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I love fruit cakes in Christmas times, you get to taste wonderful combination of nuts and dried fruits with a subtle brandy flavor .If you have ever made a Fruit Cake you know that what really sets this cake apart is how we repeatedly feed the cake, over time, with alcohol (usually brandy, sometimes rum), This gives the Fruit Cake a full of flavor and a extremely moist texture, plus it also allows the cake to be stored for ages and ages. This fruit cake  is jammed with raisins, currants, dates, dried cranberries, dried figs and prunes, dried apricots , dried mangoes and candied fruits and of course fresh nuts: cashews, almonds and pecans. It's dense, moist, spicy, nutty and PERFECT! Ingredients: 1 cup (227 grams) unsalted butter 1/2 cup (110 grams) light brown sugar 2 Large eggs 1/2 cup brandy, for soaking fruit Juice and zest (outer orange skin) of one orange 1/2 cups chopped pecans 1 cup (100 grams) walnuts, cashews, almonds, chop...

      I hope every one is having a good time in this holiday season.   I just saw Nigella Lawson prepare these delicious brownies on TV and I had to give it a go . These are the best brownies ever, perfectly 'squishy' in the middle and its effortless to make at home. The only adjustment I made was to add melted chocolate syrup and chopped cashews for garnishing. Ingredients 3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 12 ounces best-quality bitter-sweet chocolate 6 eggs 1 3/4 cups superfine sugar 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup white chocolate buttons, chips, or morsels 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate buttons, chips or morsels Approximately 2 teaspoons confectioners' sugar, for garnish Special equipment: Baking tin (approximately 11 1/4 inches by 9 inches by 2 inches), sides and base lined with baking parchment.  1/2 cup of chopped Cashews for garnish Directions 1. Pre-heat the oven t...

This rich & colorful strawberry/Raspberry sorbet is a perfect treat on a hot spring�s day.  It has a wonderfully light and refreshing flavor with a grainy consistency and  very  simple dessert to make at home; just mixing together freezing fruit, water, sugar, and lemon juice. I have used fresh strawberry and raspberry for this recipe; you can use the frozen fruits. Ingredients: 1 cups water 1 cup sugar 2 pounds of strawberry 1 pounds of raspberry 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 1/3 cup fresh orange juice 2 tbl spoon rum (optional) Directions: Put water and sugar in heavy saucepan over high heat until sugar dissolves. Boil 5 minutes. Leave it to cool. Puree berries in food processor until smooth. Add the puree , orange and lemon juices,rum to cool sugar syrup; stir to blend. Cover and refrigerate until cold, about 2 hours.  If you are making the sorbet in ice-cream maker process strawberry/ raspberry  mixture in ice cream maker according to manufact...

This is a post from 2008... so yes, since I'm not posting right now- I am recycling! I thought it might be of current interest. Stemming back to the 1700's, King Cakes are the traditional celebratory cake of Mardi Gras. Originally king cakes were served at Mardi Gras Parties and the king cake held a bean inside instead of a plastic baby. When served, the "lucky" person having the bean on their plate was named the king or queen of the party, and was then responsible for holding the next Mardi gras party which would include all the guests present at the party where the bean was found. Living in South Louisiana, I have eaten more than my fair share of King cake. The bakeries make them in just about every flavor imaginable. The most popular are Praline and cream cheese, which is my favorite. Up until today I had not made my own king cake, but a few days ago I stumbled across this Swedish Ring at Tartelette and knew it would be perfect for my cake. I used the dough portio...

I have successfully been making a version of this pie since I was ten years old, it has been a favorite in my family for as long as I can remember. When I first started making it I used a pre-made graham cracker crust, but then later discovered how simple graham crusts were to make so I made my own. The pie can be made in a pie or tart pan which makes for a nice presentation when serving it whole. For the restaurant, presentation can be a little trickier since I serve individual pieces so I double the recipe and make it in a springform pan, this makes nice tall pieces which are then individually garnished with lime slices and berries. The pie is best made a day ahead so it can properly chill and set in the refrigerator. If you are pressed for time though, (which I always seem to be) place it in the freezer to speed up the cooling process. For the crust I use either gingersnaps or graham crackers, they both make a nice crust. I have found Eagle brand condensed milk to be the thickest, s...

This is what I do when I am stressed- I bake. I bake a lot. It relaxes me and keeps my mind off all the things which tend to stress me out since I must concentrate on the task at hand, everything must be perfectly measured and precise. I get to totally control the result- which of course gives me a great deal of satisfaction, I express a little creativity and I get a yummy sugar fix along the way- what more could I want? (actually, a great deal but I wont bore you with that today). So enough about that- let's move on to the lemon-blueberry shortcakes. I adjusted my biscuit dough a bit by adding a little sugar to it, but they are as flaky as ever. The blueberry compote was quickly put together with a little lemon juice and sugar. I used a pint of blueberries, cooked 1/2 of them in the sauce then added the rest after the removing it from the heat. I added the berries in two additions in order to have more texture, while I wanted a sauce, I also wanted the flavor and texture of fresh ...

There just has not been enough dessert around here lately! Which also means I have not had enough dessert- life gets crazy sometimes. We all know what a priority sweet stuff is to me so today we are back on track with these little blackberry hand pies. I know it's not quite summer yet- actually it even isn't quite spring yet, but in 80 degree weather blackberries seem quite seasonal. A friend gave me a basket of berries and I knew exactly what I would do with them as soon as I tasted one. The recipe was inspired by one I had spied in an old Gourmet magazine, I remember thinking what a great idea the addition of grated apple was. The pastry recipe is a good one- it allows for re-rolling of the dough, it is one of the flakiest pie doughs I've had. Let the dough rest a little while before the second roll so it wont be too elastic and want to shrink back. Allow the filling to cool well before assembling the hand pies, this will keep the butter in the pastry from melting before...

I haven't been doing much posting lately as a result of a short little trip to Virginia to visit my dear friend Sharman. But, I am back, totally energized and full of ideas for the blog and work. I came up with citrus cakelet idea after looking through one of Sharman's Martha Stewart cookbooks which I fell in love with. She was sweet enough to send the book home with me, so today I set out to make the cakes. The recipe originally called for Strawberry jam, I substituted orange marmalade and added the zest of a beautiful bright orange tangelo I found at the market. For the icing, I used the juice of a couple of tangelos mixed with some powdered sugar. Citrus Cakeletes 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 3/4 cup sugar 2 eggs, separated 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup milk 1- 1/2 cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon finely grated tangelo, mandarin, or orange zest 6 tablespoons Orange marmalade or preserves of your choice 6 tablespoons Tangelo or Orange juic...

This is another of my Italian favorites and also known as Torta di Risso. I have been working on this recipe for some time, I finally feel like it's good enough to share. Good quality Citron is sometimes very hard to find, but King Arthur Flour has it available on their web site. Do not use the candied fruit they sell at the grocery store that is traditionally used for fruit cakes. If you cannot find good quality citron, then just add some extra lemon rind in it's place. The ratio of rice to milk may seem a little odd, but the finished product produces a rich custard like flan. After simmering at a slow boil for an hour the rice plumps up and most of the milk is absorbed. I keep the heat on medium-low and stir occasionally, scraping the side of the pot. If the rice mixture is not thick enough after cooking for an hour, continue to cook until it becomes thick like rice pudding.(it's more about how it looks rather than how long it takes to get there). I make the pastry by han...

After making frilly cookies for the last couple of weeks, I was craving something chunky and easy. These white chocolate macadamia cookies are crunchy, if softer cookies are more your style, underbake them by a minute or two and remove them from the cookie sheet soon after they come out of the oven. I took these to a crawfish boil today and they were a hit- everyone wants something sweet after eating lots of salty crawfish. (specially me) Softened butter contributes to the crunchyness of the cookie, microwave the butter for 10 seconds intervals if it's coming straight out of the refrigerator. After adding the egg and vanilla, reduce the speed of the mixer so the dough does not get over mixed. Cashews are a good substitution for macadamia nuts if you prefer. Use the best quality white chocolate available, I use Callebeut and cut it into chunks with a sharp knife. Toasting the nuts at 350 F for 10 minutes heightens their flavor, just be sure to let them cool before adding them to th...

Happy Valentine's Day! For me Valentine's day usually means a very busy restaurant and lots of baking. I probably made more cookies this week, than I did for Christmas (and I made a lot of cookies for Christmas!). I've made heart-shaped cupcakes, chocolate cakes, strawberry cakes, chocolate mousse, sugar cookies, Tiramisu, strawberry tarts and raspberry linzer cookies. Tomorrow I will bake tres leches cake and make sure we have plenty of creme brulee. I made these early in the week since they are a little time consuming, but well worth the effort. I found the easiest way to decorate these is to melt the raspberry jam and spread a thin layer on the base. Work with one cookie at a time, while the jam is still hot and press the top cookie onto the base. (to glue it together). After all the cookies have been put together, sprinkle with powdered sugar- I use snow sugar since it doesn't melt. Snow sugar can be found at baking suply store or online at King Arthur Flour , they...

A few weeks ago I noticed Peabody and Tartelette were holding a donut event called- Time to make the Doughnuts. Doughnuts usually have yeast and since yeast and I are not really very well aquainted, (that is one of my resolutions this year though- to end the fear of yeast!), I figured I really did not have much to contribute. But then, the March issue of Bon Apettit arrived and it changed everything. I saw a recipe for Brandied Apricot Beignets- I altered it a little by adding more fruit and brandy, not serving them with chocolate sauce and instead showering the golden little fritters with lots of powdered sugar. They turned out delicious, Jack proclaimed I was the best mom ever- after eating about 5 of them. (yup- ever!) The beignets are not the traditional French variety- you know, the ones that require yeast; instead they have a choux paste as the base for the dough. They remind me of the Bunuelos of my childhood which were drizzled with an orange flower infused honey syrup. The r...

I made this triffle for the Culinate Chocolate Contest which was held last week. It was fun entering an online contest and I always love a challenge. Triple Chocolate Raspberry Triffles- They are mini triffles (ok, not so mini- large enough to be shared by two). The layers start chocolate sponge cake drizzled with Framboise, filled by fresh raspberries topped with white chocolate pastry cream. The fourth layer is a yummy Chocolate Mousse-then cake, raspberries, pastry cream and mousse again topped with white, milk and dark chocololate curls. All of the parts of the triffle require some folding. The sponge cake does not have any leavening in it, it rises because of the whipped eggs so you must be careful to whip when required and gently fold at the end when combining the ingredients. This is a good explanation I found online to explain folding. ( Just in case someone doesn't have much experience with this technique- I was having a hard time putting it into words!) Triple Chocolate...

Banana Tarte Tatin is my interpretation of this French Classic. I like drizzling dulce de leche caramel over the top, it makes a great combination with the bananas and rum spiked whipped cream. I have sometimes made caramel for it, but in the interest of time I used some store bought dulce de leche and heated it in the microwave to soften it a bit. The dish comes together in under 40 minutes, including baking. A note about store bought puff pastry- not all brands are alike. Check the ingredient label and be use to purchase the type made with 100% butter. Some of the puff pastries available commercially, have vegetable oil instead and there is just no comparison, specially in a dessert like this one. The brand I prefer is from Whole Foods, it's a little pricier than others at $10 for a one pound sheet, but well worth the extra dollars because of the remarkable results it yields. I try to use Bananas which are just beginning to speckle, if they are too ripe they will fall apart. I us...