As a Paris new arrival, you can imagine my shock seeing ‘Ne touchez pas!’ prominently written on blackboards above stacks of grapes and bananas at our local street market. It was in the 7th arrondissement’s rue Cler, which is a permanent market street (as opposed to temporary market stalls that set up at certain times in the week) and just a 10 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower. Tourists would pop along, grabbing just one or two fruits to go, which made the touchy Parisian sellers go bananas.

Hey! How come Madame is serving herself?

I learned my lessons in these early days, pathetically trying to state my case with a pigeon French accent before disappearing à l’anglaise down rue Cler, tail between my legs, carrying the forbidden fruit that I’d touched in little brown paper bags. It’s no wonder we had to move to les banlieues, on the outskirts.

Here, at our local market in St Germain-en-Laye, it has taken a while to avoid the rotten surprise apricots at the bottom of the bag or the mouldy bottom layer of loose expensive Gariguette strawberries. I’d play safe and go for the pre-packaged.

Was it the accent? Was it being polite and remembering your s’il vous plaît and merci talk, which the French – quite rightly – love?

My first tactic, to avoid them hearing the accent, was to push my French children forward and let them do the talking. En plus, they received freebies for their girlie grins and cute curls. Gradually, with more confidence and just taking the French language by the sweet corns, the best way has been simple: just be your chatty self (chatterbox=bavarde, meaning you salivate a lot, ahem).

Case of the rhubarb last week: greeted seller with Ah! La rhubarbe! - using the couple of back-of-the-throat spitting ‘r’s in there (throwing the arms in the air, trying not to knock over the old lady next to me) – and, as I quickly passed over 4 large sticks, asked if I could help with these, as it was a long stretch over the stall for him. Voilà.

BTW, if you haven’t tried them yet, you must make these rhubarb and strawberry gratins to serve with your macarons. It’s the archive recipe of the month on the Bonus Recipe List.

As for these Plougastel strawberries straight from Brittany, you can see our job is just to hand over the Euros. No touchy.

Sniffing melons is another case. There’s something extremely fun watching the male sellers seriously juggle their melons about. The French take it for granted that if a Provençal melon from sunny Cavaillon is to be served in 2 days, they need to sniff to check it will be perfect by Sunday lunchtime. Normally they expertly sniff for you and get it right. You want to sniff them yourself? Flattery is the buzzword. Tell them they have lovely looking melons? Nope. You try that one! (I was just checking to see if you were still reading at this point.) Seriously, though, squished melons from prodding are not fun.

Admiring the bundles of asparagus, at least you can see if the produce is fresh by the looks of their spear heads (firm, compact and dry). If you haven’t already tried it yet, taste this Asparagus Clafoutis from Le Bristol’s chef, Eric Fréchon (using green or white asparagus), another recipe in the egg yolk collection.

Now, if you were caught touching and checking out this fresh horseradish from Germany, cellophane-sealed in all its glory, what on earth would happen, do you think?  Would they take you seriously or would you seriously be taken away by the local Gendarmes?

Madame was kind. She politely went straight up to the seller and asked if she could help herself to the kiwis and, before he could even answer, she was in there picking the best ones out. The seller pretended not to look and was remaining calm, although do you wonder how he felt inside?

Quick! Nobody’s around here. Let’s be daring and touch a pineapple! Fancy a sticky pineapple recipe? Coming up next on le blog.

As Spring has sprung later this year, we luckily hadn’t missed our traditional French muguet, or Lily-of-the-valley, which is traditionally given to family and friends as a good luck symbol. It was a week late in our garden. Brilliant!

A belated wish of good luck to you with hugs from France!

Not so brilliant was that I (known in the family as ‘the French Police’) had returned to the kitchen. I’d forgotten that it wasn’t just a public holiday on our arrival on Wednesday, but also yesterday too. Shops? Fermé. Shut. But do you know what? I somehow get a kick out of using up leftovers in the fridge. Antoine (French hubby person) had kindly left us the fruit he was supposed to eat while we were away. To my surprise, they were still ok but not exactly bursting with flavour.

There were 3 lemons, 5 strawberries, 2 kiwis and a tired pineapple just looking for a tasty makeover. Without thinking on my arrival, I’d taken out a jam jar of egg whites to defrost from the freezer. Don’t ask me why. That’s what mad macaron people do, ok? So I thought up this dessert while zesting the lemons for a lemon cream. Why not make up some meringue nests, fill them with a zingy lemon cream and top with the fruits? The strawberries were simply resurrected by tossing them in some strawberry syrup. Et voilà!

Lemon Pavlova (Gluten Free) Recipe

Serves 4

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour + 15 minutes
Chilling Time: 1 hour

Meringues

2 egg whites (about 75g)
230g sugar
few drops vanilla essence 

1. Whisk the egg whites at high speed using a hand or stand mixer. Gradually rain in the sugar while continuing to whisk, adding the essence last, until the mixture is firm and glossy. It should form a peak (or bird’s beak, bec de l’oiseau) on the whisk.

2. Spoon out 4 large heaps of the meringue on to a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Press them down and scoop out a cavity that you can fill later.

3. Bake for 1 hour at 110°C. Meanwhile, make the lemon cream.

Crème au citron (Lemon Cream)

3 egg yolks
90g sugar
15g cornflour
3 lemons (untreated)
100ml water
knob of butter (unsalted)

4. Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a saucepan. Add the cornflour, zest and lemon juice then the water. Mix together well.

5. Over a medium heat, whisk until the cream thickens then take off the heat and mix in the butter. Set aside to cool.

6. When the meringues are ready, leave to cool then spoon in the lemon cream into each meringue nest and chill in the fridge for an hour.

Just before serving, top with a mixture of fruits. Just look what my daughters put together for the decoration. Lucie loves pineapple – you can tell by this double decker!  I love leftovers. Now, I best get to the shops before mint meringues pops on the menu for our main course!

At least this means I’ve got more egg whites on the go for making macarons soon.

Happy sunny May time!

P.S. As with all my recipes, I use grams. Please don’t be mad, ounces lovers. However, if you’re mad about macarons, you’ll need digital scales as it’s more reliable to bake in weight rather than volume. Most digital scales have the option of switching from ounces to grams so this will make your life much easier.

“I am hazelnut, the first spread without palm oil”, says the jar

If anyone knows me, however, I am not a Nutella fan. There, I’ve said it. My children are fans, though. They also tried this new spread, and bingo! They love it. Replacing the palm oil with sunflower oil, cocoa butter and coconut oil is surprisingly alike in both texture and flavour. They also love Nutella but recently they’ve been adding the Je suis noisette version to the shopping list, saying that it tastes more chocolatey. Well, then.

What would you prefer inside?

However, on a macaron note, I know many people who simply use Nutella spread as a quick macaron filling instead of making their own ganache. Believe me, it’s not the same.  No, no, no. I even tried using it as part of my macaron demonstration at the Aye Write Festival last year as I was cooking in a library from a suitcase since I had to adapt without a kitchen. But there’s no comparison. Using a spread is far less intense in chocolate and, above all, makes the overall macaron far too sweet. Somehow the chemistry doesn’t work with the spread and, unlike a chocolate ganache, it doesn’t permeate properly into the shell for that vital 24 hours thus making the macaron too dry and chewy.

For the sake of about 30 minutes, I do encourage you to make that extra effort and make your own chocolate-hazelnut filling. Just use ground hazelnuts in a classic dark chocolate ganache…

There, I’ve said it again. And for Nutella or other chocolate spread fans, if you spread the word, I think it’s time for me to run away. Yes, I think I’ll run to Scotland and hide in the hills with a box of these macarons.

On return, I promise a new wave of recipes… what would you like to see?

]]> http://madaboutmacarons.com/2013/04/spreading-chocolate-hazelnut-macarons-with-ganache-nutella-or-im-a-hazelnut/feed/ 19 http://madaboutmacarons.com/2013/04/spring-has-arrived-in-paris-with-lemon-macarons/ http://madaboutmacarons.com/2013/04/spring-has-arrived-in-paris-with-lemon-macarons/#comments Wed, 17 Apr 2013 01:30:01 +0000 Jill http://madaboutmacarons.com/?p=22957 It has been a long haul this chilly winter. In fact, I think it has rained since October, making it the longest hiver – more than I’ve ever known after living in Paris for 20 years, 3 months and 3 weeks. It’s my birthday today so I’m particularly 40-something sensitive in counting the years. It’s not the age, it’s the mileage, eh?
Although in France, we should be saying kilometres, rather than miles…

Ouf! Spring has sprung in Paris, enfin. What a pleasure it is to watch the first wasp of the year, buzzing amongst the tulips in the park and hearing the birds’ chattering singsongs in the morning and evening. And the sun… oh, the glorious sun; *bows*. Did we ever tell you just how much we missed you? With the sudden arrival of Printemps yellows and a family goûter this weekend, there was no question as to what macaron flavour needed whipping-up.

No sooner had the sun popped out, it took fright and hid behind a mass of stormy clouds – just as I was piping out the macaron batter into little rounds. Quoi? A hail storm? These hailstones look small but they’ve already melted in my palms!

Time to whip up some bright yellow lemon macarons

It had to be sunny yellow. If you’ve followed this blog back when the book first came out at the BBC Good Food Show, I made mimosa macarons just for you on le macaron blog, for something different. This time, it was simply good old plain – tart-yet-sweet – lemon. Nothing fancy; just tasty and agonisingly addictive.

A sweet golden ray of sunshine?

You know that euphoric feeling when you inhale the first sweet air of Spring? It was a magical sky on Sunday, not a cloud in sight – exactly as the weather is today. It’s that end-of-the-tunnel, feeling of relief with a natural energy boost that no supplements or extra fruit can really bring, is it? Now that is a lovely wee wink from la lune, n’est-ce pas?

Sun and the moon in Paris – ‘Macaron-style’!

Speaking earlier of miles vs kilometres, I’m seriously thinking of posting something about grams vs ounces. Does it really upset you when I – and other Europeans – post recipes in grams? Let’s be Frank, even if I’m still sticking to the name, Jill. More seriously, how many of you own digital scales? Tell me what you think.

Bonne semaine et vive le printemps!

P.S. The recipe for lemon meringue macarons is on page 41 of Mad About Macarons!

Weigh-laden with our usual favourites from Monsieur Dee’s poultry stall, I couldn’t help swooning over impressively fat, fresh white asparagus spears which are first to arrive pride of place from sun-kissed Provence.

It’s time to snap these asparagus stems. Snapping asparagus is easy when they’re fresh: they should be firm, have compact heads and not look dry at the stems. Just snap them where they break naturally, about 1/3 from the bottom. Ideally, eat asparagus fresh on the day, otherwise store white asparagus in the fridge for up to 4 days in a humid kitchen towel, heads upwards.

I love tossing fresh white asparagus in sage butter and serving simply with a crunchy baguette, but this is a warmer starter to welcome this chilly Spring. I discovered the recipe in a magazine last year featuring Eric Fréchon, chef at Le Bristol, Paris. But could I find the magazine that I’d painstakingly placed in a ‘safe place’ for this season? No (don’t laugh, Mum). Luckily, I jotted it down and see he’s written a book on Clafoutis.

Macaron lovers will be glad to note that it uses up FOUR egg yolks, but don’t be fooled: this is such a light way to start a meal – and it’s gluten free, too.

White Asparagus Clafoutis Recipe

Serves 4-6

Recipe Adapted by Eric Frechon, Author of Clafoutis.

Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Cooking Time: 35 minutes

1 bundle white asparagus (500 g /1 lb)
3 eggs
4 egg yolks
10 g (4 tsp) cornflour
300 ml /10 fl oz single cream
100 g /3 oz fresh parmesan, grated
Seasoning
Handful of pine nuts (optional)

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Wash the asparagus spears and snap them 2/3rds of the way down, where they break naturally. Peel them as close as possible to the spear heads. Keep the peelings!

2. Cut the asparagus in 3, reserving the spear heads.

3. Fill a large pan with water and bring to the boil with the asparagus peelings, adding a tablespoon of sugar (to reduce the bitterness).
When bubbling, remove the peelings and cook only the spears for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon.

4. Using the same cooking water, drop in the rest of the asparagus chunks and cook for 7 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the clafoutis batter: mix the eggs, cornflour, cream, grated parmesan and season with salt and pepper.

6. Drain the asparagus chunks and, using a hand blender or food processor, mix the asparagus and cream together.

7. Pour into a non-stick tart dish and decorate with the asparagus spears. I like to sprinkle over some lightly toasted pine nuts for a crunchy texture.

8. Bake in the oven for 35 minutes until golden.

 Note: If making individual versions, pour into 6 silicone briochette moulds and bake for only 20 minutes. Turn them out directly on guests’ plates for a posh but simple starter.

Enjoy this asparagus clafoutis either warm or hot from the oven and serve with a glass of chilled Pinot Blanc from the Alsace.

Cheers!

Now it’s your turn to snap them this Spring and become totally asparagused!

 Aspergez-vous!

Swinging over to Fauchon at Place de la Madeleine, it’s showtime in the City of Lights. Their chocolate eggs look like they’re dancing the Cancan.

Their bird-patterned chocolate eggs are also decked out in chic, cheeky pink bows. Chick, chick.

Pierre Hermé has a more mini chocolate egg design for his Easter windows this year. But don’t be April fooled, his bigger oeufs are nesting inside.

While Patrick Roger‘s window creations are not quite so mini, except for the piles of bells and fritures, or small chocolate/praline fish and seafood. Why fish? The French celebrate April Fools’ Day as Poisson d’avril and somehow chocolate fish find their way into sachets. I love having an excuse to munch on these while patiently waiting for the Easter eggs.

How can you transport this gigantic sculpture from Roger’s Madeleine boutique? No wonder they didn’t transfer this egg to the sculpture gallery upstairs. It’s just about as big as the staircase!

Spot the odd one out? No chocolate in this window since we’re at Brentano’s American Bookstore at l’Opéra but they always have such a cute vitrine next to Hermé’s boutique.

There’s another odd photo here, too. I cheated, as this isn’t taken in Paris but from my ‘local’ chocolaterie in St Germain-en-Laye. Pascal le Gac makes the most exquisite chocolates and macarons.

Speaking of macarons, check out Gerard Mulot‘s take on a giant multi-coloured macaron Easter egg! Apologies for the shiny windows and a stationary fire truck interfering in this photo, but it’s better than seeing the pompiers and all the folk peering in, too.

Arnaud Larher‘s chocolate Angry Birds are causing a lèche-vitrine (window-licking) sensation in rue de Seine with disgruntled bird game lovers. Emile, the Gorilla looks rather friendly. Personally, I prefer his Springtime macaron towers with Easter Bunny chocolate lollies.

It’s time for the bell at playground time at Pierre Marcolini’s boutique in Rue de Seine, Paris. His limited edition chocolate bell is designed to celebrate the 850th anniversary of Notre Dame Cathedral. My lucky children not only  had the Easter Bunny deliver their chocolate eggs, but also the French chocolate bells, signifying the bells ringing from the Vatican. Somehow, I just couldn’t explain to them how the bells managed to leave the chocolate for them. Bad Bunny-mummy person.

Meanwhile, the chocolate walk continues with Context Travel. Next time you’re in Paris, come and join in the fun. For Easter, enjoy these chocolate bonus recipes below:

Chocolate Layer Cake

Chocolate Cream Desserts

Chocolate Bacon Macarons

Chocolate Mendiant Easter Bonnets for Chocolate Macarons

Chocolate & Beetroot Fondants

Chocolate Pots de Crème (guest from That Skinny Chick Can Bake - appropriate, no?)

Passion Fruit and Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée

Chocolate Crunchy Trifle (Katerina, guest from Diethood)

Chocolate Chip, Banana & Almond Cakes

Don’t be caught out on 1st April: Poisson d’avril!

Just one question: when do you have your Easter hunt? If it’s on Monday 1st April, be warned. The Easter Bunny may play a few tricks…

Happy Easter weekend!

Update: Come over to French Village Diaries, where I’m being interviewed by Jacqueline with some fun questions for her France et Moi series.

There’s been much hype around chocolatier Patrick Roger’s new boutique at La Madeleine so it was time to enjoy the Patrick Roger experience in Paris with his out-of-the-box chocolate sculptures under one roof. As the tourists poured in and we looked around for the rest of the sculptures, we discovered the upstairs gallery was closed to the public. What? You mean…? We …. can’t see any more today? Dark chocolate lumps formed in our throats.

Chocolatier Patrick Roger’s chocolate sculptures at La Madeleine, Paris

Tails between our legs, we headed down Rue Royale. There’s yet another Patrick Roger boutique around the corner but attention, it’s well hidden. If there are too many people in the boutique at Place de la Madeleine, don’t waste your time – whizz over to the other one at the end of Cité Berryer, Village Royal (off Rue Royale on the right), just 5 minutes’ walk away.

As if by chocolate magic, Patrick Roger appeared that evening on France’s popular TV show, Top Chef. He was hosting a Chocolate Cake Challenge. The competing professional chefs’ faces were a picture when they saw Patrick’s alluring cheeky face appear but displaying his grand ‘MOF’ uniform: Meilleur Ouvrier de France, 2000. As he demonstrated his recipe, it called our next holiday activity; Amateur but macaron-style!

THIS is when I can eat out of a bucket!

This was also a good excuse to use the most exquisite cooking chocolate from our local chocolate factory. As the Chocolaterie du Pecq only open their doors to the public in December, I’d gone bananas and stocked up with a whole cupboard of their products! The paradox? They supply their chocolate to Menard’s La Chocolatière in Tours, where Patrick Roger started out his career!

Chocolate Cake Recipe

By Patrick Roger for Top Chef

Cake:
5 egg whites
210g caster sugar
1 egg yolk
100g flour, sifted
50g unsweetened cocoa powder
100g butter
80g hazelnuts, finely chopped

1. Using a mixer, whisk the egg whites, adding the caster sugar gradually until you have firm peaks. Add the egg yolk and continue to mix.

2. Fold in the flour with a large spatula and add the sifted cocoa powder. Gently melt the butter in a saucepan and mix into the batter with the hazelnuts.

3. Pour into a rectangular mould (I used a silicone rectangular cake mould) and bake 30 mins at 160°C. (I found with my oven that I needed to bake it for 40 minutes at this temperature).

4. When cool, cut the biscuit into 3 slices horizontally. (As you can see, I didn’t cut them as precisely as Patrick Roger did and regretted this afterwards!)

Syrup:
100g water
100g granulated sugar
100g rum
2  vanilla pods
the zest of an orange

5. In a saucepan, boil the above ingredients and scrape out the vanilla seeds from the pods.

6. Using a brush, cover each layer with syrup.

Chocolate fun for the school holidays

Ganache: (600g)
300g cream
40g honey
40g butter
300g dark chocolate (I used 64%)

7. Boil the cream with the honey, and pour onto the broken chocolate bits and whisk gently. Add the butter. Mix using a hand blender.

8. Cover the biscuit layers with the ganache, one on top of the other. Leave to rest for 30 mins then cover the cake with cocoa powder.

9. Using a stencil, dust with icing sugar to decorate.

Bear footprints? Well if you saw the weather in Paris last week, it snowed. Big time!

We were just left with un petit problème: we had too many chocolate macaron shells. A few of them managed to eat up the little extra ganache that was left but the rest have gone straight in to a pastry box in the freezer ‘bank’. That way the next chocolate dessert can be decorated with macarons with no effort at all!

Our family verdict? For chocolate dessert fans who don’t like their cake too sweet and appreciate the intense chocolate flavours coming through, this is for you. Merci beaucoup, Patrick Roger! NOW, can we get to see more sculptures?

Hey – was it you who walked on our chocolate cake?

In the meantime, let me share a short video with you to celebrate the simple pleasures of macarons, which has started to circulate via Facebook’s American Express pages so far for Argentina and Australia. Surprise!

I can’t stop humming the catchy music which was composed by talented videographer, Darryl O’Donovan. Please help yourself to some chocolate-orange macarons, which were made during the film. My favourite part is watching the feet form in the oven – it’s just as well I managed to find a replacement bulb for the oven light before the video team came. It’s amazing how much went into such a short video – it was great fun to watch and I’m honoured to have been a part of it. The icy wind in Paris was enough to take your face off, though!

Chocolate-orange macarons

With the snow falling in Paris right now, Spring doesn’t really feel on its way yet so I’m off to bake and stay cosy with the children on school holidays. Why don’t you join me making macarons and bring a bit of Paris to your own kitchen?

Let me leave you with a photo taken just this morning in our garden of a European Green Woodpecker (Le pivert). Isn’t he cute?

Stay cosy and make this week a Macaron Tweet!

I was planning on a great London macaron tour but it had to be cut short. Instead join me on a day’s walk around London’s West End. Just wrap up warmly!

What a welcome. Macarons in the room and a day full of sunshine. What more could you want?  This skyline photo was taken mid-morning on Waterloo Bridge as an experiment, since I shot right into the light. All that’s missing is Tinkerbell flying over Big Ben!

To savour the scene, I nibbled on the hotel’s macarons. Ahem. Each of them were, well. Brick. Hard. How many guests had they been served to already like this?  Honestly, if this is someone’s first taste of a macaron, it could put them off for life!

Before the tourists and locals come out to play, take a leisurely walk around Covent Garden before lunchtime. Laduree were stocking up on their macarons and the Royal Opera House at the end of the corridor was seducing visitors with tear-inducing extracts from Verdi’s Nabucco and Puccini’s Tosca.

It’s just as well street signs gave the odd reminder which way to look before crossing the street. I was turning into a walk-a-wrong. These London buses come fleeing past! I was aiming to find the Lanka Cake Shop in Primrose Hill but discovered that it was closed. Apparently their macarons are the best value for money in London. Next time I’ll know to head to their shop in Finchley Road. Don’t forget there’s also Pierre Hermé at Selfridges.

For chocoholics, there’s still La Maison du Chocolat’s macarons at Piccadilly. A quick look in at Burlington Arcade. Ladurée macarons still going strong, full of inviting colours and less crowded than Harrods. Checking out Fortnum and Mason’s institution across the road, they didn’t have many macs left. Valentine’s Day was truly well and over but they were still flaunting their chocolate heart-shaped macarons limited edition for £1.75 each. A few door’s down, Richoux café was hiding a neat little tray behind the counter…

Suddenly distracted from looking for the Menier Chocolate Factory just off the Strand, here was a glamorous hustle and bustle. The last day of London’s Fashion Week and what a feast for the eyes. My favourite dresses were made out of balloons but seriously, would you wear one? Suddenly the word, bursting or ballonné would have a whole new meaning when attempting to have dinner wearing an outfit like that. Interesting take on tartan here.

Before you get excited about Menier’s Chocolate factory visit, let me warn you it’s a theatre. So, back to Covent Garden. It was almost like a different place from the morning’s calm and judging by this street performer below, he wasn’t the only one who found it difficult to find a place to sit. The curious faces were pressed against Balthazar’s new pastry shop window: it had just opened, selling their take on the Ispahan macaron plus flaunting their chocolate kugelhopfs and praline meringues.

There are times you believe you could be in Paris since there are so many French cafés around – but you don’t find the French rushing about the streets with giant cups of coffee in their hands. Yet.

Chinatown in Soho is where I got lost when the snow flurries came down. Next time I’ll find Yauatcha in Broadway Street. They specialise in dim sum but they also have a pastry counter, highlighting macarons with an Asian theme.  Also, next time I’m aiming for Clapham Common’s gem: Patisserie Macaron.

So many places to try! Exhausting, eh?  That’s why it’s simpler to just make them at home. What do you think?

Looking at that brave piper outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square is enough to wonder how on earth the Scots can go traditional, without anything underneath in such bitter winds.  Perhaps they should give him his own heated telephone box to play from?

Now if I could just work out how to upload a video for you for the next post, I’ll be a happy bunny. Oh, and my voice back, please. Until then, cheers from Paris and roll on Spring!

In the meantime, I’ve still had some sweet dreams, mainly consisting of desserts. Ideally they’re not too sweet, they’re packed with flavour and they’re quick and easy to make. If they use up egg yolks, that’s an extra bonus for macaron lovers. These chocolate cream puddings can not only be whipped up in 20 minutes but they’re so versatile and perfect for re-cyling those hoarded yoghurt pots.

Here I’ve added zingy orange zest and a sneaky soupçon of Cointreau to them but adapt them to your own tastes. For spicy romantic lovers, replace with cardamom and ginger. Lucie adored the addition of 100g candied chestnut cream (she’s mad about chestnuts) but why not add a touch of Chambord and serve with raspberries?  You get the picture. Top with physalis (why does that always sound like a disease?) or, to add that je ne sais quoi, a mendiant topped with dried fruits and nuts.

They remind me of La Laitière cream pots we can buy in the supermarket but they’re much better and so quick to make – it’s worth the effort. They’re not like a mousse and they’re not like heavy creams, either. Do you remember the Aero bars we used to devour as kids? What was the best part for you? The bubbles?

The best part are the chocolate bubbles…

Chocolate Orange Cream Desserts

Serves 6 (small pots)

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
Chilling Time: 2 hours

200ml whole milk
300ml single cream
3 egg yolks
50g sugar
150g dark cooking chocolate, broken into small chunks
zest of an orange (untreated)
1 tbsp Cointreau (optional)
1 gelatine sheet (@2 g)

1. Soak the gelatine in cold water. Meanwhile break up the chocolate into pieces in a large bowl. In a saucepan, boil the milk and cream.

2. In another bowl, whisk together the yolks and sugar until light and creamy. Pour over the hot milky cream, mix and transfer back to the saucepan.

3. Whisk vigorously over a medium heat until the cream thickens. Take off the heat then pour over half of this hot cream on to the chocolate. Stir until the chocolate melts, add the grated zest, Cointreau (if using), the gelatine (squeezed of any excess water) and then whisk in the rest of the hot cream.

4. Transfer to 6 serving dishes (or 4 if you’re greedy like us.)

Serve with sablé bretons or, dare I say, some macarons?

This recipe is added to the egg yolk recipe collection. There’s plenty more so you’ve no excuse – get these egg whites put aside! By making this recipe, you’ll have enough for 100g whites, which will make about 30 macarons.

Stay tuned for the fun surprise. If you haven’t yet subscribed to le blog, then don’t forget to sign up. Toodeloo, bonne semaine, I’m off to London so it’s time to get back into action!