal'. And I have to say I was a bit bothered by this.

Same in the bathroom department. Hotel guests love those sample-size shower gels, shampoos, creams and cutesy soaps. Here you had to content with the basic Cussons dispenser in the bath, and a (faulty) liquid soap dispenser by the sink. The toilet paper was cheap and nasty. These are little things but hotel guests pick on them. I saw no hairdryer in the room, although I am sure I could have requested one from the reception desk. The door knob looked like it had been replaced but you could see the markings and holes from the previous one from a different design. There was a fine sprinkling of dust over the desk lamp and the standalone lamp (easily noticeable as soon as those lamps were on). The window glass needed a clean and so did the flat roof that we overlooked.

Besides the hotel was noisy on two levels. It is on the flight path and those of you used to the peace and quiet of the countryside or the sleepy towns might pick on this straight away. However the flight noise is bearable and no aircraft activity could be heard roughly between 12:00am and 5:00am. The second type of noise came from the function rooms which happened to be underneath our room. Noise subsided after 12:00am (possibly around 1:00am to 2:00am, I couldn't say for definite). One night we had a 1980s disco to content with. Duran Duran and FGTH didn't exactly lull us to sleep, although for the music's sake I would have preferred something edgier from back in the day although then I might have joined the party!

Rise and shine!

I don't mean to sound like a grating episode of The Hotel Inspector. Maybe I should indicate in passing that I worked a short stint in the hotel industry, which has made me more naturally attuned to some of the details I have mentioned here. Having said that, you get the clear message that the company is on a cost-cutting mission and the first casualties are the little touches, which is most unfortunate when you aim to position your brand as a boutique hotel. (After writing this review I had a look at the Village Hotel website which funnily enough mentioned 'little touches' at the hotel... At least we are on the same wavelength, except poles apart!).

At least the food didn't let us down. You could taste that it had been freshly prepared. My mum and I dined at the Verve restaurant on the evening of our arrival, and enjoyed the Salmon Fishcakes which we had ordered as a main course. We were each presented with one haggis-sized fishcake, but once we got over the odd presentation, we loved the melting combination of salmon and potato purée, served with a light vinaigrette and Tartare sauce. For dessert, we had a heavenly (and filling!) Bread and Butter Pudding served with Chocolate Sauce and Orange Marmelade. I was a bit taken aback by the waiter bringing us a pitcher of tap water when I asked for water (I meant a bottle of still water, like Evian or equivalent)...

Breakfast was a moment we looked forward to: a buffet-style eat-as-much-as-you-like feast that encompasses all tastes, from the continental breakfast (fresh fruit, juices, yogurt, milk, cereals, muesli, Danish pastries, croissants, toasts etc.) to the typical Full English Breakfast, all presented within the Nantucket design style of the Verve restaurant. The temptation to linger over breakfast was strong as it was really cosy there!

A few supplies from Sainsbury's to get us going!

The staff were friendly, although the reception manager did look a bit harassed one time, and on our very early departure on Sunday it would have been nice for the night porter/ hotel manager or whoever that middle-aged guy was, to thank us for our stay and wish us a pleasant journey, rather than blurting out in a huff from a distance: 'Have you paid everything?'. Not exactly a parting good-bye, but then again this hotel sadly lacks in places what it should be all about: the little touches!

The Village Hotel Cheadle, Cheadle Road, Cheadle, Stockport, Cheshire SK8 1HW, U.K.
Tel: (+ 44) (0)844 980 8033

The + sides: conveniently situated, young and vibrant atmosphere, comfy bed, Verve restaurant fayre fresh and tasty
The - sides: room décor a bit cheerless; noisy room; not as spotless as should be; lack of little extras and lack of attention to detail; toilettries/ hot beverages in the room to the absolute minimum; a hairdressing/ beauty salon would have been handy for those guests short on time. That night porter guy/ concierge, not a happy bunny!

Read my review published on Booking.com.

A Week-End Wonderweb 26-03 (Dessert)

Aside from good company and interesting conversations, the most enjoyable part of a dinner party is - for those of us with a sweet-tooth inclination - the anticipated dessert, prepared, shop-bought or made to order for the host(ess): from a baking classic to the decadently-laden crème de la crème, the cherry on the cake is likely to stir up more than one capital sin, and sure enough we'll even come back for more!

Sources (top page down):

• Sprinkle Bakes, 'My First Daring Bakers Challenge - Tiramisu!' (27/02/10)
• Red Online, 'Raspberry & Double Chocolate Cake' (picture by Tony Briscoe)
• La Ciliegina sulla Torta, 'Entremets Marron Glacé Chocolat' (15/12/10)

Gâteau Basque d'Itxassou

Serves: 6
Preparation: 20 mins (+ 2 hours)
Cooking: 30 mins

Cherry Pie meets Bakewell Tart and Linzer Cookies (minus the almonds!) for this easy-peasy Southern pudding! I made it for the first time last Sunday and it certainly won't be the last! Although it might not look like much on the picture, first impressions are deceptive. This unassuming little treat will be an instant hit, thanks to its gorgeously rich taste and melting texture!

The recipe is part of my mum's extensive collection, and is a French Prima vintage cookery number (November 1990 issue), no less!

• 3 eggs
• 280g flour
• 220g salted butter, cut in thin slices
• 200g caster sugar
• 1 organic lemon
• 1 jar good quality cherry jam/ preserve (370g)
• Pinch of salt

Pour the flour into a large mixing bowl, and make a well in the middle. To the well add one whole egg plus the yolks from the other two eggs. Set aside the two egg whites (keep in the fridge). Add the sugar, salt and slightly softened butter slices to the well, and some finely chopped lemon peel (to taste).

Stir together (you will find it easier to use your fingers rather than a spoon or spatula), until you get a smooth yet rather firm dough consistency. Shape it as a ball, leave in the mixing bowl and place on the middle shelf of the fridge for 2 hours (I actually left mine for 18 hours in the fridge and it was fine to work with, despite having hardened!).

Pre-heat the oven (220°C). Butter a baking dish and lightly dust with flour to prevent sticking. Allocate two thirds of the shortbread dough for the bottom of the pie and one third for the upper section (i.e. the lid). Now you can either be traditional and use a rolling pin to roll and flatten the dough - as per the original recipe - or be more hands-on like I: tear one small section of dough at a time, flatten it in your hand and press it down directly onto the baking dish, then assemble other sections of dough in a similar fashion until you obtain a single uniform pastry sheet (with no gaps or holes). Finish off by covering the sides of the baking dish with a ribbon of pastry like you would a tart.

Next scoop cherry jam all over the whole pastry case, before covering it with the remaining pastry (then again either rolled out with a rolling pin and laid on top, or like I did, with a small section of dough at a time, flattened in your hand and carefully applied onto the jam filling, making sure that the final result shows no holes or gaps in the pastry, and that the jam filling is thoroughly encased in pastry.

Lightly prick the surface of the pastry lid with a fork. Brush the reserved egg whites all over the pastry. Bake in the oven for half an hour. The pie should be golden in appearance. Leave to cool down completely before serving.

Perfect as a dessert or to accompany that lovely mid-afternoon cuppa. Easy to make, easy on the palate, moist in texture, buttery in taste, enhanced by the kick of the fruit: what else do we need as a new baking favourite?

La Baguette in Ten Bites (Part 2)

In our revisit of La Baguette's best bits in ten bites, we have more goodness in store!

6. Home Truths About What We Call a Home: With La Baguette being a lifestyle blog at large, it goes without saying that home is a key feature. On a personal note, home is even more crucially important, since I am presently living out of a suitcase, in my parents' home, while my little house back in Britain is being rented out.

Dec 2009: Packing up the office for the new French life!

With life as I knew it on hold and the rest of my life somehow in limbo, I am even more keen to sing the praises of having your own space, your own place, somewhere you can be yourself or reconnect with yourself. Right now I suppose that La Baguette has become a virtual home of sorts for my moods, rants, observations and experiences, a way-out. And meanwhile the saying 'you don't know what you've got until it's gone' has never rung so true to me!

7. Smooth Lemon Sorbet: Guys I think I was clear enough from the start that La Baguette was never going to be a culinary blog, despite the best intentions and despite the fact that three of our dessert recipes make it in our Top10 (source: Google Analytics). Incidentally our Lemon Sorbet makes it at #9 as our 3rd most popular dessert recipe, after Caramel Cream Coffee Cups (#7) and Very Strawberry Sorbet (#8)!

One of the many facets of La Baguette embraces food and the odd baking session (without developing any culinary obsessions!). The lemon sorbet produced an incredible tastebud experience, mainly thanks to the use of extra-fresh organic Corsican lemons bursting with aroma. It was the best sorbet I've ever had (coming from someone who is ordinarily no fan of lemon sorbet!). This just proved that high-quality ingredients do all the hard work for you.

8. A Working Week of Spook: In case you hadn't guessed at the time, I am known to be a bit of a horror/ psychological/ spooky film buff, and come Halloween 2010 I had gathered perfect photographic material almost right on my doorstep to purport the ghostly killer sets and moody ambiences to La Baguette's audience. Spook was officially the blog's first themed project, and an experience I was keen to repeat, as projects proved a good fit for the blog, no less to break away from monotony and predictability. I enjoyed Spook very much, and then straight after that moved on to the Week-End Wonderweb project. I have other exciting ideas in the pipeline which the artistic side of me is keen to explore!

9. A Week-End Wonderweb: Originally a project/ challenge I'd set to myself, the Wonderwebs also came to spice up La Baguette's format with a short and snappy weekly visual exploration of the riches of the web, to loosely illustrate a topical (or untopical) theme or mood in mind: anything from Winter Wonderland to Maps, via Typography and Humour.

Originally I'd set myself four week-ends worth of Wonderweb, then stretched it through Christmas and it has been on-going since. Although the idea may appear rather simple at first sight, it can sometimes prove challenging, especially as I am looking to create a certain colour coordination, photographic style or overall ambience.

10. Mirabelle Design Inspiration: It is quite difficult to limit myself to ten bites because you will have realised by now that La Baguette touches on so many different lifestyle aspects. So for this last one I chose to be practical and let my head decide over my heart (do forgive me Tickle!). Mirabelle Design Inspiration is a welcome post to Mirabelle, my visual inspiration labour-of-love blog, and very true to my inner aspirations and artistic inclinations! From a logistical perspective it was a key-decision as whether to launch a second blog, and be ready to allocate sufficient resources into it, without impacting negatively on the first blog nor on personal life commitments. So far I am delighted to say that I have struck the right balance!

I hope those ten scrumptious bites will have made you hungry for more. Take your pick, there are 150 posts to choose from (so far!) and surely one that will tempt you like the proverbial cherry on the cake! And meanwhile onto the next 150 posts!

Cool Coco Yule Log

Serves 8
Preparation: 25 mins
Cooking: 10 mins

If you decide to steer clear of chocolate in order to pre-empt any potential adverse effects it might have on your already calorie-rich Christmas menu, or to demonstrate that a Yule log dessert needn't be chocolate-based, or if you are simply on a mission to torment your chocoholic guests (for whatever reason this might be!), enters this snow-white delight, straight out of a winter fairy tale!

As light as a scoopful of snowflakes, with delicate Tropics undertones, this log will get temperatures rising! This is white Christmas in edible form, a coconut treat that will light up eyes and get tongues wagging. It will also nicely complement a Cool Yule home décor of white, pastels, silver and gold.

The beauty of it all is that it can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance, either in its entirety or just the biscuit base, with the cream filling & topping whipped up a couple of hours ahead of your lunch/ dinner. You are advised to read the whole recipe beforehand so that you can organise yourself accordingly on the day.

Biscuit base:

• 4 organic eggs (yolks and whites separated)
• 80g caster sugar
• 80g flour
• 25g unsalted butter + approx. 20g for greasing
• parchment paper
• pinch of salt

Filling & topping:

• 150g desiccated coconut
• 125g icing sugar
• 500ml double-cream (very cold)

Boozy syrup:

• 100g white caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons water
• 4 tablespoons orange liqueur (ex: Cointreau) or mandarine liqueur

Topping suggestions:

• Caramelised star-fruit or kumquat slices
• Fresh physallis fruit
• Candied orange peel
• Sugar pearls, sprinkles, hundreds of thousands, etc.
• Decorative flowers or figurines made out of almond paste or icing

Block of almond paste, ready for use

Start off with the biscuit base. Pre-heat the oven (180°C). Line a non-stick baking tray with parchment paper that you will grease as an added precaution (the biscuit does tend to adhere when cooked). Melt the butter in a small pan over a small flame. Leave to cool.

Beat up the yolks and caster sugar together until the mix pales down in colour and doubles up in volume. Then add the flour and keep blending together. Add the melted butter.

Whisk the whites stiff with one pinch of salt (acts as a stiffening aid). Delicately scoop the whites one spoon at a time into the yolk and flour mix, blending carefully and making sure that the batter remains light and fluffy throughout. Then pour into the lined baking tray, ensuring it spreads evenly across the whole surface. Place in the oven for 7 mins. The biscuit base should turn a pale gold (make sure not to overbake it or it will lose its moisture and elasticity).

While the biscuit is baking, prepare the boozy syrup. Combine sugar and water together in a small pan and boil until the sugar has melted. Then add the orange/ clementine liqueur and remove from the heat. Set aside.

Dampen a clean kitchen towel under the kitchen tap and then place it straight and unfolded on top the biscuit still in its tray, as soon as it comes out of the oven, and hold firmly together over your worktop or kitchen table. Carefully overturn the tray with the towel still firmly on top and deposit the upside-down biscuit onto the towel onto the work surface.

Peel the parchment paper off, ever so slowly and delicately, and then roll the biscuit base into the towel. Unroll and immediately soak the biscuit with the syrup using a tablespoon, until it saturates (you may not need to use up the syrup). Roll up the biscuit without the kitchen towel this time, and reserve in the fridge.

For the filling & topping, make sure that you don't skip on this important next step: you are strongly advised to place the double-cream for half an hour in the freezer before use, together with a freezer-proof blending bowl (ideally the blending bowl should stay in the freezer for a couple of hours). If you choose not to follow those recommendations, do it at your peril as you may experience difficulty in getting the whipped up cream to set (thicken) properly.

Gather the (very) cold double-cream in the (very) cold bowl and electric-whisk until it sets, i.e. forming crests. This process will require perseverance (a good 5 minutes). If you are struggling, the use of a stabilising agent (ex: Kremfix) should help. When you have reached the thickened 'Chantilly' consistency, add to the desiccated coconut and icing sugar combo. Blend all together with a spoon, then unroll the biscuit base carefully, spoon the cream on top as a uniform layer (approx. 1cm thick) and roughly flatten with a spatula. Roll the biscuit and then finish off with the remaining cream spread all over, using the spatula. Then place back in the fridge.

Finally decorate just before serving. On the pictures here, I hand-fashioned roses out of ready-made ready-coloured almond paste that I flattened into a long strip (for each rose), then shaped into a rose by loosely rolling the strip. The cupcake craze has encouraged an explosion of cake-topping opportunities, within the reach of the local supermarket, and I encourage you (and your children if you have any) to experiment with decorations and just have fun together! After all, Christmas is the best excuse to let the child within loosen up! And eh, who said this log was only made for Christmas anyway? Moi?...

Chocolate Délice

For approx. 8 slices
Preparation: 10 mins
Refrigeration: 12 hours

This strong Christmas party contender is the 'tall dark stranger' of chocolate desserts: intriguing, naughty, passionate and intoxicating with flavours and high cocoa content!

This incredibly sleek and easy-to-make dessert recipe was given to my mum by a family friend over 20 years ago, and is still a dinner-table winner to this day. Here's our golden rules: don't skip on the refrigeration time, and make sure you serve the délice with orange or kumquat slices lightly caramelised in sugar for that divine 'chocorangelicious' combination! Or why not serve with a couple of scoops of our tasty Bitter Orange Marmalade? Alternatively you may go without the fruit by simply substituting brandy with Cointreau.

• 250g butter
• 400g good quality dark chocolate (with at least 70% cocoa content)
• 1 whole organic egg + 5 organic egg yolks
• 1/4 wine glass-measure brandy
• 1 cup strong black coffee (espresso), lukewarm

Break up the chocolate into chunks and place in a heatproof bowl with the strong coffee. Put the heatproof bowl on top of a pan half-filled with simmering water, on the stove, and leave the chocolate to melt. When the chocolate is thoroughly melted, turn off the stove (while still leaving the bowl on the pan of hot water), and stir.

Slice up the butter and add to the warm chocolate, making sure it melts. Add the brandy. Then take the bowl off the pan of hot water. Whisk the egg yolks and add them to the chocolate mix, and finally add the whisked egg white.

Line a rectangular cake tin with greased parchment paper. Pour in the chocolate mix and make sure it has cooled off before placing in the fridge for ideally 12 hours.

Serve with freshly-made orange or kumquat compote: wash and slice up a couple of organic oranges/ 500g kumquats, place in a small pan with 4 tablespoons caster sugar and 1 tablespoon water over a moderate flame for a few minutes, until glazed and softened.

A Vintage Provençal Cookbook (Part 2)

The next chapters cover sauces, stuffings, pasta and risotto. Then meat is given pride of place, extensively and mostly presented as ragoûts (hotpots): beef (including 'beefteaks', pronounced 'beefteck'), mutton, veal and that appetising (not!) Soufflé de Cervelle (calf brain soufflé). More meat with lamb, pork, game, poultry and fowl, including an ominous Pigeon au Sang (pigeon in a blood jus).

Mediterranean vegetables (tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes, artichokes and beans) are dedicated a whole chapter. We also get a flavour of those now-forgotten veg (salsifies and Jerusalem artichokes). The savoury section ends with a small collection of egg dishes, before we enter the oh-so-brief sugar-coated realm of pâtisserie, with the merit of timeless desserts, still made to this day: brioche, baba, soufflé, custards and creams, biscuits, macaroons, nougat, ice creams, mousses and meringue.

The author suggests menu ideas for special occasions and today's average 4-course menu doesn't even begin to compare. This actually brings back to mind Sue Perkins's informative BBC TV documentary about banquets, picnics and feasts of the past, where you needed a solid appetite matched by a solid stomach to erm stomach it... You also needed the services of a good cook or have the competence yourself in order to master those ambitious culinary feats.

All in all, La Cuisinière Provençale is an invaluable tool in cuisine history, giving us truthful foundations to the great regional cooking of Provence, away from the fantasist recipe adaptations that we have been bombarded with in the last decades: simplified ragoûts, cheats cassoulets, quick stews, pretend marinades, tinned fish soups, that have snatched us away from the authentic taste of tradition. This book, and similar ones, are a back-to-basics must for those of us who are serious about traditional cooking and the truth in general. Happy cooking everyone!

P.S: A quick online search reveals that La Cuisinière Provençale was updated and republished by Editions Solar (France, 1998, 383 pages) and also by P. Tacussel (France, 2006, 526 pages). Meanwhile I found out that the book's first edition dates back to 1897.

What a Load of Waffle!

Approx. 30 individual waffles
Preparation: 15 mins (+ 1 hr minimum raising time)
Cooking: 2 mins each
 
These waffles are not for the calorie-counter, the diet-conscious or the faint-hearted. These fluffy egg-rich little soothers will blow away the Winter (or Summer!) cobwebs and deliver a punch in terms of taste. So no need - if you can help it - to lather them in sugary toppings. These waffles are no complication: they are simply an ode to simplicity rediscovered, with basic earthy ingredients and a no-nonsense method. Plus a touch of fairground nostalgia for good measure!

Amongst the times when I made those was as a New Year's Eve Waffle Party: a perfect antidote to Winter blues that delighted the 'Xmassed out' and kept the hostess's financial status in the black.

• 600g flour
• 15g baking powder
• 1 tablespoon vanilla-flavoured sugar (optional)
• 3/4l semi-skimmed organic milk
• 80g salted butter (+ for the waffle iron)
• 6 medium organic eggs

In the biggest mixing bowl you have handy (and wide enough to allow a soup laddle to move around it), put the flour, baking powder, vanilla-flavoured sugar and milk and blend together with a spoon. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, over a low flame to avoid burning. Add the melted butter to the mix and blend again.

Separate the egg yolks from the whites into two separate bowls. Whisk the whites firmly (preferably with an electric whisk) until they form beaks. Separately whisk the egg yolks until they emulsion. Add the beaten yolks to the batter and blend together. Then carefully and gradually spoon the whisked egg whites into the mix, blending together in a light manner, so as to ensure that the mix remains fluffy and airy. A vigorous blend would simply kill off the fluffiness, impair raising and impact on the consistency of the end product.

Leave to raise, covered with a clean kitchen towel (and away from drafts) for at the very least 1 hour (ideally 2 to 3 hours) before your guests arrive and the waffle party begins.

If like I, you are planning to use an electric waffle-maker, switch it on and make sure it is well hot before using. Carefully run a knob of butter with a knife over the waffle plates before pouring the batter over them (one laddle-worth should suffice to avoid leaks). A couple of minutes should be enough to cook the waffles on each side, but this depends of course on your appliance and how golden and crunchy you wish them to be (best to check with your guests too). Butter the waffle plates before each use (to prevent any stickiness and coat the waffles with that lovely yet subtle buttery taste).

Best to savour (or devour!) still warm and au naturel. However unconditional sweet-tooth aficionados may experiment with a light touch of sugar in its different guises and neatly presented in matching serving bowls: icing sugar (my personal favourite!), demerara, brown, flavoured, golden syrup, liquid caramel, agave syrup, maple syrup... The choice is yours!

Cheesecake Nathalie

Serves 8 generous slices
Preparation: 15 mins
Cooking: 40 mins

My first taste of the recipe dates back to 1987, as a student on a week-long linguistic trip to Oxford, while staying with a host family in nearby Cowley. Although that first taste involved the 'delights' of a ready-mix, I was hooked. Ruth, my English tutor, helped me crack the code, and once back in France, I perfected a recipe that still serves its purpose to this day, based around French alternatives, but don't let this lead to scepticism, for my version of the cheesecake certainly has an army of aficionados on both sides of the Channel, with my brother Steph its number one fan!

Why is my cheesecake a winning recipe? Because it combines the caramelised, sugary flavours of Speculoos with the subtle tang of lemon, and is built around a duo of textures that complement each other: the blitzed crunchiness of the biscuits set against the soft melting, yet plump bite of the filling. Also for those of you who are no fans of anything cream cheese and the likes (and this includes yours truly!), this cheesecake simply does the trick.

• 500g 'Speculoos' biscuits (or plain 'Rich Tea' biscuits or Graham crakers)
• 25g butter, cut in chunks
• 50g flour
• 10g baking powder
• 50g caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla-flavoured sugar (optional)
• 2 eggs, with yolks and whites separated
• 50cl double cream
• 500g fromage frais
• 3 small organic lemons (or 2 bigger ones), juiced

Line a sandwich tin (preferably one with a removable base, i.e. a springform cake tin) with greased parchment paper. Break the Speculoos biscuits in halves and blitz them in a food processor to a fine powder. Alternatively, lay a clean kitchen towel on a work surface, break each Speculoos in half, and fold the towel over to cover them; then roll a rolling pin over the towel several times until the biscuits have turned into thin crumbs. Pour the biscuit powder into a mixing bowl and add butter. With your fingers, carefully mix the butter and crumbs together, and then pour the biscuit mix into the tin, making sure you press it down evenly. Reserve in the fridge.

Pre-heat the oven (190°C). Prepare the filling by blending together with a spoon the flour, baking powder, sugar, vanilla-flavoured sugar, 2 beaten egg yolks, double cream and fromage frais. Add the lemon juice and mix again together. Then whisk the 2 egg whites until firm and add them delicately to the preparation, being careful to keep them fluffy and not to dissolve them in the process. Pour the filling onto the biscuit base (that you had reserved in the fridge), and place the tin in the oven. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, check the consistency of the filling with a knife: although it still needs to stick to the knife, it also needs to be set. Besides the cheesecake should present a nice mottled golden colour as per picture.

Remove the cake from the oven, let it cool down completely before placing in the fridge. Serve on the day - or better still the following day - either on its own, or with a fruit coulis: strawberry or raspberry work very well in taste, colour and flavour.

Soft Amaretto Macaroons

For a dozen macaroons
Preparation: 10 mins
Cooking: 20 mins
Refrigeration: 3 hrs

Introducing the perfect accompaniement to our Caramel Cream Coffee Cups recipe, in terms of taste and texture first and foremost, and also so as to make use of the 4 egg whites from our Coffee Cups. This is how I came to improvise those macaroons.

Yes you got it, I had to play a bit of a rescue mission to save my Caramel Cream at the time, hence the extra egg yolk I had to add to the cream (which left me with a total of 4 egg whites, used here). However if you have been good with your Caramel Creams and only needed 3 yolks, you'll still need 4 whites for the macaroons (that is if you are aiming for 12 pieces).

• 4 egg whites
• 4 tablespoons caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons ground almond
• 1 tablespoon flour
• Splosh of Amaretto liqueur (i.e. 1 tablespoon worth)
• Cooking oil for greasing
• Cocoa powder for dusting

Pre-heat the oven to 100°C.

Whisk the egg whites together until firm, preferably using an electric whisk. Add the sugar, ground almond and flour and whisk again with the electric whisk until you obtain a fluffed-up mix. Add the splosh of Amaretto liqueur and whisk some more before carefully spooning into a greased biscuit/ mini-muffin silicone mould, or a greased metal biscuit/ mini-muffin tin. Optionally line each hole with a paper case in order to ease the macaroons out  when cooked (more than for cosmetic reasons).

Place the mould in the higher part of the oven and leave to gently cook for 20 mins. The macaroons will remain pale throughout, but do stick a knife through the centre of one in order to check they are ready to be taken out of the oven.

Leave to cool 5 minutes, then carefully remove from the tin one at a time. Leave to cool further on a baking grid to get rid of any trapped moisture, before placing the macaroons on a plate in the fridge for as long as the Caramel Cream Coffee Cups. The refrigeration will help the macaroons harden slightly, which is the consistency we are aiming for: soft and almost chewy, but holding their shape.

Easy does it, you're all done! Just before serving, dust with cocoa powder to give the delicate macaroon pallor a hush of colour.

Caramel Cream Coffee Cups

Serves 5
Preparation: 20 mins
Cooking: 20 mins
Refrigeration: 3 hrs

It was never meant to be a pale assortment of creams and biscuits... I started off randomly picking the Caramel & Butter Mousse recipe from my mum's hundreds of magazine cuttings, for a number of simple reasons. First here was a mousse that was original: no chocolate involved! Then the coordination between caramel and butter sounded like an instant hit to me. Other brownie points: I had all the ingredients handy, and the prospect of a quick, easy and foolproof dessert (no rehearsal required!) was a must for that lazy Sunday lunch. Minimum fuss, minimum washing-up, maximum benefits, so why would I pass the chance? I'm sure you have gathered by now that I am no kitchen kamikaze!

Yet little did I know on that fateful day that I would end up rewriting the recipe completely after it started going wrong. Then the Mad Hatter's tea party theme from Alice in Wonderland developed from there. And that's how the originally planned Caramel & Butter Mousse metamorphosed into a rich fluffy cream with a hint of caramel... While I was at it, I also improvised some macaroons, which I fragranced with a splosh of Amaretto liqueur. Why? Because I could, and this was no kids party anyway!

For this dessert, I used agar-agar powder, a natural vegetable agent found in health shops, reputed for having 6 times the setting properties of traditional beef gelatine.

• 1g agar-agar powder (vegetable gelling agent) or 6g sheet gelatine
• 200g caster sugar (or, better still, its equivalent weight in sugar cubes)
• 6 tablespoons cold water
• 75cl double cream
• 25g unsalted butter
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• Pinch of salt (optional if using salted butter)
• 5 teaspoons of pralin (crushed caramelised nuts otherwise known as pralines in France) + for sprinkling; or crushed amaretti biscuits

Place a plastic/ metal mixing bowl and the whisks of your electric whisk inside the freezer. If using gelatine, place it in a bowl of cold water.

Meanwhile put the sugar in a small saucepan and add 3 tablespoons of water. Heat up carefully until you eventually obtain a golden caramel, adding 3 more tablespoons of water as you go along (i.e. as the sugar starts sticking to the sides of the pan). Away from the heat, gradually add a third of the double cream, the butter and salt, and blend quickly together, ensuring proper dissolution of the caramel. Be sure to place the remainder of the double cream back in the fridge as you need it to be extra cold for later.

Still away from the heat, add the beaten egg yolks to the caramel sauce while whisking together. Be careful not to add the yolks with the pan heating up on the stove, as you could risk scrambling the yolks (if this did happen though, rescue the sauce by filtering it altogether, using a fine sieve, and then add another beaten yolk at the end of the process to compensate for any wastage).

Put the pan back on the heat to make the caramel sauce thicken for a couple of minutes. During this process, add the agar-agar (or gelatine - after pressing it carefully to remove excess water) while whisking constantly to ensure it doesn't reach boiling point. 

Then while you are leaving the caramel sauce to cool down, take the mixing bowl and whisks out of the freezer. Ensuring the remaining double cream is really cold, whip it up with the electric whisk until it becomes firm. Incorporate the whipped cream carefully and gradually to the sauce, swirling the two together. Scoop into fancy coffee cups, at the bottom of which you will have placed a teaspoon of pralin (or crushed amaretti biscuits). Refrigerate for a good 3 hours.

When ready to serve, sprinkle more pralin over the set creams (or finely dust with cocoa), and serve with my Soft Amaretto Macaroons, using the egg whites from this recipe. Or use the whites into meringues, flavoured with coffee extract, which you will crumble on top of the creams.