FLORENTiNES

This recipe is based on Ottolenghi's florentine recipe. It is incredibly easy and goes perfecly with chocolate mousse or any ice cream or sorbet. It's perfect if you don't have the time to make a complicated dessert but still want to bake something. You can prepare them a few days in advance and store them in a airtight container. Plus, it's very light, the orange zest gives a great flavor and you can even try to convince yourself it's pretty healthy!

iNGREDiENTS:

• 2 egg whites
• 100 gr icing sugar
• 250 gr flaked almonds
• grated zest of 1 orange

RECiPE:

• Preheat your oven at 150°C (300°F).
• Stir all your ingredients in a bowl: egg whites + icing sugar + almonds + zest.
• Dip you hand in a bowl of water and pick up portions of the mix to make little mounds on a pre-oil parchment paper. Be sure to spaced them apart (like for cookies).
• Dip a fork in water and flatten each biscuit very thinly. Make them as thin as possible without creating too many gaps. (about 8cm in diameter)
• Bake for 12 minutes or until the biscuit are golden brown.
• Allow to cool and remove biscuits gently with a palette knife. 
• ET VOiLA !

MACARONS the old fashion way

The old fashion way is always the best. This recipe is so simple, tender on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Trust me, once you try it you will never stop making it. Plus, the only fat comes from the nuts and it's gluten free. This recipe has become one of my trade mark recipes. Go for it!

iNGREDiENTS :

• 200 gr icing sugar
• 150 gr ground almonds
• 100 gr ground azelnuts
• 3 egg whites
• zest of one orange
• a few drops of almond extract

RECiPE :

• Preheat your oven at 175°C (350°F)
• Stir all your ingredients together: ground almonds & azelnuts + icing sugar + egg whites + orange zest + almond extract.
• On a prepared parchment paper, form little balls, using two spoons; a piping bag, fitted with a 12mm nozzle or a homemade piping bag (cf video recipe).
• Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes or until the macarons are lithely brown on the edges. The center should stay quite tender and the edges a bit crunchy.
• ET VOiLA ! (easy, eh? ;) )

LEMON, ALMOND & RED FRUiT CAKE

I made a brunch for 15 people this week-end! I wished I had more time so I would have made descent pictures and video recipes but this is the only recipe that will come out of this well acclaimed brunch. (And i'm not bragging. I mean I am but i'm just trying to truly transcribe the general mood of the event :p) This time, brunch rimed with garlic potatoes, tomato beans, bagels, scones, pancakes, granola, brioche and more. I know it's cruel to just talk about it but I'll make a brunch section one day I promess!

So let's talk about this cake. Almonds brings a very dense and comforting texture. It's very moist, flavorful and it changes from the usual tea cakes. Instead of one big cake you can also make individual ones. In that case, you will make about 8 small ones with this recipe and the cooking time will be about 30min.

iNGREDiENTS:

• 250 gr butter
• 280 gr sugar
• 100 gr flour
• 250 gr ground almonds
• 5 eggs
• grated zest of 2 lemons + 60 ml of juice
• 150 gr red fruits (I used a frozen mix but you can use only raspberries or blueberries if you like. and fresh is always better of course)

RECiPE:

• Preheat your oven at 170°C (350°F)
• Mix flour and ground almonds and set aside.
• Using an electric mixer, or by hand, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
• Break eggs and mix lightly in a bowl.
• Gradually add beaten eggs to sugar and butter mixture, beating well until each little addition of eggs.
• Add almonds and flour mixture. Stir.
• Add lemon zest + lemon juice + fruits.
• Butter a bakingpan and fill with cake batter.
• Bake for about one hour or until an inserted knife comes out clean of the middle of the cake.
• ET VOiLÀ!