Refreshing chocolate and lemon treats, served in the natural lemon shells. If you wish to serve them in a la cafe gourmand style, use small lemons, surprise your friends.

Lemon Shells Stuffed With Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 6 lemons
- 1 (300 g) lemon sorbet
- 1 (300 g) chocolate ice cream
Instructions
- Cut off the top of the lemon. Hollow out each lemon by using a teaspoon. Remove juice and flesh, but be careful not to puncture the lemon skin.
- Spoon some lemon sorbet into shells and press firmly with teaspoon. Fill the rest of the lemon with chocolate ice cream.
- Place stuffed lemons in the freezer with the hats on top. You can serve this fancy dessert in as little as one hour, or when the lemon shells are completely frozen.
Vanilla Creme Brulee
Absolutely amazing what a little cream, a little sugar and couple of eggs can turn into…. Perfect restaurant quality dessert. A rich custard topped with a hard layer of caramel. This Vanilla creme brulee is very easy to make if you follow all the steps correctly.
It will perfectly complete your cafe gourmand if the crème brûlée is served in small ramekins.
Look at this short video ! 🙂

Vanilla Crème brûlée
Ingredients
- 8 egg yolks
- 120 g granulated sugar
- 1/2 vanilla bean
- 640 ml whipping cream
- 6 tsp granulated sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds into the cream. In a medium bowl, combine together sugar, eggs yolks, vanilla and whisk.

- Add the cream a little at a time and stir. Remove the scum with a tea spoon.

- Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and pour it into the ramekins. Divide cream mixture among ramekins (about 6 ramekins).

- Arrange the ramekins in a baking pan with deep sides. And carefully pour water around ramekins so that the water level must reach about 2/3 of the ramekins.

- Bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes. You will know its ready when the custard is wobbly and jiggle from side to side when nudged (it looks like jello).
- Remove the custard from the water bath and let cool completely, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 6 hours (overnight).

- Before serving, cover each cold creme brulee evenly with sugar (1 tsp). Caramelize using a propane torch. If you don’t have one propane torch, use the broiler: put the oven rack about 6 inches away from the broiler. Place the custards on the baking sheet and broil for about 3-5 minutes, or until sugar bubbles and turns golden brown. (Keep a close eye on them, they can burn quickly)

Notes
Tuna Quiche
This French open-faced pie with canned tuna, egg & cream filling seems completely simple, but it is so delicious. Don’t forget to add mustard to this Tuna Quiche, it will give a charm to it.

Tuna Quiche
Ingredients
- 1 sheet all butter puff pastry
- 200 g tuna in water (drained)
- 1-2 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 2 tsp mustard
- 2 eggs
- 100 ml sour cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tomato
- 30 g cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lay the puff pastry out on a baking sheet. Prick all over with a fork.

- Pop in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the crust starts to turn light gold. Remove the pastry from the oven, pressing the center down with a fork, if it puffed up a bit.

- Meanwhile mix tuna and mayonnaise with fork. Season with salt and pepper.

- Spread the mustard across centre. (I use mustard “a l’ancienne).

- Spoon the tuna mix on top.

- Combine eggs with sour cream and mix together. Season with salt and pepper.

- Pour over tuna.

- Slice tomato and arrange them on top of your quiche. Sprinkle with cheese.

- Bake for 30 minutes or until quiche is golden brown.

Cheese and Garlic Stuffed Tomatoes
You can serve this Cheese and garlic stuffed tomatoes as a starter or as a salad.

Cheese and Garlic Stuffed Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 18 large cherry tomatoes
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 1 cup grated cheese american, cheddar, etc.
- fresh herbs chives, parsley, basil leaves
- 2-3 Tbs mayonnaise
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut off the top of cherry tomatoes. Keep the tops for presentation.

- Using a small spoon, scoop out the insides of the tomatoes. Place the tomatoes upside-down on a paper towel.

- Remove juice and seeds from the pulp. Mince the pulp.
- Press garlic using a garlic press. Mix the cheese and garlic together.
- Add mayonnaise, finely chopped herbs and tomato pulp. Salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.
- Using a spoon, add cheese filling to the tomatoes and place the tops back on top of your cherry tomatoes.

- Refrigerate tomatoes before serving.
Cherry clafoutis
This is my favorite cherry clafoutis recipe — a delightful take from the classic version that I’ve adapted with my own twist. With cherry season in full swing, this simple yet irresistible dessert is the perfect way to enjoy summer’s sweet bounty!

Cherry clafoutis
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 100 g sugar
- 110 g flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 450 ml liquid cream (35%)
- 150 ml milk
- 1 cuillère a soupe liquid vanilla
- 600 g pitted cherries (griottes)
- Bit of sugar for the mold
- Bit of butter for the mold
Instructions
- Preheat the oven (210°С/ 410°F).
- Mix the eggs and the sugar

- Add milk and liquid cream. Mix.

- Add vanilla.

- Add flour and salt. Mix well one more time.

- Generously butter the baking dish(es) and sprinkle them with sugar.

- Spread the pitted cherries over the bottom of the molds.

- Pour in the clafoutis batter. The cherries should remain visible.

- Bake for 30-40 minutes. Baking time depends on the size of the molds.

- Serve warm or cold. In my opinion, it tastes better cold.

Hachis Parmentier
Hachis Parmentier is a delicious French casserole made with layers of mashed potatoes and ground beef.
The dish is named after Antoine Parmentier (1737-1813). He was a French pharmacist who made potatoes popular in Paris and northern France.

Hachis Parmentier
Ingrédients
- 1 kg large potatoes
- 100 g butter (50+30+20)
- 50 ml milk (heated)
- 1 large onion
- 1-2 cloves garlic
- 500 g ground beef
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 egg
- 30 g grated cheese
- Some seasonings or minced parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes and chop them into cubes. Boil in salted water until easily pricked with fork, about 20 minutes. Then drain water.

- Add 50 g of butter and mash. Add warmed milk and mash together to smooth consistency. Taste the puree, add more salt if needed.

- Peel and chop the onion and garlic.

- Melt 30 g of butter in a large pan and saute onion and garlic until soft.

- Add ground beef and cook until browned. Add salt and pepper to taste.

- Take the pan off the fire and let cool down a little. Add a row egg.

- Process to finer texture by using a food processor, if desired.

- Preheat oven to 380F/190C. Grease baking dish.
- Add 1/2 of mashed potatoes in thin layer to the prepared dish. Then layer beef preparation on top of potatoes. You can also add your favorite seasonings at this point or some chopped parsley. (This time, I added paprika).

- Top with remaining potatoes. You can make some shapes on the top using the fork. Add remaining butter and dot on the potatoes. Sprinkle with grated cheese.

- Bake uncovered for about 25 minutes until the top is golden.

Spring Egg Salad With Green Onion
Perfect simple and plain salad, of which I think every time I see bunch of green onion. You will only need 3 ingredients to make this salad. I normally use mayonnaise as a dressing, but you can use sour cream as well, or mix of sour cream with mayonnaise (50/50).

Spring Egg Salad With Green Onion
Ingredients
- 6 hard boiled eggs peeled and chopped
- 1/3 bunch green onion finely chopped
- 3 Tbsp mayonnaise
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pinch paprika (optional)
Instructions
- Stir eggs, mayonnaise and green onion in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with some paprika if desire.

Easy Walnut Cake
There are quite a few nut cake recipes; but this one, which my mother-in-law is preparing is a little different. With that easy walnut cake, you can really taste the taste of nuts thanks to the small pieces that crunch under your teeth!

Easy Walnut Cake
Ingredients
- 3 eggs
- 220 g sugar
- 100 ml milk
- 90 ml olive oil
- 200 g sifted flour
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 300 g walnuts
- 40 g butter
- Some confectioner’s sugar
- Few walnuts halves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 380 degrees F. Grease and flour a round cake pan or line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
- Using a mixer, beat eggs with sugar.

- Add milk, olive oil, flour, and baking powder. Mix well.

- Place the walnuts in the zip-lock and cruch them using a pastry pin.

- Pour the batter in the cake pan (mould). Lay walnuts halves on top of the cake.

- Bake for 20 minutes. The cake should be well raised with a thin crust but not fully baked. Place the pieces of butter on top of the cake.

- Continue to cook for another 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven, allow to cool before removing it from the mold.

- Dust it with powdered sugar before serving.

Golden Baked Мashed Potatoes
If you find yourself with more left over potatoes than you can deal with, this recipe is for you!

Golden Baked Мashed Potatoes
Ingredients
- 1,2 kg potatoes
- 90 g butter
- 100 ml heavy cream or milk (warm)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes. Chop the potatoes into cubes. Place them in a medium pot. Add salt to the water and cook for 15-20 minutes. When they are fork tender, strain the potatoes.

- Add butter and mash until smooth and creamy.

- Next, pour the warm heavy cream or milk. Add salt and pepper to taste.

- Coat a baking dish with butter. Transfer potatoes to the prepared dish. You can make some shapes on the top.

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Bake uncovered for about 15 minutes until the top is golden.

French Buckwheat Crepes with smoked salmon
French Buckwheat Crepes with smoked salmon and sour cream are delicious. Must try!

French Buckwheat Crepes with smoked salmon
Ingredients
- 250 g buckwheat flour
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 350 g milk
- 350 g water
- 2 eggs
- 50 g melted butter
- 8 thin slices of smoked salmon
- 8 Tbsp sour cream
- Some fresh or dry dill (optional)
Instructions
- Mix buckwheat flour with salt, milk, water, and eggs together. Add melted butter and whisk until you get a smooth batter. Let rest for at least 2 hours. When you are ready to cook the crepes, stir the batter before frying each crepe.

- Heat a lightly buttered nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1/4 cupful batter to skillet and immediately tilt to fully cover the bottom of the pan with a thin layer. Cook for a few seconds.

- Without flipping the crepe, place a slice of smoked salmon in the center, add 1 Tsp of sour cream, and sprinkle with dill.

- A few seconds later, as the crepe seems to be ready, carefully lift one side with a spatula and fold it to make a triangle, or a square.

- Transfer the crepe to the plate and serve right away.
