France- Madeleines

A Little History:

Madeleines are a small shell shaped sponge cake from the Lorraine region of France. There are many stories about how the small cakes came to be. One story suggests that the cakes were made for a 19th century pastry chef Madeleine Paulmier. Another story is that the same pastry chef made them for Stanisław I Leszczyński, who enjoyed them so much that he named them after her. Madeleines are traditionally made using a genoise cake batter and in order for the cakes to be consider madeleines they have to be shell shaped. 

Ingredients:

• 2 free range eggs
• 100 grams caster sugar
• 100 grams of plain flour, including some for dusting
• 1 lemon, juiced and zested
• 3/4 teaspoons of baking powder
• 100 grams of butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus extra for greasing

For this recipe you have to have a Madeleine tin, you can get these on amazon, ebay or lake land. I got mine off amazon for £10, I also chose a silicone one as I prefer silicone to metal.

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade/ 400 F/ Gas 6. Melt a little butter and brush the madeleine tray, then sprinkle a little flour on and tap out the excess, this will stop the madeleines from sticking.

2. Whisk the eggs and the sugar together until they are frothy (mine looked a little bit like a milkshake, I highly suggest you don't drink it!). Then lightly whisk in the rest of the ingredients, then leave to stand for 20 minutes.

3. After 20 minutes, pour the mixture slowly into the tin, don't overfill the tin otherwise it will make it difficult to get it to the oven.  I tipped the mixture into a jug so I could control how much mixture went into the tin and it was a lot less messy as well. Put in the oven for 8-10 minutes (I put mine in for nine).

 

4. The cakes should look golden and should be risen in the middle. Transfer the madeleines to a wire tray and wait for them to cool slightly. These are best eaten within the hour of serving. 

These are delicious, sticky and very moreish! The perfect bake for a summers day! 

So that finishes France, I'll be sad to leave but we are going to Germany next and as someone who likes German cuisine I am excited to make some of the classic bakes that the country has to offer! 

Thank you for reading and send me pictures of any of the bakes that you have done off this blog!!!!

Thanks to the BBC for the recipe! 

France- Salmon En papillote

A Little History:

The history of the technique of cooking food wrapped in a bag is actually unknown, however the word Papillote has many different meanings in french, including a technique to curl your hair, a cracker at Christmas and also cooking something in paper, like this recipe. 

Ingredients:

•  300g baby potatoes, scrubbed
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• finely grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon
• salt and pepper
• 4 Salmon fillets, scaled, gutted and de boned (you can get your fishmonger to do that!) 
• 1 bulb of fennel, thinly sliced
• 4 heaped tablespoons creme fraiche
• lemon wedges

1. Cut the potatoes in half, then steam/ boil the potatoes until almost tender, this should take around 10 minutes. Leave to cool until you can hold them, then slice them. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees celsius.

2. Mix the olive oil with the grated lemon zest and salt and pepper to taste (that means how much you want for your own palette). Rub this mixture all over the salmon.

3. Take a few layers of the fennel so you get the freshest part of the bulb, then thinly slice pieces of the fennel.

4. Lie the fish on their sides and stuff in between with the slices of fennel and then place the sliced potato around the fish like soldiers lining up, then wrap the baking paper like you would a Christmas cracker and placed in the oven for 15- 20 minutes, this depends of the thickness of the fish. To see if the fish is cooked, the flesh should be opaque and you should be able to flake the fish easily with a fork.

 I'm really sorry but I didn't take a picture of the finished result! I had a hungry family to feed and they were as impatient as a short tempered bull! I served my fish with a squeeze of lemon, a dollop of half fat creme fraiche and some steamed asparagus (my favorite vegetable!). You could serve just the fish, or you could add steamed vegetables or Dauphinois Potatoes. You could also change the salmon to what every fish is in season, freshwater trout would make a wonderful alternative to salmon. But please whatever you do, for the love of God, DO NOT EAT THIS WITH KETCHUP! It will ruin it!

Thank you for reading!!! Next time my last recipe from France (haven't decided yet, any suggestions? X)

Thank you to the amazing Rachel Khoo for her recipe from the brilliant book The Little Paris Kitchen

Sorry!!!!

Oh My, How Rude Am I?!

Hello Everybody!!!!! I'm very sorry for not writing my next post, its almost been a week! Let me explain myself, I have been extremely busy, I had appointments, singing lessons, meetings for the school play and last night I went to see Robbie Williams and this morning I am absolutely exhausted that I am really struggling to write this, I can assure you that the next recipe will be up by MONDAY!!!!!!!!!

Also whilst I'm on this note, I just want to say thank you very much! I have had almost up to 500 views! I cannot tell you how much that means to me as I thought no one would read it, I would love it if you could send me pictures of any baking that you have done of this blog!!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!! 

Keep spreading the love and baking!!!!!

Ellie XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX :) 

France- Apple Tarte Tatin

A Little History:

Like most great dishes and discoveries, the Tarte Tatin was actually made by mistake! The tart was first made at the hotel Tatin in Lamotte- Beuvron, which is about 100 miles south of the french capital, Paris. There are many different stories surrounding the mistake that led to this yummy dish.The most common that I found however, was about how one of the sisters who ran the hotel was overworked and whilst making an apple pie she left the apples and butter cooking for too long. She smelt them burning and desperately tried to save the dish by chucking some pastry on the top of the pan and throwing the whole dish in the oven. By her leaving the apples on for too long, we now have this scrummy apple dish! 

Ingredients:

• 50 grams of butter
• 50 grams of golden caster sugar (it must be golden so you have a lovely shiny glaze)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• 6 medium Cox's apples
• 1 pack of fresh ready rolled puff pastry 

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees celsius/ gas mark 7/ fan 200 degrees celsius. Peel, core and quarter the apples, put them in a bowl and place to one side. If you want them to stop going brown, sprinkle a little lemon juice on the apples. 

2. Melt the butter in a 20cm tart tatin tin (or if you're like me and didn't know you could actually get a special tart tatin tin just use a 20cm frying pan!) on a medium heat on a hob, then add the sugar and stir until it begins to caramelize, then add the cinnamon. Stand back for this bit, thrown in the apples, the sugar will spit but don't worry that's normal, just be prepared to get burnt! Cook the apples over a medium heat for 10 minutes, stir every now and again so the apples can soak in the yummy sugar, the apple juice will allow the mixture to thicken. Remove from the heat.

3. Roll the pastry out and then prick with a fork. Move fast here, quickly place the pastry on the top of the apples and the cut away the excess pastry, leave about 2 cm, then tuck the pastry in like you would tuck a child into a warm bed!

 4. Place in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes, mine took 22 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown. Take out and cool for 5 minutes. Place the plate on top of the pan and then flip the pan, the tart should come out without a hitch, if it doesn't come out then run a knife around the edge of the tart and try again!

You can serve the tart with a sprinkling of icing sugar, cream or vanilla ice cream. You could replace the apples with other fruits like pears, plums or pineapple. You could also make it savoury by adding onions, tomatoes or shallots.

Thank you very much to my good friend Ruzi who took the pictures! 

Next dish- Trout in paper with dill and lemon (yes that's baked in my opinion!) 

I think we do need something savoury for the sake of our teeth! :) 

Thank you to the BBC for the recipe!