No tricks, just treats

I’ve always regretted not to have a real Halloween. I tried. The first year I paid attention to the event (when I started being interested by the US), I prepared a huge bowl full of candies, and I waited. I waited, and I waited. And nobody came. Well, this is not quite true. A typical little French, showing their rebellion to any Anglo-Saxon tradition, the kids showed up either 3 days before (when I did not have the candies yet) or two days after (when my brother had already eaten everything!).

A few year later, when the word had spread in the neighborhood that we’d give candies for Halloween, I became a little too enthusiastic, and tried to built a gingerbread house. Oh, never again! Not only did it look like it had just undergone an earthquake, but the kids only wanted the candies…

So you see, I kind of forgot about doing special things for Halloween. It’s not like in the US. Can you believe that when I worked there, we even had a party at the office?! Nobody really worked that day, busy with decorating the office for the Halloween contest (the pictures are from the Financial Analysis department). It was unbelievable.
But this year, I’m cooking for other people than myself. So of course, I could not resist to having a special Halloween Menu. (Plus, I love having a theme when I’m cooking, it’s much more fun!).

So here’s the menu today :

Butternut with it’s caramelized onions (did I say onions? no, I mean worms of course) galette

Seriously, you’ve got to try this one. I know it is long (and dangerous for your fingers) to cut the butternut, but it’s worth it. This galette is so good, it’s the 3rd time I make since I read it on Deb’s blog, 3 weeks ago. I’m going to try other fillings, but don’t wait that long! The recipe is here.

Puffy Jack’o’lantern with tomato and cream sauce

Marble Pumpkin and chocolate cupcakes

I love this recipe. I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin, but this cake is moist and tender, and the sweetness of the pumpkin is not overwhelming thanks to the cocoa. It’s great for every time of the hour. Plus, it's from Cooking Light.

Happy Halloween!

La suite, please

Apple cake, German way

A few weeks ago, as I went grocery shopping, I froze in front of a very interesting stand. Cooking books, again (!), you’re gonna say? No! No cooking book, no weird material, no baking form (although I could reach a record, with almost 20 baking forms my 36 square foot kitchen). Nothing like that. The simplest and most natural of all. Apples and pears, directly from the orchard.
Maybe because of the great number of varieties (and we all know my problem with having to choose) or because of the blue sky but crisp air, of the leaves turning yellow and red, and of all those clear signs that fall is here* , I got out with 5 kg (about 10 pounds) of fruits.

Finding how to use them was not a problem. First, there’s the 2-3 fruits a day routine. Then there was some compote for everyone’s lunch. I couldn’t resist to baking Deb’s mom apple cake. Then I chopped, cooked and froze the rest, waiting for inspiration. It did come pretty fast, thanks to my mother: “You’re freezing the apples? Great, you’ll have it ready whenever you want your grand-mother’s apple cake.” That was enough for me to want it. And my week-end in Düsseldorf (Germany), seeing it in every bakery (Gedeckter Apfelkuchen is a German speciality you’ll find in many backerei) did not help either.

Of course, the best apple cakes are always the one you used to eat as a child, whether it’s your mother’s or grand-mother’s recipe. It’s my favourite, with lots of murbeteig (kind of like a sweet pie crust, but with baking powder), and the acidity of the lemon glaze balancing the sweet apple taste. But I wasn’t sure of being objective. I hesitated to give you the recipe.
Then I brought two slices for my colleagues. The first comment was “This is not ok at all. The slice is too small!” The other one was a quick request for the recipe.
Is there anything more to say?

* Don’t you think there’s still a part of instinct pushing us to do strange things? Like buying enough food on a clear autumn day to survive all winter? Or cleaning and re-decorating your apartment (even if it involves moving all the furniture 2 or 3 times) every spring? Or am I just using this as an excuse for my compulsory buying??

German apple Cake

2 pounds boskop apples (about 5)
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp water
1 cup butter
½ cup sugar
2 /3 cup flour
1 pinch salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg

For the glaze (optional)
The juice of half a lemon
1 cup confectioner sugar

Peel and core the apples. Cut them in big cubes and combine with the tablespoon sugar and the water in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until fruit is tender, stirring gently. Remove from heat; cool.

Prepare the shortbread crust. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar and egg, beating well.
Combine flour, baking powder and salt ; add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Flatten the dough into a thick disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°C.
Sprinkle your work surface as well as your rolling pin with flour. Roll out about 2/3 of the dough into a circle one-seventh-inch thick. Starting at 1 edge of dough, wrap dough around rolling pin. Place rolling pin over a 9-inch glass pie plate, and unroll dough over pie plate. Gently press dough into pie plate. Stir apples into crust. Roll remaining dough as directed before, rolling dough to about 1/7-inch thickness (13 inches wide). Place dough over filling; fold edges under, sealing to bottom crust, and crimp. Bake 35 minutes. Remove to a wire rack and let cool before transferring to a plate.

Optional : Glaze the top of the cake with lemon juice mixed with confectioner sugar.

Le gâteau aux pommes, comme en allemagne (Gedeckter Apfelkuchen)

1 kg de pommes boskop (environ 5 pommes)
1 cuillère à soupe d’eau
1 cuillère à soupe de sucre
300g de farine
100g de sucre
200g de beurre
¾ d’un paquet de levure
1 pincée de sel
1 oeuf

Pour le glaçage (facultatif)
le jus de la moitié d'un citron
100g de sucre glace

Pelez les pommes et découpez-les grossièrement en morceaux. Combinez les avec l'eau et la cuillère de sucre dans une casserole moyenne ; portez à ébullition la sur feu moyen. Réduisez le feu, et laissez compoter 10 minutes, en remuant doucement. Retirez du feu et laissez refroidir.

Préparez la pâte du gâteau. Battez le beurre à vitesse moyenne avec un mélangeur électrique jusqu'à ce qu’il soit crémeux. Ajoutez graduellement le sucre et l'oeuf, en battant bien. Combinez la farine, le sel et la levure ; ajoutez au beurre, battant à vitesse réduite jusqu'à obtenir une boule compacte. Formez un disque épais, enveloppez-le dans un film plastique et placez au froid au moins 1 heure.

Préchauffez le four à 180°.
Farinez abondamment le plan de travail ainsi que le rouleau à pâtisserie, puis étalez 2/3 de la pâte sur 3 mm d'épaisseur. Enveloppez la pate sur le rouleau à pâtisserie pour la placer dans votre moule à gateau beurré. Recouvrez le fond ainsi que les bords du moule avec la pate. Garnissez ensuite avec les pommes. Etalez la pâte restante comme précédemment, et placez la au-dessus des pommes en scellant les bords. Faites cuire 35 minutes. Déposez sur une grille et laissez refroidir avant de démouler.

Facultatif : Glacez le dessus du gâteau avec du jus de citron mélangé à du sucre glace.

La suite, please

For the birthday girl

Today’s the birthday of my most assiduous reader.

She’s having a party next week-end, and I promised her I’d bring the birthday cake. She did not ask for much, just that it’d be something with chocolate.
And of course, I couldn’t go just for simple. Oh no, I wanted something special, something good, and beautiful, and that would not crumble, or break apart when I’d try to cut it. Basically, I put myself under maximum pressure.
In order to avoid any bad surprise, I decided to practice this week-end. And this was such a good idea!! This way, on Thursday night, when I’ll bake the cake again, I’ll know not to put the caramelized sugar into the egg yolk if I don’t want to break my mixer… But that’s another story.

Anyway, on Saturday, again, I was confronted with my decision making incapacity. Meringue, brownie, dacquoise, shortbread? Mousse, ganache, cream? What the heck! I had all week-end, so why not bake 2 cakes, bring them to work, and ask my colleagues which one they prefer? I must admit I did not realize they were that complicated (well, especially the first one), but this is why I’m so glad I had the practicing session.

They liked both of them, but we had to make a choice.

And the second place is awarded to….. the hazelnut dacquoise and chocolate cake!
The dacquoise is a pastry half way between a meringue and a macaroon. In this cake, I made it with hazelnuts and almonds. And between the three layers was a chocolate mousse (actually, half way between a mousse and a butter cream).

Claire, here’s a slice of your second birthday cake. Happy birthday!

Hazelnut dacquoise and chocolate cake

For the dacquoise
1/4 cup almond powder
1/4 cup hazelnut powder
3/4 cups sugar
5 egg whites

For the chocolate buttercream
9 oz chocolate, unsweetened
1 ½ stick butter
6 egg whites
1 Tbsp sugar
3 egg yolks

Make dacquoise:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line 3 large baking sheets with parchment paper. With a pencil, drawn on each sheet a circle the size of your cake (about 9 inch diameter). Turn the sheets on the other side (but so you can still see the drawing).

Beat whites in mixer at medium-high speed until they just hold soft peaks. Reduce speed to medium, then add granulated sugar, a little at a time, beating, and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff, glossy peaks. Fold almond mixture in 2 batches into whites until just combined. Transfer meringue to a pastry bag and pipe the meringue onto the prepared sheets, filling in the 3 circles.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, switching the sheets from one rack to the other each 10 minutes. The meringue should be golden and firm.
Let the meringues cool on the sheets, and peel the meringues off the sheets carefully. The meringues may be made 1 day in advance and kept wrapped in plastic wrap at room temperature.

Make buttercream:

Chop chocolate. In a metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water melt chocolate, stirring until smooth, and let cool to 110°F. Cut butter into pieces and soften to cool room temperature.
Whisk butter with an electric mixer until creamy. While beating, add melted chocolate in 3 batches.

Beat whites in mixer at medium-high speed until they just hold soft peaks. Add granulated sugar, and continue to beat until whites just hold stiff, glossy peaks. Add egg yolks, one at a time, and continue beating at medium speed for about 30 secondes.

Gently incorporate the eggs to the chocolate mixture in 4 batches, using a whisk. The cream is now ready and should be used immediately.

Place one disk of dacquoise on the plate. Cover with 2/5th of the cream, then place another disk, 2/5th of the cream, and the last disk. Use the remaining cream to cover the cake and for the decoration.


Dacquoise aux noisettes et crème chocolat

A venir prochainement…

La suite, please

Exaggeration lesson, #1

I’ve been watching a lot of Grey’s anatomy episodes lately (yes, maybe this is also why I did not post more on the blog). See, the TV channel did not wait for me while I was on holidays (unbelievable, I know!) and I had the entire third season to catch up before the fourth would begin. It took much dedication, believe it...

I had no idea I had identified so much with Izzie until I found myself cursing Christina for not giving her the food processor from her wedding gifts. Izzie has been baking a lot, and she would have enjoyed it so much, she deserves it!! It took me at least 10 minutes to get over it (at that point, I think the friend I was watching it with was ready to buy me a food processor just to make me stop!)

Anyway, in one of the episodes, Izzie is worried, so she spend the night baking, and when her roommates wake up the day after, the kitchen is full with chocolate cupcakes. I don’t do that. I usually stop at midnight. Or 1:00, but just because I need to clean afterwards (does that remind you of another TV show character?? Oh, I miss FRIENDS...). I digress again.
When she’s grieving, she can’t stop baking muffins (like Monica could not stop making jams after her break-up).

I thought all that was exaggerated. Of course! It’s a TV show! And then, it was the week-end before my holidays. Hundreds of things to do (like packing for example, or reading the guide books...), no hotel nor train tickets booked, etc... I panicked. (I feel really stupid for that now, because the vacations were amazing, we really had a great time, and this hotel/train thing was not a problem). But at that time, I panicked. And, instead of methodically carrying my to do list out, I started baking. When I finished, it felt like I was on a TV show. The kitchen was just full with cookies, tartlets, meringues, etc... It took us (the 7 of us, I had to put my grand-parents to contribution!) more than 3 days to eat it all.

First, there were the cookies (3 batches, if you remember correctly…). But I also had passion fruit juice to use, and it just happens that there’s a tempting recipe in Pierre Hermé’s book that needs some. I mean, if this is not fate, what is it?? To make those apricots tartlets, you just have to prepare a pie crust, a passion fruit ganache and let the apricot marinate. It is simpler than it looks like. Because the result is nothing but basic. Not only does it look beautiful, but it is delicious. Soft and melting in the mouth. The bitterness of the chocolate contrasting with the acidity of the passion fruit and the sweetness of the apricots. You should try it. And invite friends to share them with.

But there was one drawback : I halved the quantities for the pie crust (the requested one makes 3 pie shells), but still ended up with too much. Hum, too much pie crust? And a recipe for a passion fruit tart with a crispy meringue in Bon Appetit appealing to me for years? I couldn’t stop there. So I halved the curd and the meringue quantities to fill my empty tartlets shells… The original recipe called for white chocolate between the curd and the meringue, but we all scraped it (it was just too sweet).Next time, I won’t put any. But there will be a next time. It’s like a meringue lemon pie, but even better! I’ll be crazy not to do it again!
Of course I also had too much meringue, which finished as semi-macaroons… But I’ll just stop, you’ve heard enough. Maybe you want the recipe now!

And if you’re lost, and have no idea who’s Izzie, Christina, and the others, watch tonight show on TF1, 8:50 pm, French time!


Apricot tartlets with passion fruit chocolate
From Pierre Hermé
For 24 2-inch tartlets

For the tart shell (makes 3 shells)
1 1/3 cup butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cup confectioner sugar
¼ cup almond powder
½ teaspoon sea salt flower
¼ vanilla pod
2 eggs
4 cup flour

For the fruits
10 big apricots, diced
3 Tbsp lemon juice
½ teaspoon black pepper

For the ganache
6.3 oz. bittersweet chocolate
6 Tbsp whipping cream
5 Tbsp passion fruit juice
¼ cup butter.

Prepare the pie crust. Using a food processor on pulse setting, cream the butter. Add sugar, almond powder, salt and vanilla and pulse again. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to be sure it is well mixed. Add the eggs and mix. Then add all the flour, and pulse for a few seconds, until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. It is very important not to mix the dough too long. With your hand palm, press the dough about 3 times, just until it forms a ball that holds together. Separate the dough into three balls, flatten slightly into thick disk shapes, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 4 hours to 2 days before working with it. You’re only going to use one disk for this recipe, so you can freeze the others (up to 2 months), for a latter use.

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Roll out dough into a on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Cut out 24 (2,5-inch) rounds and fit each round into a tartlet pan (don't trim). Prick bottoms all over with a fork and bake 15 minutes.

While pie shells are cooking, let the apricots marinate in a bowl lemon juice and pepper.

Prepare the chocolate ganache. In two separate saucepans, bring cream and passion fruit juice to a simmer. Remove the cream from heat. Add half of it to the chocolate, whisking with a spatula until smooth and melted. Add remaining cream, still whisking, then passion fruit juice. Finally, add butter in small pieces and beat until totally incorporated. Transfer ganache to a bowl and chill about 45 minutes.

Reserve 24 apricot dices for decoration.

Arrange the rest of apricot dices in the baked shells.

Spoon ganache into a pastry bag fitted with a star tip, and pipe decoratively into shells. Decorate each tartlet with an apricot dice, and serve at room temperature.



Passion fruit tartlets with meringue top
Adapted from Bon Appetit
For 24 2-inch tartlets

One disk of sugar dough for the tart shell (see above)
½ cup passion fruit juice
4 egg yolks
1 egg
3 Tbsp sugar
½ stick butter, diced
1 egg white
3 Tbsp + 2 tsp sugar

Prepare the pie crust. Using a food processor on pulse setting, cream the butter. Add sugar, almond powder, salt and vanilla and pulse again. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to be sure it is well mixed. Add the eggs and mix. Then add all the flour, and pulse for a few seconds, until the dough resembles coarse crumbs. It is very important not to mix the dough too long. With your hand palm, press the dough about 3 times, just until it forms a ball that holds together. Separate the dough into three balls, flatten slightly into thick disk shapes, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 4 hours to 2 days before working with it. You’re only going to use one disk for this recipe, so you can freeze the others (up to 2 months), for a latter use.

Whisk passion fruit juice, eggs and sugar in heavy large saucepan; add butter. Whisk over medium-low heat until butter melts. Stir until filling thickens, about 10 minutes (do not boil). Transfer to another bowl, press plastic wrap onto surface and chill until firm, at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.

Roll out dough into a on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Cut out 24 (2,5-inch) rounds and fit each round into a tartlet pan (don't trim). Prick bottoms all over with a fork and bake 15 minutes.

While the crust is baking, prepare meringue. Using electric mixer, beat egg white until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar, beating until meringue is stiff and shiny. Spoon into pastry bag and pipe small disks the size of the tartlets on a sheet of parchment.

Reduce the oven temperature to 300°F, and bake meringue until pale golden, about 25 minutes. Cool on sheet.

Spread curd in crust, and place meringue atop tart. Chill until serving.



Tartelettes aux abricots passionnément chocolat
Recette de Pierre Hermé
Pour 24 Tartelettes

Pour la pâte sucrée (pour 3 fonds de tarte) :
285g de beurre à température ambiante
150g de sucre glace
50g d’amande en poudre
½ cuillère à café de fleur de sel
¼ de gousse de vanille
2 œufs
500g de farine

Pour les fonds de tartelettes :
10 gros abricots coupés en dés
3 cuillères à soupe de citron
1 pincée de poivre noir

Pour la ganache :
180g de chocolat
90g de crème liquide
75g de jus de fruit de la passion
45g de beurre.

Faites la pâte sucrée. Battez rapidement le beurre dans le bol d’un robot mixeur, de manière à obtenir un mélange crémeux. Ajoutez le sucre glace, la poudre d’amande, le sel et les graines de vanille. Mélangez et raclez les parois du bol avec une spatule si besoin. Le mélange doit être homogène. Ajoutez les œufs, mélangez. Versez la farine dans le bol, et mélangez quelques secondes, le temps de former une pâte grumeleuse. Il ne faut pas trop travailler la pâte. Fraisez (c’est l’action de travailler avec la paume de la main) rapidement et formez 3 boules de pâtes. Aplatissez et enveloppez-les dans un film plastique pour reposer au frais pendant au moins 4 heures. Vous n’utiliserez qu’un des trois disques. Vous pouvez conserver les autres au congélateur pendant 2 mois en vue d’une prochaine utilisation…

Après le temps de repos, préchauffez le four à 175°. Beurrez et farinez vos moules à tartelettes.

Farinez abondamment le plan de travail ainsi que le rouleau à pâtisserie, puis étalez la pâte sur 2 à 3 mm d'épaisseur.

A l’aide d’un emporte-pièce de 6 cm de diamètre ou d’un verre d’un diamètre légèrement supérieur à vos moules, découpez des disques dans la pâte. Foncez les moules avec ces disques et mettez à cuire 15 minutes.

Pendant ce temps, mettez les dés d’abricots à macérer dans un bol avec le jus de citron et le poivre.

Préparez la ganache. Dans une casserole à fond épais, portez la crème à ébullition sur feu moyen. Dans une autre casserole, portez le concentré de fruit de la passion à ébullition.

Dans un grand saladier, versez la moitié de la crème sur le chocolat en morceaux. Vous devez mélanger à la maryse, en formant des grands cercles, de manière à incorporer le chocolat à la crème. Versez ensuite le reste de la crème, toujours en remuant, puis le jus de fruit. Vous allez obtenir un mélange lisse et brillant. Incorporez alors le beurre pommade en petits morceaux. Laissez refroidir.

Réservez 24 dés d’abricots pour la décoration.

Répartissez le reste dans le fond des tartelettes. Déposez ensuite la ganache avec une poche à douille, et décorez d’un dé d’abricot par tartelette.

Servez à température ambiante.


Tartelettes meringuées au fruit de la passion
Adapté de Bon Appetit
Pour 24 tartelettes

Un disque de pâte sucrée (cf. recette ci-dessus)
12,5 cl de jus de fruit de la passion
4 jaunes d’œufs
1 œuf
35g de sucre
40g de beurre
1 blanc d’œuf
45g de sucre

Mélangez le jus de fruit de la passion, les œufs et le sucre dans une grande casserole à fond épais. Ajoutez alors le beurre coupé en petits morceaux. Mettez la casserole sur feu moyen et faites épaissir le mélange en remuant constamment (environ 10 minutes, attention, la crème ne doit pas bouillir). Transférez dans un bol, couvrez d’un morceau de plastique et laissez au froid au moins 4 heures, pour que la crème soit ferme.

Préchauffez le four à 175°. Beurrez et farinez vos moules à tartelettes.

Farinez abondamment le plan de travail ainsi que le rouleau à pâtisserie, puis étalez la pâte sur 2 à 3 mm d'épaisseur.

A l’aide d’un emporte-pièce de 6 cm de diamètre ou d’un verre d’un diamètre légèrement supérieur à vos moules, découpez des disques dans la pâte. Foncez les moules avec ces disques et mettez à cuire 15 minutes.

Pendant que les fonds de tartelettes cuisent, préparez la meringue. Avec un fouet électrique, ou dans le bol d’un robot, battez le blanc d’œufs en neige. Ajoutez progressivement le sucre tout en continuant de battre jusqu’à ce que la meringue soit ferme et d’un blanc luisant.

Couvrez votre plaque à pâtisserie d’une feuille de papier sulfurisé. A l’aide d’une poche à douille, formez 24 disques de meringue de la taille de vos tartelettes.

Réduisez la température du four à 150° et faites cuire les meringues environ 25 minutes. Laissez refroidir.

Vous pouvez ensuite garnir le fond des tartelettes avec la crème de fruit de la passion, et recouvrir avec les meringues.

Réservez au frais jusqu’au moment de servir.

La suite, please

About adaptation…

Sometimes, you just can't fight it. You have to face the reality, and be wise enough to let go. Sometimes, it’s for the better (and today it was not…).

Yesterday, I tried to bake a Paris Brest. I’ve never done it, nor my mother, because we don’t like it. We don’t like buttercream. All this fat, it’s just… yeark (yeah, I’m a sugar addict, not a butter one). Anyway, why would I try to make something I don’t like? Because my father loves it. So last year, I wanted to bake one for his birthday. I bought the praline, but made a St Honoré instead, and now I find myself with a 1kg jar of praline best to use before the end of the month…
I started with the first mistake : I took Alain Ducasse's book to help me. Every time I use it, I arrive to the same conclusion : way too complicated for me, the proportions are huge (last time, I divided the recipe by 3, and was able to serve it to 4 diners of 3 persons!), and I should really stick to looking at the beautiful pictures. But again, I forgot about my conclusion, and tried… What is it with my memory, always hiding part of information from my brain??

The pastry cream was simple, thanks to a baking class I had last year. During that class, I discovered that it’s much easier than a crème anglaise, or than a curd (which I most of the time let too long on the fire, therefore letting it boil, and ending up with little pieces of cooked egg in my cream…). The pastry cream has to boil, and the egg will not make little pieces because you’ve mixed it with flour or corn starch before. So really, nothing to be afraid of! The following recipe makes me regret not having made pastry cream before. Oh, all this waisted time...

Then I started the choux pastry. Oh my… The recipe indicated 8-10 eggs. And I’m not proud to say that I followed it, without asking questions. It did not ring a bell. Hello! Huge proportions ?? Anyone ?? Nope. And of course, I messed up somewhere, because my choux (the 5 entire baking sheets of choux) were flat. Very flat. I could not have filled them even if I had tried.
And I let go. Threw the whole thing in the garbage, and choose to stick with what I know. That is, pie crust.

So, one pie crust later, some little mixing of pastry cream and praline (I still needed to use those…), and we’re having a very strange pear and praline pie…

Because I’m very nice ;-), I won’t give you this recipe, but tell you how to make the pie crust (which is delicious, buttery and sanded and with that little hint of salt...) and the pastry cream. Then, if you’re not stubborn as I am, you won’t try to mix it with praline, but will put any fresh fruit you have (or even frozen blueberries or raspberries), and you will enjoy something like this…

Or, if you don’t even want to make the pastry cream, you can bake the pie crust for 12 minutes, spread some raspberry jam, cover with the slices of 2-3 apples and with one tablespoon of melted butter, and bake for 15 more minutes.

Shortbread pie crust
Recipe from Alain Ducasse

1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp sugar
1 cup + 10 Tbsp flour
2 egg yolks
1 stick butter at room temperature
1 vanilla bean
2 tsp salt
1,5 tsp baking powder

Using a paddle attachment with a standing mixer, combine the flour, salt, baking powder and butter at medium speed. You will obtain a crumbly texture. Using an electric mixer at high speed, cream the yolks with the sugar and the scrapings of the vanilla bean. Incorporate it to the dry ingredients and mix shortly until the dough forms a sticky mass. Flatten the dough into a thick disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350°C.
Sprinkle your work surface as well as your rolling pin with flour. Roll out the dough into a circle one-seventh-inch thick. Transfer it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until crust is golden.

Pastry Cream

1 ¼ cup milk
1 vanilla bean
¼ cup + 1 Tbsp sugar
3 egg yolks
2 Tbsp cornstarch
5 tsp butter

Prepare the pastry cream. Split the vanilla bean in its length, and put it in a large saucepan with milk over medium heat. Bring to simmer. Cover the pan, turn off the heat, and set aside for 30 minutes. Remove and discard the vanilla pod, scraping the seeds to keep them with the milk if you want.
In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisks the yolks with sugar. Sift cornstarch into yolk mixture; whisk to blend. Gradually whisk in hot milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure the yolks are well mixed with the milk. Return to saucepan. Whisk constantly over medium heat until pastry cream boils and is very thick, about 10 minutes. Keep the mixture at the boil, whisking energetically, for about 3 minutes, then remove the pan from heat and let cool a few minutes before incorporating the butter. Transfer to large bowl, and cover with a plastic wrap (against the surface, to prevent the formation of a film). Refrigerate the cream.
Spread the cream on the cooled pie crust, nicely arrange the fruits of your choice, and voila!


Pâte à sablé breton
Recette d’Alain Ducasse

80g de sucre
200g de farine
2 jaunes d’œufs
100g de beurre en morceaux, à température ambiante
1 gousse de vanille
2 g de sel
1 paquet de levure chimique

Avec la lame du robot multitâche, ou la spatule du robot pâtissier, mélangez la farine, le sel, la levure et les dés de beurre. Vous obtiendrez une texture un peu sablonneuse (d’où le terme de sabler la pâte).
Avec un fouet, émulsionnez les jaunes, le sucre et les graines de la gousse de vanille, le mélange sera crémeux. Incorporez-le aux éléments sablés et travaillez la pâte quelques instants pour obtenir une boule homogène. Aplatissez la boule et enveloppez le disque obtenu dans un film plastique pour reposer au frais pendant au moins 1 heure.

Préchauffez le four à 175°.
Farinez abondamment le plan de travail ainsi que le rouleau à pâtisserie, puis étalez la pâte sur 3 à 4 mm d'épaisseur. Découpez un cercle du diamètre désiré dans la pate, transférez le sur une plaque de cuisson, et laissez cuire 15 à 20 minutes, de manière à avoir une jolie couleur dorée.


Crème pâtissière

30 cl de lait
1 gousse de vanille
60 g de sucre
3 jaunes
24 g de maïzena
20 g de beurre

Pendant le temps de repos, préparez une crème pâtissière. Fendez la gousse de vanille en deux, et mettez-la dans une grande casserole avec le lait. Portez à ébullition sur feu moyen. Dès que le lait bout, retirez du feu et couvrez. Laissez infuser 30 minutes. Retirez ensuite la gousse de vanille, en grattant les graines pour les mettre avec le lait.

Dans le bol de votre robot avec la spatule, blanchissez les jaunes avec le sucre. Ajoutez ensuite la maïzena en mélangeant bien. Tout en continuant de battre à la vitesse la plus lente, versez doucement le lait. Grattez les parois du bol et remuez pour que le mélange soit bien homogène.

Versez à nouveau la crème dans la casserole et portez à ébullition sur feu doux tout en remuant constamment avec un fouet. Une fois que le mélange bout, continuez à battre pendant environ 3 minutes, afin de rendre la crème plus légère. Retirez du feu et ajoutez les dés de beurre. Fouettez jusqu’à ce qu’ils aient fondu et soient incorporés à la crème. Couvrez d’un film plastique (le film doit toucher la crème, pour éviter la formation d’une pellicule) et réservez au frais.

Etalez la crème sur la pâte à sablée refroidie, disposez joliment les fruits de votre choix, et réservez au frais avant de déguster.

La suite, please