Shortcrust pastry (or pie crust) is very popular when making quiche, pie, tart and tartelettes. You’ll be amazed how easy it is to make this unsweetened pie shell. It turns out light, crumbly, crunchy and deliciously buttery. After trying making this recipe you will never go back to store-bought crust again.
Shortcrust pastry
Wrap the dough tightly in plastic wrap, then freeze. It can last up to 3 months.This is also called pie crust pastry.
Ingredients
- 240 g all purpose flour
- 2-3 pinches of salt
- 125 g softened unsalted butter
- 1 egg yolk
- 2-3 Tbsp water
Instructions
- In a large bowl or on the clean table surface combine salt and flour together. Add chunks of softened butter.
- Use finger to combine until crumbly.
- Add egg yolks and start to knead the dough, only add as much water as dough needs. Do not over-knead.
- Shape into a ball.
- Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least for 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 380°F. Unwrap dough and roll into a thin circle between two pieces of parchment paper.
- Fit dough into a tart pan, press firmly on bottom and sides. Trim any extra dough. Pick all over with a fork.
- Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, until pie shell is lightly golden.
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This post was posted in Desserts
Three Layer Chocolate Mousse
Dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate… Each layer has different taste and texture. You can use any size glasses you desire. And of course, as always, I choose mini portions. Ideal for a Cafe Gourmand.
Three layer chocolate mousse
Ingredients
Dark chocolate ganache
- 120 ml heavy whipping cream
- 100 g dark chocolate
Milk chocolate mousse
- 100 g milk chocolate
- 2 eggs
- 1 pinch salt
White chocolate mousse
- 150 ml heavy whipping cream
- 100 g white chocolate
For garnishing
- 6-8 fresh raspberries
Instructions
Dark chocolate ganache
- In a small pan, boil the heavy whipping cream. Pour the boiling cream over the dark chocolate. Wait for one minute and mix it until the mixture is smooth.
- Divide dark chocolate ganache among six glasses. Refrigerate for one hour.
Milk chocolate mousse
- Separate egg yolks from the egg whites.
- Melt milk chocolate in microwave until the chocolate is completely melted. Add egg yolks in melted chocolate and mix well.
- Whisk egg whites with salt until stiff.
- Carefully fold in the egg whites into chocolate.
- Remove glasses from the fridge, spoon the mousse over the chocolate gonache and chill for another hour.
White chocolate mousse
- Bring the heavy whipping cream to a boil. Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate. Wait 1-2 minutes until white chocolate melts.
- Whisk until smooth. Place white chocolate in the fridge for about 45 minutes. Chocolate should chill completely but at the same time still liquid.
- Beat the chilled chocolate until soft foam.
- Using piping bag or small spoon, spread the mousse into the glasses.
- Refrigerate your dessert for 4-6 hours.
- Before serving, garnish each glass with fresh berries. If the portion is mini, you can cut raspberries into 2 pieces.
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Lemon Cake
I’ve always had a sweet tooth. Whether it be a plain piece of dark chocolate or a decadent caramel cheesecake, I can’t remember the last time I turned down dessert. My mouth waters every time I see or think of this Lemon Cake. Each time I’m at Starbucks, I know what I will be ordering. I can’t guarantee this Lemon loaf tastes exactly like Starbucks, I personally think it’s better. You tell me. 🙂
Lemon Cake
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon zest
- 1 tsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tsp lemon extract
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup yogurt (I use Greek yogurt)
- 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour sifted
- 2 tsp baking powder
Icing
- 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a loaf pan.
- Combine eggs and sugar.
- Add lemon zest, lemon juice and lemon extract.
- Add vegetable oil and mix.
- Gradually add greek yogurt and mix until combined.
- Stir in baking powder.
- Slowly add flour. Blend until smooth.
- Pour the batter into the baking pan. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and quickly cover the pan with aluminum foil, and return to the oven, for the last 10 minutes, to prevent excess browning.
- Cool the loaf in a pan for 15 minutes. Remove from pan to wire racks to cool completely.
- Whisk confectioners’ sugar with lemon juice until smooth. Spoon evenly over the loaf and let sit for about 30 minutes.
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This post was posted in Desserts
Normandy Apple Pie
My version of Normandy Apple Pie, with calvados and sour cream, of course.
Check out my other recipes with puff pastry.
Normandy Apple Pie
Ingredients
- 1 sheet all butter puff pastry
- 4-5 apples Granny Smith
- 2 Tbsp lemon juice
- 2 eggs
- 4 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp Calvados
- 4 Tbsp sour cream
- 1/4 cup almond powder
- 1 Tbsp sliced almonds
- 1 tsp sugar powdered
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 380 degrees F. Thaw one sheet of puff pastry until room temperature. Roll the pastry dough into circle and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Prick with a fork.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes.
- Peel the apples and cut them in half through the stem. Remove the stems and slice the apples cross wide in very thin slices. Add lemon juice.
- Arrange the apples slices in an overlapping spiral pattern.
- In a medium bowl beat the eggs with sugar. Add calvados, sour cream and almond powder, mix well.
- Pour the mixture over the apples.
- Bake for another 15 minutes.
- Sprinkle with sliced almonds and keep baking for 30 more minutes until golden.
- Remove from the oven and cool in the pan. Transfer to serving plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.
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This post was posted in Desserts, Puff Pastry
Watermelon Rind Jam
Throwing away watermelon rinds? You can make jam from them. Sweet tooths will be delighted! Leave a little pulp on the rind; this will give the jam a beautiful, appetizing color.
Watermelon Rind Jam
Ingredients
- 1 kg watermelon rind
- 1 litre boiling water
- 500 ml water
- 1 kg sugar
Instructions
- Wash the watermelon and cut it into wedges. Remove the rind, leaving some red flesh.
- Using a vegetable peeler, remove the green skin from the rind.
- Cut into small pieces.
- Pour boiling water over the rinds. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes.
- Drain the water and let the rinds cool.
- Place the sugar in a small saucepan, add 1/2 liter of water and, while stirring, bring to a boil.
- Pour this syrup over the crusts and cook over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 2 to 3 hours.
- Return to the heat and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool.
- Return it to the heat a third time and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Let it cool.
- Check that the jam is ready. The pieces of watermelon rind should become almost transparent, a reddish-amber in color. A drop of jam should retain its shape and not spill onto the plate. If necessary, reboil the jam until it reaches the desired consistency.
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This post was posted in Desserts, Gluten-Free
Ponchiki (Russian Doughnuts)
Every kid of the Soviet Union should remember the taste of golden and crunchy on the outside and fluffy and tender on the inside tvoroznye ponchiki. It’s a deep-fried piece of dough shaped into a small ball and covered with powdered sugar. They don’t just look delightful, they taste the same.
You don’t have to take a trip to Russia to get the real taste of ponchiki : I’ll be sharing my recipe with you today.
Ponchiki (Russian Doughnuts)
If you couldn’t find farmers cheese in your local grocery store, don’t panic : use ricotta. This is a good substitute for farmers cheese. Very similar taste. But be sure to drain the water out of the ricotta.
Ingredients
- 2 cups farmer cheese
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- olive oil or vegetable oil to fry
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, beat two eggs with sugar and salt, add baking soda and vanilla. Continue beating for 30 more seconds. Add two cups of farmers cheese and beat for 20 more seconds. Add flour and stir with a spatula. Dough will be sticky.
- Using a small ice cream scoop, or wet hands form dough into a small balls.
- In a large iron skillet, heat the oil until hot (350 degrees F). Add ponchiki, one at a time, and fry over medium heat until golden brown. Normally ponchiki roll over on their own, and you don’t have to turn them over.
- Lift them with tongs, drain on paper towel. Toss ponchiki in powdered sugar while they are still hot. You can serve them right away.
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This post was posted in Desserts
Almond Flour Banana Bread
This banana bread gets its amber color and caramelized taste from brown sugar and the taste is amplified by the almond flour. This is not gluten-free recipe, you need to add a little of all purpose flour too.
If you don’t have almond flour or brown sugar, you can try our famous Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Bread.
If you are looking for gluten-free recipe, try our Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins.
Almond Flour Banana Bread
Although the chocolate chips and walnuts are not mandatory, they add a whole new level of taste and texture to this cake.
Ingredients
- 2 very ripe bananas
- 200 g brown sugar
- 4 eggs
- 200 g almond flour
- 100 g unsalted butter melted
- 80 g all purpose flour
- 2 pinches salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 100 g chopped walnuts
- 60 g chocolate chips (60%)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180C). Grease a large bread pan and set aside.
- Mash bananas with a fork and mix them with brown sugar.
- Add eggs and mix well.
- Add melted butter,
- and almond flour.
- Then add all purpose flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well.
- Add walnuts
- and chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter into bread pan and bake for about 55 minutes.
- Banana bread is ready when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool the bread in pan for 10 minutes. Remove from pan to wire rack to cool completely.
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This post was posted in Desserts
Chocolate Sauce
After trying to make this chocolate sauce at home, you will never go back to store-bought syrup again. No weird preservatives or ingredients like the ones in the store. You will need two ingredients to make this delicious sauce.
Watch this quick video to make your mouth water.
Chocolate sauce
Your sauce will taste even better if you will use heavy cream. Unfortunatly most of the time I use milk, since I’m always trying to lose weight 😉 but it keeps finding me for some reason.
Ingredients
- 125 ml milk or heavy cream
- 150 g dark chocolate (60-70%)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan bring milk (or cream) to boil. Remove from the heat and pour the liquid over the chocolate. Allow it to sit for 1 minute. Whisk to combine.
- The sauce will stay loose while its hot. But you can always reheat it. Spoon the chocolate mixture into a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Heat the sauce for about 3-4 minutes stirring constantly or until it has become liquid again.
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This post was posted in Desserts
Creamy Vanilla And Chocolate Jelly
Creamy Vanilla And Chocolate Jelly is a very light and airy dessert, with a touch of sweetness. Who wouldn’t love chocolate and vanilla goodness in a cup? I always try to limit myself. This dessert is so simple to make and a great way to end a special dinner. It can be done the day before.
Creamy Vanilla And Chocolate Jelly
You can also make it in one big baking pan and cut it into small squares.
Ingredients
Vanilla layer
- 1/2 cup water cold
- 3 packs Knox original gelatin unflavored
- 500 ml heavy whipping cream
- 500 ml whole milk
- 8 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Chocolate layer
- 60 ml whole milk
- 3 Tbsp water cold
- 1/2 pack Knox original gelatin unflavored
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp cacao powder
Instructions
Vanilla layer
- In a small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup of cold water. Let stand for 5 minutes.
- In a large saucepan, bring milk, heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract and sugar to a simmer, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved.
- Add gelatin mixture and stir until dissolved. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Let it cool for 5 minutes, strain through a fine sieve.
- Divide the mixture between 12 small glasses and place them in the fridge until firm (2-3 hours).
Chocolate layer
- In a small saucepan, add milk and water. Sprinkle gelatin on top and set aside for 3 minutes. Add cacao powder and sugar, mix well.
- Place over medium heat and heat until barely boiling, stirring constantly.
- Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve. Let the mix cool down.
- Remove the glasses from the refrigerator and pour the chocolate mixture on top of the vanilla jelly.
- Refrigerate for 2 more hours.
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This post was posted in Desserts, Gluten-Free
Berry Charlotte Cake
This is a famous French dessert made of ladyfinger biscuits, light mousse and topped with fresh fruits. My Berry Charlotte Cake is very easy to make, although it seems like not. The only downside to a charlotte is that it is not always easy to assemble the ladyfinger in the spring form.
Berry Charlotte Cake
Even though the berry season is only a few months out of the year, frozen berries allow us enjoying the sweet taste of summer year round.
If it is winter time or you happen to not finding any good berries at the store, use frozen ones, for the mousse and fresh ones for the decor.
Ingredients
- 500 g berries raspberries, strawberries or blackberries…
- 50-70 g sugar
- 500 ml heavy whipping cream ( 35%) very cold
- 8 g gelatin
- 24 Ladyfingers
For decoration
- 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
- Fresh berries
- Fresh mint optional
- whipped cream optional
Instructions
- Rinse and drain berries, add sugar and puree until smooth.
- Pass the puree through a fine sieve, to remove all tiny seeds.
- You will need about 1/2 cup of puree for dipping the ladyfingers. The rest pour into the saucepan.
- Add 4-5 Tbsp of cold water to gelatin, and set it aside.
- Place the saucepan with berry mixture over medium heat on the stove (don’t boil), remove from the stove and add gelatin. Whisk well until the gelatin is dissolved. Let it cool to room temperature. …
- Pour the very cold heavy whipping cream into a large bowl and whisk, until the cream reaches the soft peaks stage. Do not over beat!
- Once the berry puree is completely at room temperature, gently fold it into the whipped cream and set it aside.
- Line the inside and walls of a springform pan with parchment paper or plastic wrap. …
- Measure the length you need.
- You can trim off one end of each ladyfinger.
- Dip one side of the ladyfinger in the puree mixture. Let the excess syrup drip off, then line the ladyfingers (dipped side needs to be inside) in a tight ring, cut side down, around the spring form pan.
- If you having trouble fitting the last ladyfinger in, you can cut it in half.
- Pour the berry mousse into the springform. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.
- Carefully remove springform walls and plastic wrap. Transfer cake to the plate.
- Dust with cocoa powder.
- Garnish with some fresh berries, fresh mint, whipped cream and shredded chocolate.
- You can decorate with ribbon, but don’t forget to remove the ribbon before cutting the cake. 🙂
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This post was posted in Desserts