0 WEEKEND CAT BLOGGING #261

This week, Amar and Luna at "CatSynth" (USA) are happy to announce that they are hosting Weekend Cat Blogging #261...

To submit your kitty picture(s), you can either leave a message in their blog's comment section (with your permalinks) or contact them via e-mail without forgetting to give all the needed information.

0 GINGER RHUBARB MUFFINS

Rhubarb being one of my favorite dessert items in spring, it try to use it as much as possible as long as it is still in season. There is not one week that goes by without us eating a wonderful treat made with that magical vegetable...

With my beloved rhubarb stalks I generally make either "Clafoutis", "Cobblers", "Upside-Down Cakes" or "Crumbles". This time, for a change, I decided upon making muffins and as I love to pair rhubarb with spices, I opted for a "Ginger Rhubarb Muffins" recipe I found on the Williams-Sonoma site.

As usual, I could not make that recipe without tweaking it a little (You know me. I can't leave things the way they are LOL!). Instead of using chopped crystallized ginger (which I very much love), I flavored my muffins with loads of ground ginger and a little ground cinnamon. Both spices pair very well with rhubarb. When associated together your desserts end up tasting heavenly. For extra flavor, I also replaced half of the castor sugar by light brown sugar and added some natural vanilla extract.

Those pretty looking "Ginger Rhubarb Muffins" are very enjoyable, not too sweet easy to make and represent the perfect snack. Rhubarb brings a delightful tanginess to the muffins while the ginger and cinnamon add a gorgeous spicy note that contrasts wonderfully with the tartness of that versatile veggie. Those muffins are in no way dry nor dense, on the contrary they are very moist, fluffy and soft - no choke material here. Simply yummy!

~ Ginger Rhubarb Muffins ~
Recipe by Williams-Sonoma and adapted by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010.

Makes 12 muffins.

Ingredients:
2 1/4 Cups All-purpose flour
2 Tsp Baking powder
1 Tsp Baking soda
1/2 Tsp Sea salt (fine)
2 Tsp Ground ginger
1 Tsp Ground cinnamon
1/2 Cup Light brown sugar
1/4 Cup Castor sugar
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Sour cream
1/3 Cup Vegetable oil
1 Egg
1 Tsp Pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 Cup (1-1 1/2 medium stalks) Finely chopped rhubarb

Method:
1. Preheat an oven to 200 ° C (400° F).
2. Grease the cups of a standard muffin pan or line with muffin papers.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the sugar, milk, sour cream, oil, egg and vanilla. Stir in the rhubarb.
5. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just blended.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each about three-fourths full.
7. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 15 minutes. 8. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes, then remove the muffins from the pan.

Remarks:
The original recipe was made with 2 tbs finely chopped crystallized ginger (added at point 3). I decided to replace that ingredient with ground cinnamon and ginger.
I used light brown sugar and castor sugar. If you wish, you can use 3/4 cups castor sugar instead.

Serving suggestions:
Serve those muffins for afternoon tea with a good cup of tea, coffee, caffè latte, a glass of cold milk or iced coffee.

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~ Muffins A La Rhubarb Et Au Gingembre ~
Recette par Williams-Sonoma et adaptée par Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010.

Pour 12 muffins.

Ingrédients:
290g Farine
2 CC de Poudre à lever
1 CC de Bicarbonate de soude
1/2 CC de Sel de mer fin
2 CC de Gingembre en poudre
1 CC de Cannelle en poudre
105g de Sucre brun clair
105g de Sucre cristallisé
120g/ml de Lait
120g/ml de Crème fraîche
70g/ml d'Huile végétale
1 Oeuf
1 CC d'Extrait de vanille pure
1 1/4 Tasses (1 - 1 1/2 tige) de Rhubarbe coupée en petits morceaux

Méthode:
1. Préchauffer la four à 200 ° C (400° F).
2. Graisser le moule à muffins ou placer les formes en papier dans le moule.
3. Dans un grand bol, mélanger ensemble la farine, la poudre à lever, la bicarbonate de soude, le sel et les épices.
4. Dans un autre bol, mélanger (fouetter) ensemble le sucre, le lait, la crème, l'huile, l'oeuf et la vanille afin d'obtenir un mélange homogène. Ajouter la rhubarbe.
5. Ajouter le mélange avec la farine et l'incorporer très rapidement sans trop mélanger.
6. Mettre la pâte dans les moules (les remplir à 3/4).
7. Cuire pendant 15 minutes, jusqu'à ce que la pointe d'un couteau en ressorte propre.
8. Sortir la plaque du four et faire refroidir les muffins pendant 5 minutes avant de les démouler.

Remarques:
La recette originale contient 2 CS de gingembre cristallisé finement haché (à ajouter au point 3). Je l'ai remplacé par du gingembre et de la cannnelle en poudre.
J'ai aussi utilisé du sucre brun clair et du sucre cristallisé, mais si vous le désirez vous pouvez utiliser 3/4 de tasse de sucre cristallisé à la place.

Serving suggestions:
Servir ces muffins à l'heure du thé avec du thé, café, du caffè latte, du lait (chaud ou froid) ou un café glacé.

0 ZWEISIMMEN - PEACEFUL CEMETERY

Last week I was on holiday. As we can't really afford to travel too far and for too long, we decided to buy day train tickets in order to travel to one of my favorite parts of Switzerland: the Bernese Highlands (Berner Oberland in Swiss Germany).

After travelling from Geneva to Montreux, we boarded the famous GoldenPass for a 2 hour journey to Zweisimmen (a place where I have spend many summer/autumn holidays when I was a kid). That panoramic train which links the Vaud Riviera to Lake Lucerne the historic heart of Switzerland is one of the most picturesque in Switzerland.

It is a fantastic tour that begins with a Mediterranean ambiance on the Rivera and then after climbing through the vineyards above Lake Geneva and passing through tunnels, the train continues through fairytale landscapes set in a picturesque setting of alpine forrests, bubbling mountain streams and quaint villages. Mindblowing!

As soon as we arrived in Zweisimmen we bought some bread and Bernese dried meat specialities for lunch. Then, we walked a little through the village and up a small road to a church that is situated above the village. There, there is a very peaceful cemetery with a wonderful view over the Simmental Valley. It is situated on the flank of the Rinderberg mountain, next to a pine tree forrest. That is the dreamy place where we ate our midday meal...

Enjoy that first batch of pictures. There's more to come.

0 PROMISING LANDSCAPES

Well, lately I have not been posting very actively on my blog as I have taken a little holiday (1 week). I'm awfully sorry for having let you down (to tell you the truth, I felt slightly guilty about doing so), but one sometimes needs a bit of time for herself...

Anyway, next week I will blog like usual (ladscape shots, recipe and Weekend Cat Blogging). In the meantime, here is a shot of the place I travelled to on Tuesday. I hope it'll sharpen your curiosity as they'll be more pictures of that wonderful region next week.

0 CROQUEMBOUCHE - THE DARING BAKERS

When seeing the date on my calender, I had to curse. I could not believe that in less than a day it would be the 27th of May and that all members of the Daring Bakers' would be blogging about their latest creation, yet I still had not started making this month's challenge. Once again, I did not manage to start baking in advance for the event and had to run at the last minute in order to be able to blog about it on time. I cannot believe that the 27th has already arrived...

The May 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Cat of "Little Miss Cupcake". Cat challenged everyone to make a "Piece Montée", or "Croquembouche", based on recipes from Peter Kump’s Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

Well, to tell you the truth, for this very challenge I was not the least stressed by the work that was awaiting nor apprehensive about the idea of putting together a "Pièce Montée" because making choux pastry (remember my DB post about "Chocolate Éclairs"), pastry cream or caramel was nothing new to me. Most Daring Bakers members have already made one or the other during the course of the last months.

I thought to myself "Finely, this recipe is not going to cause any trouble". Well, as incredible as it might seem, I did come across a very annoying problem while making my cream puff shells. My first batch was a total flop. The cream puff shells looked so sad and were flat like omelets. this made me slightly panick and question my capacities as a baker. it was one of those moments when you lose all self-confidence and blame yourself for the bad results. I mean, boy were they fugly and totally unusable!

After doing a little research, I realized that if they had this saggy shape it was due to the fact that the pastry was far too wet. So, for my second attempt at making cream puff shells I decided to use smaller eggs (53g instead of 63g), thus incorporating less liquid to the choux pastry. My second batch was just perfect. The cream puff shells came out all puffy and looked very pretty. Phew!

The cream puffs shells rose beautifully, were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. They tasted of butter and reminded me of popovers. As I wanted to give a summery flavor to my cream puffs, I chose to make lemon pastry cream. Needless to say that the pastry cream was delightfully fresh and irresistibly silky smooth. In order to stick the cream puffs together, I opted for the caramel glaze wich added a layer of oomph to the whole dessert and gave a dramatic look to the pièce montée.

I wish to thanks Cat for having chosen that awesome treat and for giving me the opportunity to prove to myself that I have the skills to put together such a festive dessert. I will certainly make this goodie very soon again!

~Pièce Montée or Croquembouche ~

Equipment required:
• Several baking sheets
• Parchment paper
• A whisk
• A pastry brush (for the egg wash)
• A pastry bag and tip (a plain tip or no tip is best for piping the puff pastry; you can use a plain or star tip to fill the puff pastry with the cream)
• A flat surface such as a baking sheet or cake board/stand on which to assemble your piece montée
• Some of the items you may want to use to decorate your piece montée include ribbons, Jordan almonds, fresh flowers, sugar cookie cut-outs, chocolates, etc.

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LEMON CRÈME PÂTISSIÈRE

Ingredients:
1 Cup (225ml) Whole milk
2 Tbsp Cornstarch
6 Tbsp (100g) Sugar
1 Large egg
2 Large egg yolks
2 Tbsp (30G) Unsalted butter
1 Tsp Natural vanilla extract
3/4 Tsp Pure lemon extract

Method:
1. Dissolve cornstarch in 1/4 cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.
2. Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture.
3. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.
4. Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking. Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil.
5. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla. Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface.
6. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

For Chocolate Pastry Cream:
Bring 1/4 cup (about 50 cl.) milk to a boil in a small pan; remove from heat and add in 3 ounces (about 80 g.) semisweet chocolate, finely chopped, and mix until smooth. Whisk into pastry cream when you add the butter and vanilla.
For Coffee Pastry Cream:
Dissolve 1 ½ teaspoons instant espresso powder in 1 ½ teaspoons boiling water. Whisk into pastry cream with butter and vanilla.

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PÂTE A CHOUX

Yields about 28.

Ingredients:
3/4 Cup (175ml) Water
6 Tbsp (85g) Unsalted butter
1/4 Tsp Sea salt
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Cup (125g) All-purpose flour
4 Large eggs (~53g)
1 Egg & A pinch of salt (for egg wash)

Method:
1. Pre-heat oven to 220◦C (425° F). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Combine water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir occasionally.
3. At boil, remove from heat and sift in the flour, stirring to combine completely.
4. Return to heat and cook, stirring constantly until the batter dries slightly and begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
5. Transfer to a bowl and stir with a wooden spoon 1 minute to cool slightly.
6. Add 1 egg (The batter will appear loose and shiny). As you stir, the batter will become dry-looking like lightly buttered mashed potatoes. It is at this point that you will add in the next egg. Repeat until you have incorporated all the eggs.
7. Transfer batter to a pastry bag fitted with a large open tip (I piped directly from the bag opening without a tip). Pipe choux about 1 inch-part in the baking sheets (Choux should be about 1 inch high about 1 inch wide). Using a clean finger dipped in hot water, gently press down on any tips that have formed on the top of choux when piping. You want them to retain their ball shape, but be smoothly curved on top.
8. Brush tops with egg wash (1 egg lightly beaten with pinch of salt).
9. Bake the choux at 220◦C (425° F) until well-puffed and turning lightly golden in color, about 10 minutes.
10. Lower the temperature to 180◦ C (350° F) and continue baking until well-colored and dry, about 20 minutes more.
11. Remove to a rack and cool.

Remarks:
They can be stored in a airtight box overnight.

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FILLING THE CHOUX

Method:
1. When you are ready to assemble your piece montée, using a plain pastry tip, pierce the bottom of each choux. Fill the choux with pastry cream using either the same tip or a star tip, and place on a paper-lined sheet (Choux can be refrigerated briefly at this point while you make your glaze).

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HARD CARAMEL GLAZE

Ingredients:
1 Cup (225g) Sugar
1/2 Tsp Lemon juice

Method:
1. Combine sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan with a metal kitchen spoon stirring until the sugar resembles wet sand.
2. Place on medium heat; heat without stirring until sugar starts to melt around the sides of the pan and the center begins to smoke.
3. Begin to stir sugar. Continue heating, stirring occasionally until the sugar is a clear, amber color.
4. Remove from heat immediately; place bottom of pan in ice water to stop the cooking. Use immediately.

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ASSEMBLING THE PIÈCE MONTÉE

You may want to lay out your unfilled, unglazed choux in a practice design to get a feel for how to assemble the final dessert.
For example, if making a conical shape, trace a circle (no bigger than 8 inches) on a piece of parchment to use as a pattern. Then take some of the larger choux and assemble them in the circle for the bottom layer.
Practice seeing which pieces fit together best.

Method:
1. Once you are ready to assemble your piece montée, dip the top of each choux in your glaze (careful it may be still hot!), and start assembling on your cake board/plate/sheet.
2. Continue dipping and adding choux in levels using the glaze to hold them together as you build up. (You may want to use toothpicks to hold them in place).
3. When you have finished the design of your piece montée, you may drizzle with remaining glaze or use ribbons, sugar cookie cut-outs, almonds, flowers, etc. to decorate.

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Etant donné la longueur du texte original, je n'ai malheureusement pas pu faire une traduction française de ce billet et je m'en excuse auprès de tous mes amis lecteurs et blogueurs francophones!

C'est pourquoi je vous suggère de vous rendre sur le blog mentionné ci-dessous. Vous y trouverez cette recette en version française.

Chez Isa de "Les Gourmandises d'Isa" (Canada)
Chez Vibi de "La Casserole Carrée" (Canada)

0 STRAWBERRY & RHUBARB CRUMBLE

In the past, I was hyper reluctant to cook strawberries. I thought that they'd end up tasting like strawberry jam (which I've never really enjoyed) if I did so. I love strawberries, but the sweet nearly sickly flavor of strawberry has always put me off. I was never one of those people who went crazy over a pot of strawberry jam. Quite the contrary! I am the kind of person who loves the taginess of apricot, black currant or Italian plum jams...

That was before my encounter with English television chef Tamasin Day-Lewis' "Strawberry & Rhubarb Crumble" recipe in the May issue of my Bon Appétit magazine. Then, I knew that I was ready to give cooked/baked strawberries a try. When mixed with rhubarb, cooked strawberries lose their cloying aspect, so there was no way they were going to be a problem for me. Rhubarb is the best partner for strawberries. Both complement each other perfectly.

At the moment we are getting the most perfumed strawberries from Italy, so I have been eating that lovely fruit almost on a daily basis. (strawberry fever, baby!). Not to forget that it is also the high season for Swiss rhubarb which has to be one of my favorite veggies (yes it is a vegetable!) ever. How could one resist eating both of them together? Nobody, I'm pretty sure.

And to tell you the truth, I now am addicted to cooked/baked strawberries in desserts! That crumble converted me totally and made me change my mind (well, I am still not a big fan of strawberry jam though, but I might reconsider my position later...). As a matter of fact, I have made different variations of that "Strawberry & Rhubarb Crumble" three times in a row/week!

The recipe I am going to share with you today was created for the meal (starter: green asparagus with a pistachio & fresh garlic vinaigrette, main course: gnudi di spinaci e ricotta) I had prepared with much care for my friend Corinne and is highly inspired by Tamasin Day-Lewis' crumble recipe (the original recipe has been turned around and newly adapted by myself).

Well, Corinne who loves rhubarb cleaned her dessert plate in no time and without effort! This crumble is just irresistibly heavenly. The topping is mouthwateringly crispy, delightfully buttery and pleasantly oaty, the middle is decadently gooey and incredibly puddingy and the bottom is marvelously juicy, wonderfully fruity as well as exhaliratingly fragrant. Totally awesome and to die for!

~ Strawberry & Rhubarb Crumble ~

Recipe inspired by Tamasin Day-Lewis and adapted by Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010 .

Ingredients:
200g (1 1/2 Cups + 1 Tbs) All purpose flour
100g (1/2 Cup) + 140g (2/3 Cup) Castor sugar
1/2 Tsp Sea salt
100g (1/2 Cup) Unsalted butter, cold & cut into 1.5cm (1/2-inch) cubes
2-3 Tbs Old-fashioned oats
2 Tsp Natural vanilla paste
1 Tsp Ground cinnamon
4 Cups (1 pound) Strawberries, hulled, halved (or cut in 4 if very big)
12 oz (360g) Red rhubarb, ends trimmed, stalks cut crosswise into 1.5cm (1/2-inch) -thick pieces

Method:
1. Combine the flour, 100g sugar and salt in medium bowl. Whisk to blend.
2. Add the butter and rub it in with your fingertips until the mixture ressemble corse sand/pebbles.
3. Add the oats and mix well.
4. Preheat the oven to 190° C (375° F).
5. Butter a 28x18x5cm (11x7x2-inch) baking dish.
6. Place the fruits in a big bowl, add the vanilla, cinnamon and 140g sugar in large bowl.
7. Toss delicately to coat well.
8. Scrape the fruit filling into the prepared baking dish.
9. Sprinkle the crumble topping evenly over the filling.
10. Bake the crumble until the filling bubbles thickly and the topping is crisp as well as golden brown, about 45 minutes.
11. Let cool 15 minutes on a wire rack.
12. Spoon the warm crumble into dessert dishes.

Remarks:

The topping can be made 1 to 2 days ahead.
Store the cooled crumble in an airtight container in fridge. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Serving suggestions:
Serve with some ice cream (vanilla, goat's milk, yoghurt, lemon...) or some thick yoghurt (Greek) mixed with a little powder sugar.
This crumble is also delicious when eaten cold (at room temperature) the next day.

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~ Crumble A La Rhubarbe Et A La Fraise ~

Recette inspirée par Tamasin Day-Lewis et adaptée par Rosa @ Rosa's Yummy Yums 2010 .

Ingrédients:
200g de Farine blanche
100g +140g de Sucre cristallisé
1/2 CC de Sel de mer
100g de Beurre non-salé, très froid et coupé en petits morceaux de 1.5cm
2-3 CS d'Avoine
2 CC de Pâte de vanille naturelle
1 CC de Cannelle en poudre
500g de Fraises, équeutées et coupées en deux (ou en quatre si elles sont grosses)
360g de Rhubarbe (préférablement rose), coupée en morceaux de 1.5cm

Méthode:

1. Mélanger la farine, les 100g de sucre et le sel dans un bol moyen.
2. Ajouter le beurre et l'incorporer avec les doigts afin d'obtenir un mélange sablé grossier.
3. Ajouter l'avoine et bien mélanger.
4. Préchauffer le four à 190° C.
5. Beurrer un plat à gratin de 28x18x5cm.
6. Mettre les fruits dans un grand bol, ajouter la vanille, la cannelle et les 140g de sucre.
7. Mélanger délicatement afin que le sucre et les épices soient bien répartis.
8. Mettre le mélange de fruits dans le plats.
9. Saupoudrer de manière homogène avec le crumble.
10. Cuire le crumble pendant 45 minutes, jusqu'à ce que le mélange aux fruits fasse des bulles et que le dessus soit bien croquant et doré.
11. Laisser refroidir pendant 15 minutes.
12. Servir le crumble dans des assiettes à dessert.

Remarques:

Le crumble (mélange farine/sucre/sel/beurre) peut être préparé à l'avance (1 à 2 jours).
Vous pouvez conserver le crumble au frigo (1 ou deux jours).

Idées de présentation:
Servir ce crumble avec de la glace (vanille, lait de chèvre, yaourt, citron,...) ou avec du yaourt épais (grec) auquel vous ajouterez un peu de sucre en poudre.
Ce crumble est aussi délicieux quand consommé froid (à température ambiante) le jour d'après.

0 HELLO SUN

After more than two weeks of continuous rain and grey weather, it seems that things are getting a little better. Yesterday, I was finally able to eat on my balcony again and to go out for a walk. I had been waiting for that moment with much impatience....

Although the weather is more enjoyable, the temperatures are still very low - considering the fact that it is already the middle of May (14° C) - and we getting a strong Bise (Northern wind). Let's hope it'll be sunny and warm for my holidays (starting this Friday)!