Madeleines, madeleines, madeleines.

I've been wanting to make madeleines for a long time now.  I guess madeleines aren't in fashion at the moment so finding a madeleine tray was difficult.  I searched high and low for one and when I finally bought one,  I made a batch that very same day. I have so many ideas on flavour combinations and wanted to try them all.  I've been able to make some but there are still many variations I still want to make.

The base mixture.

2 eggs

2 tbl caster sugar

2 tbl icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup self-raising flour

1/4 cup plain flour

75g butter, melted

1 tbl hot water

1.  Preheat oven to 200deg and prepare two 12 hole madeleine trays

2.  Beat the eggs, caster sugar, icing sugar  and vanilla extract until thick and creamy

3.  Sift the flours twice and sift over the egg mixture then pour combined butter and the water down the side of the bowl.  Fold ingredients together.  

4.  Drop heaped tablespoons of mixture into pan holes.

5.  Bake the madeleines about 10-12 minutes until lightly golden.

6.  Immediately turn out onto paper covered wire racks to cool.

To make lemon madeleines, add lemon zest of a lemon to the base mixture.

Jaffa : Add orange zest to the base mixture and dip the end in melted chocolate

Pandan : Add pandan essence to the mixture.

For ube, I used left over ube chiffon cake mix.  I'm still working on creating my own ube madeleine mix

Lavender with lavender sugar I made for IIP.  Get recipe here

Watch this space for more different flavour madeleines.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie

Lavender Madeleines with lavender sugar. An International Incident

Lavender.  That is this month's theme for The International Incident Party.  And what stress it caused a few of us attending the virtual party.   Penny from Jeroxie - Addictive and Consuming blog is hosting this monthly blog party.

I was unsure of how to use lavender in cooking as I've never used it before.  Luckily my mum grows lavender in her yard so I had easy access. Annapet from Moonglow Gardens Blog was very helpful.  She shares on how to dry lavender here on her blog.  It is quick and easy to follow.

Follow her instructions and once the lavender is dry, you can pound it into a powder by using a pestle and mortar.  I tried this but it wasn't fine enough so I ended up my coffee/spice grinder.

To make the lavender sugar, add lavender stems to white sugar.  Gently mill the lavender between your palms to release the oils from the stems.  I planned ahead and was able to make the lavender sugar a few days in advance to let the lavender infuse into the sugar. Store in an air tight container for months as it can be used the infused sugar for many dishes.

2 eggs

2 tbs caster sugar

2 tbs icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup self-raising flour

1/4 cup plain flour

75g butter, melted

1 tbs hot water

1 tsp powdered lavender

lavender sugar

1.  Preheat oven to 200deg

2.  Grease two 12 hole madeleine pans with a little butter

3.  Beat eggs, caster sugar, icing sugar and vanilla extract in a small bowl with electric mixer until thick and creamy

4.  Sift flours and lavender powder twice and add to the egg mixture.  Combined butter and hot water and pour down the side of the bowl then fold the ingredients together.

5.  Drop rounded tablespoons of the mixture into the pan holes.

6.  Bake the madeleines about 10 minutes.  Cool slightly then turn out onto baking paper.

7.  Serve dusted with the lavender sugar.

The Cook Book Challenge - Week 7 : Soft

Week 7 : Soft

Recipe :  Soufle au Fromage

Cook Book : Mastering the art of French Cooking by Julia Child

I got this book from Hubby for Christmas and I was so delighted when I unwrapped it as it was on my wishlist.   After watching Julie and Julia, I have been inspired to cook French.  In the past I have felt some what daunted by French cooking but the book makes it easy as the recipes are simple  and easy to read and follow.

For this weeks cook cook challenge, I was a week behind.  I wanted to cook souffle on the Sunday but Hubby fell sick and I didn't want to cook this just for myself.  It was too much effort for one person.  When Hubby felt better and was able to eat again, I made this fantastically light souffle.   I've made souffle only once before a couple years ago and to be honest, I was quite nervous about making it.  I do have to say that it turned out airy, fluffy and SOFT.  I have to also give credit to Hubby.  He helped me to cook this.  Thomas, my 4month old was playing up a little and needed my attention.  So, under my supervision and guidance, Hubby cooked.

Preheat oven 205degC

1 tsp butter

1tbls grated Parmesan cheese

Butter inside of a 6-cup souffle mold and sprinkle with cheese.

3 tbls butter

3 tbls flour

1 cup boiling milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

pinch of cayenne pepper

pinch of nutmeg

4 eggs, separated

1 egg white

pinch salt

3/4 to 1 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese

Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon and cook over moderate heat until the butter and flour foam together for 2 minutes without browning.  Remove from heat; when mixture has stopped bubbling, pour in all the boiling milk.  Beat vigorously with a wire whip.  Add the seasonings.  Return to moderately high heat and boil, stirring for 1 minute.  Sauce will be very thick.

Remove from heat. Drop the egg yolks in the center of the hot sauce and beat with the wire whip.  In a separate bowl  whip the 5 egg whites with the salt until stiff.  Stir a quarter of the egg whites into the sauce.  Stir in all but a tablespoon of the cheese.  Delicately fold in the rest of the egg whites.  Be careful not to over fold.

Turn the souffle mixture into the prepared mold.  Tap bottom of mold lightly and smooth the surface of the souffle with the flat of a knife.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Set a rack in the middle of the oven and immediately turn the heat down to 190degC.  (Do not open oven door for 20 minutes).  In 23-35 minutes the souffle will have puffed about 5cms over the rim of the mold and the top will be nicely browned.  Bake 4 to 5 minutes more to firm it up.

Serve at once.

Bon Appetite,

Cherrie

2008 Holiday Part 12 - Paris

We decided to do a day trip into Paris. We took the Eurostar from Ashford International into Gare du Nord in Paris. It was only an 1hr 45min trip.

We then took a hop-on-hop-off, bus tour around Paris as it was the most convenient was to see all of Paris in one day.

Eiffel Tower



Notre-Dame. We found this quaint boulangeri and patisseri down the road from the Notre Dame. For lunch I had a Salami and Fromage baguette and Hubby had a Fromage pizza






I had to try a croissant and eclair while in France. It was delightful and totally different to what we get here. It's lighter and the texture is different.



Bon Appetite,
Cherrie

French Toast Italian Style

For weekends, when I'm not too tired, I like to make up a nice brekky for the family. Today I tried making French toast with ciabatta, which is an Italian bread.



It turned out great. I love to cut it into thick slices so the eggy custard gets soaked into it giving it a pancake like texture and it seeps right into the holes of the bread. I fried it in lots of butter for that extra flavour.

To serve, I sprinkled cinnamon sugar with fresh strawberries on the side. We also poured a splash of maple syrup. (The real stuff, not the maple flavoured syrup)

Delish...


Bon Appetite,
Cherrie