Islands in the sky, food & travel

Are you revving up for cookie baking for the holidays? I wanted to share this recipe because the cookies are simply sooooo good ! These alfajor cookies go as far back as the 8th century in the Middle East, "alaju" in arabic means stuffed or filled.  Initially they were stuffed with dates or fruit preserves. When the Moors occupied Spain, they brought this recipe with them and soon the Spaniards created their own version, covered with almonds or powdered sugar, called an alfajor.  When the Spaniards came to South America in the 16th century, they brought the recipes of their traditional foods and the alfajor evolved once again with stuffings such as dulce de lecce and marmalade. Most recently you can find chocolate or vegan versions. Here's the recipe for about a dozen alfajores and about another dozen of shortbread:  115 g of softened butter 70 g of confectioners sugar 2 egg yolks 150 g flour (or gluten-free blend) 130 g of cornstarch 1 tablespoon of water (optional : 1 t...

About crèmes brulées... they're the bomb, yes.  But my challenge has always been to find the non-dairy or lactose-free version.  When I've made the coconut cream version, so good yes, but there is an underlying coconut taste.  So I tried a soy cream and soymilk version this time, and yes, it also had an underlying soy taste, but the silkiness of the custard was pretty darn close to the classic version. Here's the recipe :  5 egg yolks 25 cl soy milk 25 cl soy cream 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon agar agar 1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract + 50 g sugar to sprinkle on top once cooked In a saucepan over medium heat, simmer milk and cream with the contents of a vanilla bean (or extract) and sugar.  Take a half a cup of this warmed mixture and dissolve agar agar in it, then return this mixture to the saucepan, whisking until well blended (2 minutes).  Remove from heat. Warm oven to 120° C (250° F). Prepare a water bath by boiling water and filling a deep p...

This is one of my favorite French pastries to make for special occasions, usually with a praline cream, but I've baked a version here with salted caramel cream and raspberries, because I love how the tanginess of the berries contrasts with the macaron (or dacquoise) layer. Not gonna lie, it does take a few steps in order for it to be a "succès", lol, but if you like to make your life easier like yours truly, I make it over a period of 2 days or more. First I make the caramel and put it in jars, then I make the caramel cream, refrigerate. The next day, I whip up the cream and bake the dacquoise. I subsituted the original praline cream with a salted butter cream and prefer this which gives a light tasty caramel cream, that is strong enough to hold up the cake layer, with the help of the raspberries. This pastry goes back to the 1960's, created by the French pastry chef Gaston Le Nôtre, originally with a hazelnut butercream and hazelnut or almond powder dacquoise.  But r...

I'm definitely trying to make up for lost time because I just realized I never published this recipe, and I've baked so many delicious versions of babkas.  There may be a subconscious reason for that. How do I explain this about breadbaking... it's tricky, to put it mildly! Getting the dough right is all about the texture and not entirely the recipe. The yeast has to be fresh (it should become creamy or bubbly once you put it in lukewarm water). You have to practice and practice until you get the texture and softness just right, adjusting as you must.  You cannot be impatient, it can take a couple hours or more because rising time is to be respected.  Of course follow the basic recipe, but you must adjust it according to where you live : your altitude, level of humidity, dryness of climate, etc.  For example, I've had a touch-and-go-oven for many years, I had to adjust the cooking time because of my temperamental beast, no pun intended! I changed ovens last week and ...

Whenever I travel to Austria, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic..., I see this type of cake in bakery windows, looking so delicious and just the perfect easy-to-eat treat while going about wandering. You can find different versions, for example, Polish Szarlotkas, or apple crumble cakes; or German apfelkuchens with apples, or blueberry streusel cakes; not to forget Viennese bakeress, or raspberry streusel cakes.  I had some sweet vine peaches and ripe mangos so I tried this as a topping, and it was an absolute delight! I also had some blanched hazelnuts so I ground them and made a semi-fine powder for a slightly nutty taste to the dough. Here’s the recipe : Batter : 100 g softened butter 120 g sugar 2 eggs 10 cl whipping cream or yogurt 120 g flour (or gluten-free flour) 30 g almond flour or hazelnut powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon vanilla Pinch of salt 2 cups diced peaches and mangoes (or fruit of preference : blueberries, raspberries, apples, pears..) Crumble topping:...

Traditional cannelés from Bordeaux have their particular taste because of a key ingredient : rum.  But I don't like rum in cakes, an experience that dates back to Christmas cakes that looked so yummy as a child and taking that first bite and discovering they were doused with rum.  So when I make cannelés I replace the rum with Amaretto, which stays more in the background and has such a nice almond fragrance.   Here's the classic recipe with a twist (about 40 mini cannelés or 20 regular size) 500 ml of milk 125 g of flour (or gluten-free blend with xanthan gum) 250 g sugar 2 eggs 1 egg yolk 100 ml amaretto 20 g melted butter (+ softened butter for molds) 2 tablespoons vanilla A pinch of salt In a bowl, beat yolks with sugar, add milk and melted butter.  Add other wet ingredients.  Add dry ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate about 24 hours.   Preheat oven to 250° C / 450° F. Butter the molds. Fill molds with the batter up to 1/4" from top to al...

I've been having fun experimenting with different ways to make even more delicious and varied layer cakes, naturally using seasonal ingredients. This all started out because my cousin dropped off a bushel of guavas from his recent harvest.  Usually I make guava juice for drinks, like guava-lime-strawberry or guava-fizzy water with lemon or orange rind, or daiquiris and margaritas.  For this week's layer cake, since it was all about guava, and let me tell you coring and preparing them is half the fun since the fragrance is so delicate and delightful, bringing back childhood memories. Not gonna lie, it does take time, but the juice and guava cream are a nice delicate color and flavor for cakes and so worth it. I made a cream from pureed guava (seeds strained) and also a strawberry-guava mousse.  There are 2 mousses in this cake.  Also there are 2 different cakes.   My little time-saving secret for home-bakers : I usually make one batch of layer cakes one day,...

I really love baking key lime or lemon meringue pie because... we really love eating them ! That perfect blend of tanginess and sweetness is unbeatable. When I'm in the southwest, there are lemon and lime trees in the garden so I like to gather when ripe and have juices handy.  We freeze the juice and have it available all year round. Key limes are smaller and have more seeds than regular limes and have a thinner skin, but regular limes will do the job. Here is the easiest key lime pie recipe I’ve had the pleasure of baking : Crust 1-1/2 cups crushed graham or cookie crumbs 6 tablespoons of butter 1/3 cup light brown sugar Filling 28 oz sweetened condensed milk 3/4 cup yogurt or sour cream 3/4 cup lime juice 1/2 cup lime zest (about 3 limes) Whipped cream 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1/4 cup powdered sugar Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Pulse cookies in a processor or crush with a rolling pin in a plastic bag.  Mix cookies crumbs, sugar and butter in a bowl.  Press mi...

Some people (I) can't go too long without chocolate.  After a week of Easter bread baking, here's an easy treat that is sure to live up to expectations. These tiger-striped little cakes are filled with a creamy chocolate ganache (a soft truffle like filling, bam!).  Ideally, the mold shape are savarin or mini-bundts with a cut-out center, or mini-donut molds, but since I don't have those,  surprise, surprise, I improvised with cupcake molds.  I just cut out the center to pour in the chocolate cream and all is well.  If you have the mini-savarin molds, you are blessed.  I did use chocolate sprinkles since I found them per chance the other day, and they inspired these little cakes.  You can also use mini-chocolate chips, but would get less of the tiger stripe effect.   Here's the recipe :  Batter: 180 g butter (3/4 cup) 170 g sugar (2/3 cup) 3 eggs 60 g flour or gluten-free blend (1/2 cup) 60 g cornstarch (1/2 cup) 60 g almond powder ...

Hello again, everyone! The fun part about cooking in my parents' kitchen is finding all kinds of pans that I don't have at home. One of them is a Bundt pan which you can find so much to do with (fruits, chocolate or candy in the center...). As I was limited in movement (fractured foot), and couldn't go food shopping, I made do with ingredients at home, so this version has a caramel center and cherries with kirsch preserve on the side. Here's the Bundt cake recipe: 1 cup sugar 4 eggs 1 cup butter 1/3 cup sour cream or yogurt 1-1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 cup all purpose flour 3/4 cup cake flour (or almond flour + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder) 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon almond extract Preheat oven to 180° C or 350° F.  Butter and flour a Bundt pan generously . In a bowl, cream butter and sugar, add eggs one at a time, then the rest of the wet ingredients.  Add dry ingredients and mix for about 2 minutes.  Pour batter into pan and bake f...